Pre Historic and Ivc

PRE HISTORIC
PERIOD
The Prehistoric phase can be roughly divided into 3 parts i.e.,
Palaeolithic,
Mesolithic and
Neolithic
PALEOLITHIC AGE (250,000 - 10,000 B.C.)
• Palaeolithic Culture developed in the Pleistocene period.
• Pleistocene was the period when ice covered the earth’s surface.
• The main tools used during this period are hand axes, cleavers,
Choppers, flakes, burins, scrapers.
• Their tools were made up of hard rock called ‘quartzite’.
• The palaeolithic sites are spread in practically all parts of India
except the alluvial plains of the Indus and Ganga.
• The people of this age lived on hunting and gathering wild fruits
and vegetables.
• Man during this period used tools of unpolished, undressed rough
stones and lived in cave rock shelters.
• They had no knowledge of agriculture, fire, or pottery of any
metal.
• In the later Palaeolithic phase domestication of animals was
practiced.
• Homo sapiens first appeared in the last of this phase.
• It has been pointed out that Palaeolithic men belonged to the
Negrito race.
• The Palaeolithic Age in India has been divided into three phases
according to the nature of stone tools
Early or lower Palaeolithic,
Middle Palaeolithic and
Upper Palaeolithic.
MESOLITHIC AGE (10,000 to 6,000 B.C.)
• The Mesolithic Age began around 8000 B.C

• It was the transitional phase between the Palaeolithic Age and
the Neolithic Age
• Blade, Mesolithic tools are microliths.
• Blade, Core, Point, Triangle, Lunate and Trapeze are the main
types of Mesolithic tools.
• Important sites of Mesolithic Age are Bagor, Langhraj, Sarai
Nahar Rai, and Birbhanpur Sites like Bhimbetka, Adamgarh and
Mirzapur are rich in Mesolithic Art.
• People in Mesolithic age were still dependent on hunting but
now they began domesticating animals like dog, sheep goat etc.
CHALCOLITHIC CULTURE
Name of the culture Period
• Kayatha 2000 to 1800 B.C.
• Ahar or Banas 2000 to 1400 B.C.
• Savalda 2000 to 1800 B.C.
• Malwa 1700 to 1200 B.C.
• Prabhas 1800 to 1500 B.C.
• Rangpur 1400 to 700 B.C.
• Chirand 1500 to 750 B.C.
NEOLITHIC AGE (6000 to 2500B.C.)
• The term Neolithic’ was coined by Sir John Lubbock in his book
Pre Historic Times’.
• The beginning of agriculture was the most important discovery
of this age.
• Neolithic men cultivated land and grew fruits and corn like ragi
and horse gram.
• They domesticated cattle, sheep and goat.
• Important sites are Gufkaral, Burzahom, Chirand, Mehargarh,
Piklihal.
• Chopani Mando provides the earliest evidence of the use of
pottery in the World.
STONE COPPER PHASE
• This phase is also called as chalcolithic phase.
• It is characterised by the use of stone and copper.
• Chalcolithic people were not acquainted with burnt brick.
• People used different types of Pottery of which Black and Red
ware was most popular.
• They worshipped Mother Goddess and Bull.
• They generally lived in thatched houses.
HARAPPAN
CIVILISATION
HARAPPAN CIVILISATION
• According to Radio Carbon dating Harappan civilization developed
between 2500 B.C. to 1750 B.C.
• Indus Civilization is also called as Harappan Civilization because
the first excavated site is Harappa.
• It belongs to the Bronze Age.
• It extended from Manda (Jammu) in North to Daimabad in South.
• Major Settlements are in the GhaggarHakra belt. More than 1000
sites have been excavated.
• Copper, bronze, silver, gold were known but not iron. Seals were
made up of steatite
• Majority of the seals have an animal engraved on it with a short
inscription.
• The most frequently found animal is unicorn bull.
• Camel bones have been discovered at Kalibangan.
IMPORTANT HARAPPAN SITES
Site Excavator Present Position
Harappa Dayaram Shahani (1921)Montogomery (Punjab)Pakistan
Mohenjodaro Rakhal Das Baneijee Sindh (Pakistan)(1922)
Kalibanga Amlananda Ghosh, Hanumangarh (Rajasthan)
Lothal S. R. Rao(1957) Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
Banwali R. S. Bist (1973) Hissar (Haiyana)
Rangpur M. S. Vatsa (1931) Gujarat (near Madar river)
Ropar Y. D. Sharma (1955 - 56) Punjab (Sutlej Bank)
Alamgirpur Y. D. Sharma Meerut (Hindon river)
Sutkagendor A. Stein, George Dales Baluchistan (Dashak river)
Surkotada J. P. Joshi (1964) Gujarat (Kuchchh Plain)
Dabarkot Macay (1935) Baluchistan
Chanhudaro N. G. Majumdar (1931) Sindh (Pakistan)
Ali Murad K. M. Kazzak Sindh (Pakistan)
Mitathal Punjab University Bhiwani
Rakhi Garhi Suraj Bhan Jind (Haryana)
Sutkakoh Dales (1962) 8 km from Perin
Manda Jagpati Joshi Akhnur
• They worshipped, ProtoShiva, Mother Goddess, Bull, and Pipal
tree.
• Important sites are Harappa, Mohenjodero, Lothal, Kalibangan,
Banwali , Dholavira .
• At Kalibangan and Lothal fire altars have been discovered.
• Furrowed field has been discovered at Kalibangan.
• Harappan civilization was the first urban civilization.
• Most of the sites of Harappan civilisation is found in state of
Gujarat.
• Great Bath is at Mohenjodaro
• Their Pottery was red or black Pottery
• The script was pictographic
• The writing was Boustrophedon.
• Mohenjodaro a Sindhi word meaning “Mound of the dead.”
• Bead making factory existed in Chanhudaro and Lothal
• Rakhigarhi is the latest site discovered in India.
• Inkpot has been discovered at Chanhudaro
• Cemetry H and R37 have been discovered at Harappa.
• Teracotta Plough has been discovered at Banawali.
• Indus people were the first to produce cotton in the world
Note :
Two big mounds of Harappan sites found at Rakhigarhi in
Hisar district of Haryana in January 2014.
It has led to archaeologists establishing it as the biggest
Harappan civilization site.
Site Archaeological Finds
• Harappa : Stone symbols of Lingam and Yoni, Painted pottery, Clay
figures of Mother Goddess, Wheat and Barley in wooden mortar,
Copper scale, Crucible for bronze, Copper made mirror, Vanity box,
Dice.
• 6 Granaries in row, Working floors, Workmen’s quarters, Virgin
Goddess (seal), Cemetery (R37, H).
• Mohenjodaro : Great Bath, Great Granary (the largest building of
civilization), Assembly hall, Shell strips, Pasupathi Mahadeva/
ProtoShiva (seal), Bronze Image of a nude woman dancer, Steatite
image of bearded man, Human skeletons huddled together,
• The evidence of an Indian ship (figured on a seal).
• Painted seal (Demigod), Clay figures of Mother Goddess, A fragment
of woven cotton, Brick Kilns, 2 Mesopotamian seals, 1398 seals (57%
of total seals of Harappan civilization), Dice.
• Chanhudaro : City without a citadel, Inkpot, Lipstick;
Metalworkers’, shell ornament makers’ and beadmakers’ shops;
Imprint of dog’s paw on a brick, Terracotta model of a bullock cart,
Bronze toy cart.
• Lothal : Dockyard, Rice husk; Metal workers’, Shell ornament

makers’ and beadmakers’ shops; Fire altars, Terracotta figurine of a
horse, Double burial ( burying a male and a female in a single
grave), Terracotta model of a ship, Dying vat, Persian / Iranian seal,
Baharainean seal, Painted jar (bird and fox).
• Kalibangan : Ploughed field surface (PreHarappan),7 Fire altars,

Decorated bricks, Wheels of a toy cart, Mesopotamian cylindrical
seal.
• Banawali : Lack of chessboard or gridiron pattern town
planning, Lack of systematic drainage system, Toy plough, Clay
figures of Mother Goddess.
• Dholavira : A unique water harnessing system and its storm

water drainage system, a large “well and a bath (giant water
reservoirs), Only site to be divided into 3 parts, Largest
• Harappan inscription used for civic purposes, A stadium.
• Surkotada : Bones of horse, Oval grave, Pot burials.
• Daimabad : Bronze images (Charioteer with chariot, ox,

elephant and rhinoceros)
TOWNS NEAR RIVER BANKS
• Towns Rivers
Towns Rivers
Mohenjodaro Indus
Harappa Ravi
Banwali Ghagghar
Kalibanga Ghagghar
Lothal Bhogava
Rojdi Bhadar
Malavan Tapti
Sutkakoh Shadi Kaur
Sutkagendor Dashak
Chanhudaro Indus
Bhagtrav Kissagar confluence Alamgirpur Hindon
Rangpur Bhadar Kot Diji Indus
Major Characteristics of Harappan Sites
Systematic Town Planning
❖ A common feature was the grid system, i.e., streets cutting
across one another at right angles, dividing the town into large
rectangular blocks.
❖ The towns were divided into two parts: upper part or citadel,
and lower part.
❖ The fortified citadel on the western side housed public buildings
and members of the ruling class.
❖ Below the citadel, on the eastern side lay the lower town
inhabited by the common people.
❖ Houses, often of two or more storeys, generally had side
entrances, and no windows faced the main street.
❖ There was large-scale use of burnt bricks and a complete
absence of stone buildings. Round pillars were absent.
Drainage System :
❖ The drainage system was very impressive and was built using
burnt bricks.
❖ In almost all cities, every big or small house had its own
courtyard and bathroom.
❖ Water flowed from the houses into the streets which had drains.
❖ An underground drainage system connected all houses to the
street drains made of mortar, lime and gypsum, covered with
either brick or stone slabs, and equipped with a manhole.
❖ This shows a developed sense of health and sanitation.
Social Life
❖ It was a highly developed urban way of life.
❖ Society principally consisted of middle class urban people.
❖ Existence of various classes like priests, merchants, craftsmen,
peasants and labourers can be seen.
❖ The dress of men consisted of two garments: the upper and
lower cotton garments.
❖ Wool was also used.
❖ Different kinds of necklaces have been discovered.
❖ Bracelets were used quite commonly.
Political Life
❖ There is no clear idea about the political organization of the
Harappans.
❖ It must be noted that the Harappans lacked weaponry, so
Harappans did not have a system of kings or dynasties.
Religious Life
❖ The chief Female Deity a terracotta figure where a plant is
shown growing out of the embryo of a woman, represents Mother
Goddess (Goddess of Earth).
❖ The chief Male Deity Pashupati Mahadeva (proto-Siva),
represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture on a low throne
and having three faces and two horns.
❖ He is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a rhino and a buffalo
and two deer appear at his feet.
❖ Some trees like pipal, and birds like pigeons were also
worshipped.
❖ Numerous symbols of one phallus (lingam) and female sex
organs made of stone indicate the prevalence of lingam and yoni
worship.
❖ No temple has been found, though idolatry was practised.
❖ Indus people believed in ghosts and evil forces and used amulets
for protection against them.
Art and Architecture
❖ Harappan people used different types of pottery such as glazed,
polychrome, incised, perforated and knobbed.
❖ The glazed Harappan pottery is the earliest example of its kind in
the ancient world.
❖ On the whole, Harappan pottery was highly utilitarian in character,
though the painted designs on some pieces show a remarkable
artistic touch
Script and Language
❖ Script and language are undeciphered; the script is pictographic in
nature.
❖ Fish and tree symbols are the most commonly found ones.
❖ Overlapping of letters shows that it was written from right to left
in the first line and then left to right in the second line.
❖ This style is called boustrophedon.
THEORIES OF DECLINE OF HARAPPAN CIVILIZATIONS
Aryan invasion Wheeler, Gordon, Childe

Ecological disturbance Fair service
Change in river course Dales, M.S. Vatsa
Low rainfall Stein
Flood Macay, S. R. Rao
Drying of Ghaghar D. P. Agrawal and Sood
Earthquake Raikes and Date

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PRE HISTORIC

• The Mesolithic Age began around 8000 B.C

• Lothal : Dockyard, Rice husk; Metal workers’, Shell ornament

• Kalibangan : Ploughed field surface (PreHarappan),7 Fire altars,

• Dholavira : A unique water harnessing system and its storm

• Surkotada : Bones of horse, Oval grave, Pot burials.

• Daimabad : Bronze images (Charioteer with chariot, ox,

Aryan invasion Wheeler, Gordon, Childe

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