The Preboreal is a stage of the Holocene epoch. It is preceded by the Tarantian and succeeded by the Boreal. It lasted from 10,300 to 9,000 BP in radiocarbon years or 10,000 BC to 8250 BC in Gregorian calendar years. It is the first stage of the Holocene epoch.
The Holocene has not been formally divided by the IUGS. As a result the Preboreal is only a proposal, and as stratigraphy and dating techniques have improved since this 1972 proposal the dates would be different if proposed today. Instead others have begun to use the terms Early, Middle and Late, which strictly should be Upper, Middle and Lower for the Holocene. If this terminology was to be used the preboreal would be replaced by Lower Holocene which would be dated 11.7 - 8.2 ka B2K.