Holocene

The current interglacial period and second epoch of the Quaternary period (the first being the Pleistocene), spanning from 11,700 years ago to the present (1950, by definition). Some scientists postulate that the Holocene has ended and given way to a new geological epoch dubbed the Anthropocene, although at present the International Union of Geological Sciences has not incorporated it into the chronostratigraphic chart, which establishes all the official divisions of the Earth's geological time.