Stone Age

*The period without a documented evidence of its history is called Prehistoric period.
Proto-historic period is the period having shreds of evidence of a script which is still not
deciphered. Proto-historic refers to the period between prehistoric and historical period. *The
time after which we get documented description is called historic period. *Stone Age comes
under the Prehistoric period. *Indus valley civilization and Copper Age culture comes under
the protohistoric period. *The historical period starts from Vedic Culture. *In India, the
research on Stone Age Civilization started at fi rst in 1863. The whole Stone Age has been
categorized into three parts on the basis of diff erence of tools used. These are Palaeolithic
period, Mesolithic period and Neolithic period. *Paleolithic Period is further categorized into
three periods on the same basis- (i) The Lower Palaeolithic period -Handaxe, Cleaver,
Chopper, etc. (ii) The Middle Palaeolithic period- Points, Borer, Scrapper (iii) The Upper
Paleolithic period - Burins *Chopper-chopping pebble pieces of tools were at fi rst obtained
from Sohan river valley of Punjab (Pakistan). At fi rst, handaxe pieces of equipment were
found in Vadamadurai and Attirapakkam near Madras. Other tools of this culture are cleaver,
scraper, etc. *Robert Bruce Foote was a British geologist and Archeologist. *The expedition
of L. Cambridge team under the leadership of D. Tera did the most important research in
Sohan valley in 1935. *In Belan valley, the research was carried under the direction of G.R.
Sharma of Allahabad University. Nearly 44 archaeological sites were found in this valley
which is related to the lower Paleolithic period. *Apart from tools, the statue of bone-made
Mother Goddess of this age was obtained from Lohanda Nala region of Belan Valley which is
currently preserved at the Kaushambi museum. *The life of Palaeolithic people was
completely natural. They were primarily dependent on hunting. They were unfamiliar with
fire, so they ate raw meat. Paleolithic people were unfamiliar with farming and animal
husbandry. *We came to know about Mesolithic period only after C.L. Carlyle discovered
(1867-68) the Rock Painting from Vindhya region. *According to the excavated evidence, the
domestication of animals began in the Mesolithic period. The earliest pieces of evidence of
domestication of animals in India have been found at Adamgarh (Hoshangabad, M.P.) and
Bagor (Bhilwara, Rajasthan). *A large number of implements made of bones and horns have
been found from the Mesolithic site, Mahadaha (located in Pratapgarh district of U.P.). The
book entitled 'Puratattva Vimarsh' written by Dr. Jai Narayan Pandey describes various
pointed objects and ornaments made of bones which have been reported from Sarai Nahar
Rai, Damdama and Mahadaha. *Damdama is a Mesolithic site in Pratapgarh district of Uttar
Pradesh. In Damdama, 41 human graves have been found. Out of these graves, 5 are
double burial. One triple burial grave is also found here. A grave with four human skeletons
has been found at Sarai Nahar Rai. *The Megaliths usually refer to the burials made up of
large stones in graveyards away from the habitation area. A large fraction of these is
assumed to be associated with burial or post-burial rituals including memorials for those
whose remains may or may not be available. Some of these are; Chamber tomb, Dolmens,
Stone alignment, Stone circle (cromlech), Pit-circles, etc. *According to 'Puratatva Vimarsh'
by J.N. Pandey 17 human skeletons were found from rock shelter 1 of Lekhahiya in the
Vindhya region. Some of these were in relatively pristine condition while most of the others
were warped. *According to John R. Lucas of Oregon University, the USA, remnants of 27
human skeletons were found in Lekhahiya. *The rock shelters of Bhimbetka are located 45
km west of Bhopal. UNESCO has included the shell pictures of Bhimbetka in the list of its
world heritage. These caves exhibit the earliest traces of human life on the Indian
subcontinent and include the pictures of an elephant, sambhar, deer, etc. *Grains were fi rst
ever produced in Neolithic Age. It was the time when people were introduced to agriculture.
Koldihwa and Mehrgarh were the two Neolithic villages from where clear pieces evidence of
rice and wheat have been found. *There are mainly eight types of food grains consumed by
modern human society, namely barley, wheat, maize, millet, sorghum, mustard, oat and rice.
These crops were present in the form of weed in diff erent areas, which were later grown as
seed by a human being at diff erent places, at diff erent times. Barley was the fi rst grain to
be cultivated by human beings during 8000 BC in western Asian countries located between
the northeast Mediterranean Sea and Iran. Later, in the same area, wheat was also
cultivated around 8000 BC. *Rice was the third grain to be cultivated by human beings in
approx 7000 BC at the Yangtze River in China. *Maize was cultivated in Central and South
America during 6000 BC. The fi rst evidence of maize was found in Mexico, *millet in 5500
BC in China, sorghum in 5000 BC in East Africa, Mustard in 5000 BC in South-East Asia and
Oat in 2300 BC in Europe. *According to the latest research, the earliest evidence of
agriculture in Indian subcontinent was reported from the Lahuradewa site in Sant Kabir
Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh. The evidence of human activity and beginning of rice
cultivation at this site dated back to around 9000-7000 BC. *Signifi cantly before this
research, the earlier evidence of wheat was found at Mehrgarh (located in Balochistan,
Pakistan) belonging to around 7000 BC and the earliest evidence of rice is known to be near
the bank of the river Belan, district Allahabad, from where rice bran was found dating back to
6500 BC. *The cultural remains from Stone Age to Harappan Civilization have been found in
Mehrgarh located in Balochistan (Pakistan). *The Burzahom site is a prehistoric settlement
in the village of the same name in Kashmir valley. Both human and animal skeletons were
found here with trepanning (bored holes) marks. In many pits, bones of dogs and antlered
deer were found along with human skeletons. The skeletons of humans were found in the
burial pits in a sitting position along with bones of animals. *The fi rst excavation at the
Burzahom site was carried out by Helmut de Terra and Dr. Thomas Paterson in the year
1935. *The people of Jorwe culture lived in large rectangular houses with wattle and daub
walls and thatched roof. They believed in life after death and therefore buried the dead
inside the houses under the fl oor. Children were buried in two urns that were joined
mouth-to-mouth and set horizontally in the pit, while adults were placed in a supine position
with the head towards the north (north to south). These sites were found in Daimabad,
Inamgaon, Chandauli, Nevasa etc. *The ‘Ash mounds’ have been found from a Neolithic site
Sangana Kallu located in Vellari district near Mysore in Karnataka. They have also been
found in Piklihal and Utnur. These ash mounds are the burnt relics of seasonal camps of
Neolithic herdsmen community.
*Fire was fi rst used as in the Neolithic period. *Copper was the fi rst metal used. Copper
Age is also known as the Chalcolithic age. The age in which instruments of copper were
used in addition to stone is called as Copper Age. *Settlements of Chalcolithic period in India
were found in South-East Rajasthan, Western Madhya Pradesh, western Maharastra and
South-East India. *Navdatoli has revealed excellent evidence of both round and rectangular
residential structures which are located near Indore. The former measures about 3m in
diameter and the later is 2m × 2.2m. *The roofs were probably made of hay, tree branches
and leaves and were supported on massive wooden posts, 22cm in diameter, raised at
regular intervals around the huts. *The open spaces between the posts were provided with
mud-plastered bamboo screens. *The house fl oors were made up of silt clay and river
gravel, with the surface coated with lime. The huts were provided with one or two-mouthed
‘chulhas’ as well as storage jars and other earthen vessels. *Ochre-Coloured Pottery (known
to archaeologists as OCP) as the name implies, its main distinguishing feature was its ochre
colour. Other characteristics are its porous character and the fact that it is invariably worn out
at the edges. Most of its evidence is mainly found from Atranjikhera and Hastinapur. *The
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Ministry of Culture, is a premier organization
for the archaeological researches and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation. In
1871, the Archaeological Survey was established as a separate department, and Alexander
Cunningham was appointed as its fi rst Director-General. In 1901, during the tenure of Lord
Curzon, it was centralized as Archaeological Survey of India and John Marshall was
appointed in 1902 as its fi rst Director-General. *National Human Museum, which was
renamed as Indira Gandhi National Human Museum is located in Bhopal (M.P.). It is an
autonomous organization under the Department of Culture.