Paleolithic or Old Stone Age
The Old Stone Age sites are widely found in various parts of
the Indian subcontinent. These sites are generally located near water
sources. Several rock shelters and caves used by the Paleolithic
people are scattered across the subcontinent. They also lived rarely
in huts made of leaves. Some of the famous sites of Old Stone Age
in India are:
a. The Soan valley and Potwar Plateau on the northwest India.
b. The Siwalik hills on the north India.
c. Bhimpetka in Madhya Pradesh.
d. Adamgarh hill in Narmada valley.
e. Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and
f. Attirampakkam near Chennai.
In the Old Stone Age, food was obtained by hunting animals
and gathering edible plants and tubers. Therefore, these people are
called as hunter-gatherers. They used stone tools, hand-sized and
flaked-off large pebbles for hunting
animals. Stone implements are made of a
hard rock known as quartzite. Large
pebbles are often found in river terraces.
The hunting of large animals would have
required the combined effort of a group
of people with large stone axes. We have
little knowledge about their language and
communication. Their way of life became modified with the passage
of time since they made attempts to domesticate animals, make crude
pots and grow some plants. A few Old Stone Age paintings havealso been found on rocks at Bhimbetka and other places. The period
before 10000 B.C. is assigned to the Old Stone Age.
Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age
The next stage of human life is called Mesolithic or Middle
Stone Age which falls roughly from 10000 B.C. to 6000 B.C. It
was the transitional phase between the Paleolithic Age and Neolithic
Age. Mesolithic remains are found in Langhanj in Gujarat, Adamgarh
in Madhya Pradesh and also in some places of Rajasthan, Utter
Pradesh and Bihar. The paintings and engravings found at the rock
shelters give an idea about the social life and economic activities of
Mesolithic people. In the sites of Mesolithic Age, a different type of
stone tools is found. These are tiny stone artifacts, often not more
than five centimeters in size, and therefore called microliths. The
hunting-gathering pattern of life continued during this period.
However, there seems to have been a shift from big animal hunting
to small animal hunting and fishing. The use of bow and arrow also
began during this period. Also, there began a tendency to settle for
longer periods in an area. Therefore, domestication of animals,
horticulture and primitive cultivation started. Animal bones are found
in these sites and these include dog, deer, boar and ostrich.
Occasionally, burials of the dead along with some microliths and shells seem to have been practiced.
The Old Stone Age sites are widely found in various parts of
the Indian subcontinent. These sites are generally located near water
sources. Several rock shelters and caves used by the Paleolithic
people are scattered across the subcontinent. They also lived rarely
in huts made of leaves. Some of the famous sites of Old Stone Age
in India are:
a. The Soan valley and Potwar Plateau on the northwest India.
b. The Siwalik hills on the north India.
c. Bhimpetka in Madhya Pradesh.
d. Adamgarh hill in Narmada valley.
e. Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and
f. Attirampakkam near Chennai.
In the Old Stone Age, food was obtained by hunting animals
and gathering edible plants and tubers. Therefore, these people are
called as hunter-gatherers. They used stone tools, hand-sized and
flaked-off large pebbles for hunting
animals. Stone implements are made of a
hard rock known as quartzite. Large
pebbles are often found in river terraces.
The hunting of large animals would have
required the combined effort of a group
of people with large stone axes. We have
little knowledge about their language and
communication. Their way of life became modified with the passage
of time since they made attempts to domesticate animals, make crude
pots and grow some plants. A few Old Stone Age paintings havealso been found on rocks at Bhimbetka and other places. The period
before 10000 B.C. is assigned to the Old Stone Age.
Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age
The next stage of human life is called Mesolithic or Middle
Stone Age which falls roughly from 10000 B.C. to 6000 B.C. It
was the transitional phase between the Paleolithic Age and Neolithic
Age. Mesolithic remains are found in Langhanj in Gujarat, Adamgarh
in Madhya Pradesh and also in some places of Rajasthan, Utter
Pradesh and Bihar. The paintings and engravings found at the rock
shelters give an idea about the social life and economic activities of
Mesolithic people. In the sites of Mesolithic Age, a different type of
stone tools is found. These are tiny stone artifacts, often not more
than five centimeters in size, and therefore called microliths. The
hunting-gathering pattern of life continued during this period.
However, there seems to have been a shift from big animal hunting
to small animal hunting and fishing. The use of bow and arrow also
began during this period. Also, there began a tendency to settle for
longer periods in an area. Therefore, domestication of animals,
horticulture and primitive cultivation started. Animal bones are found
in these sites and these include dog, deer, boar and ostrich.
Occasionally, burials of the dead along with some microliths and shells seem to have been practiced.
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