Paleolithic Age in India

Early Signs:

The first evidence of the Stone Age culture in India surfaced in Karnataka as
early as in 1842 when Dr Pri!rose discovered "olished stone knives and arro#
heads at $ingsugur in %aichur district of Karnataka.

But the syste!atic e&"loration of pre-historic sites was conducted by %o'ert (ruce
)oote of the *eological Survey of India, who has been rightly regarded as the )ather of
Indian Pre+,istory.

The first "erson to "u'lish an account of the worked flints was -ohn Evans.

Most Paleolithic sites in India developed in the Pleistocene "eriod

The tools ade were of hard rock .uart/ite so the Paleolithic an was called 0uart/ite
1an

The ter Paleolithic was coined by archaeologist !ohn "ubbock in #$%&. It literally
eans '(ld )tone *ge.'

It was arked by the hunting gathering nature.

Paleolithic *ge spanned fro #+++++ years ago till #++++ years ago.
It is divided into , ages vi-. lower Paleolithic age which spans till #+++++ years ago.
Middle Paleolithic which spans fro #+++++ years ago till .++++ years and
upper Paleolithic which spans fro .+,+++ years to #++++ years ago.

Paleolithic tools were club, sharpened stone, chopper, hand a/e, scraper, spear, Bow and
arrow, harpoon, needle, scratch awl etc.

Iportant paleolithic sites in India0
"ingsugur in 1aichur district, karnataka 2first site to be discovered3
"idder river Pahalga , Kashir
)ohan valley Pun4ab,
Banks of 1iver Beas, Bangagnga
)irsa 5aryana,
6hittorgarh and Kota, 1a4asthan,
1iver 7agoon, Kadaali basins 1a4asthan.
1iver )abaraati and Mahi basins 21a4asthan 8 9u4arat3,
Basins of river tapti, 9odavari, Bhia and Krishna
Koregaon, 6handoli and shikarpur 2Maharashtra3,
1iver 1aro 2!harkhand3,
1iver )uvarnrekha 2(rissa3,
9hatprabha 1iver Basin 2Karnataka3.
Pahalga , !au 8 Kashir
Belan :alley, *llahabad
)insgi Talav, ;agaur 1a4asthan
5unsgi, 9ulbarga in karnataka.
*ttirapakka in Tailnadu.

(hi!'etka %ock Shelters:

Bhibetka rock shelters are located in 1aisen <istrict of Madhya Pradesh, .& k south of
Bhopal at the southern edge of the :indhyachal hills. These served as shelters for
Paleolithic age an for ore than # lakh years. This is the ost e/clusive Paleolithic site in
India which contains the rock carvings and paintings. These paintings belong to the
Paleolithic, Mesolithic ages, 6halcolithic, early-historic and even edieval ties.
Bhibetka is a 7orld heritage )ite.
Please note that it was earlier considered to be a Buddhist site and was later
recogni-ed as Paleolithic site by :ishnu )hridhar 7akankar who is now also called
'father of rock art in India '. Bhibetka 1ock shelters were included in the world
heritage list in #=>+

1esolithic Age in India

The Pleistocene ended soeties around =+++-$+++ years ago and the cliate changed.
The cliate becae warer and huid and there was e/pansion of flora and fauna
contributed by increased rainfall. This led to availability of new resources to huans and
thus the huan beings oved to new areas. This period is arked with increased
population.
The first huan coloni-ation of the 9anga plains took place during Mesolithic period and
this has been proved by presence of ore than two hundred archaeological sites in
*llahabad, Pratapgarh, !aunpur, Mir-apur and :aranasi districts of ?ttar Pradesh
The other regions where effective huan coloni-ation occurred are deltaic region of 7est
Bengal, 7est 6oast near Mubai, 6oastal area of Kerala.
The ter Mesolithic was introduced by !ohn "ubbock in #$%&.
The early period of Mesolithic age arks the hunting, fishing and food gathering which
turn to hunting, fishing, food gathering as well as doesticating the anials. The tools are
icroliths which are saller in si-e and better in finishing 2ore geoetric3 than the
Paleolithic age. *griculture had not developed.
The earliest evidence of doestication of anials has been provided by *daagarh
in Madhya Pradesh and Bagor in 1a4asthan. * study has also suggested cultivation of
plants around >+++-%+++ years back near )abhar lake in *4er 1a4asthan.
The Pachpadra basin and )o4at *rea of 1a4asthan is a rich Mesolithic sites and lot of
icroliths have been discovered.
Bagor in 1a4asthan is the alost largest Mesolithic site in India. *nother a4or
Mesolithic site in 1a4asthan is Tilwara.
In 9ua4arat soe places on the banks of river )abarati are Mesolithic sites which
include the *kha4, :alsana, 5irpur, "anghan4 etc.
)arai ;ahar 1ai in *llahabad-Pratapgarh of ?ttar Pradesh is a Mesolithic site. (ther
sites in ?ttar Pradesh are Morhana Pahar and lekkahia.
In Madhya Pradesh Bhibetka along with *dagarh are a4or Mesolithic sites.
In !harkhand 6hhota nagpur plateau is a a4or Mesolithic site in India.
In (rissa Mayurbhan4, Keon4har, )undergarh is a a4or Mesolithic site in India.
In south India 9odavari basin is rich in icroliths,
The rock painting of Mesolithic period is found in *dagarh, Bhibetka of Madhya
Pradesh and Pratapgarh, Mir-apur of 1a4asthan. *part fro the anials, hunting scenes,
the Mesolithic sites have also painting of social life, se/ual activity, child birth, rearing of
children and burial cereony.
1icroliths :
These are tiny tools ade fro icro blades of one to five c length, by blunting one or
ore sides with steep retouch. The ain tool types are backed blades, obli@uely truncated
blades, points, crescents, triangles and trape-es. These icroliths were used as
coponents of spearheads, arrowheads, knives, sickles, harpoons and daggers. They were
fitted into grooves in bone, wood and reed shafts and 4oined together by natural adhesives
like gu and resin. 2:; Misra3
5unting-gathering way of life was slowly replaced by food production fro about
%+++ B.6
2eolithic Age in India
The ;eolithic period began around #+>++ to =.++ B6 in Tell Aarael in ;orthern )yria. In
)outh *sia the date assigned to ;eolithic period is >+++ B6 and the earliest e/aple is
Mehrgarh 6ulture.
Mehrgarh is the oldest agricultural settleent in the Indian subcontinent.
1ehrgarh:
The site is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus 1iver valley and between
the present-day Pakistani cities of Auetta, Kalat and )ibi.
Mehrgarh was discovered in #=>. by an archaeological tea directed by Brench
archaeologist !ean-BranCois !arrige, and was e/cavated continuously between #=>. and
#=$%. The earliest settleent at MehrgarhDin the northeast corner of the .=&-acre 2E.++
kE3 siteDwas a sall faring village dated between >+++ B6FG&&++ B6.
Farly Mehrgarh residents lived in ud brick houses, stored their grain in granaries,
fashioned tools with local copper ore, and lined their large basket containers with bituen.
They cultivated si/-row barley, einkorn and eer wheat, 4u4ubes and dates, and herded
sheep, goats and cattle. 1esidents of the later period put uch effort into crafts, including
flint knapping, tanning, bead production, and etal working. The site was occupied
continuously until about E%++ B6F.HEI
In *pril E++%, it was announced in the scientific 4ournal ;ature that the oldest 2and
first early ;eolithic3 evidence in huan history for the drilling of teeth in a living
person was found in Mehrgarh.
Mehrgarh is now seen as a precursor to the Indus :alley 6ivili-ation. '<iscoveries at
Mehrgarh changed the entire concept of the Indus civili-ation,'

1a3or features of 1esolithic Age:
6igar )napped handade Brick structures with fire places, stone blade industry
using flint, coposite stickle, grinding stones, bone tools, Pottery etc.
The ;eolithic settlers were cattle herders and agriculture was ain occupation. The
handade pottery has been found fro the ;eolithic sites. The pottery is coarse in
nature and not uch polished.
4halcolithic Age in India
6halcolithic is also known as Fneolithic period which saw the use of the etals aong
which the 6opper was first. It is called 6halcolithic which eans use of stone and well as
copper was prevalent in this period.
The earliest settleents of the 6halcolithic period range fro the 9angetic basin to
6hhotanagpur Plateau. The econoy of this period was based upon agriculture, stock
raising, hunting and fishing. "iited nuber of 6opper and bron-e tools have also been
recovered.
The presence of painted pottery is a hall ark of the 6halcolithic period.
The burial practice was another striking feature and the dead were buried in a particular
direction all over a particular area.
The largest site of the 6halcolithic period is <iaabad situated on the left bank of
the Pravara 1iver.
The pottery ranges fro 1ed ware , deep red ware to deep brown and black,
Pictographic red and black and polished red.
So!e 4halcolithic 4ultures:
Ahara 4ulture: The sites of *har 6ulture were *ahar 21a4asthan3, balathal, 9ilund
etc. The distinctive feature is black and red ware.
Kayatha 4ulture: "ocated in 6habal and its tributaries, the sturdy red slipped
ware with chocolate designs is ain feature
1al#a 4ulture: 2arada 8 its tributaries in 9u4arat. (ne of the largest 6halcolithic
settleents.
Svalda 4ulture: 5he well-known sites are in <hulia district of Maharashtra.
Pra'has 6 %ang"ur 4ulture: Both of the are derived fro the 5arappa culture.
The polished red ware is the hall ark of this culture.