Prehistoric Age in India

Ancient history can be divided into different periods according to the tools used by people then.

1. Palaeolithic Period: 2 million BC – 10,000 BC
2. Mesolithic Period: 10,000 BC – 8000 BC
3. Neolithic Period: 8000 BC – 4000 BC
4. Chalcolithic Period: 4000 BC – 1500 BC
5. Iron Age: 1500 BC – 200 BC

Palaeolithic Period (Old Stone Age)

This is further divided into three:

1. Lower Palaeolithic Age: up to 100,000 BC
2. Middle Palaeolithic Age: 100,000 BC – 40,000 BC
3. Upper Palaeolithic Age: 40,000 BC – 10,000 BC

Lower Palaeolithic age

• Hunters and food gatherers; tools used were axes, choppers and cleavers.
• Earliest lower Palaeolithic site is Bori in Maharashtra.
• Limestone was also used to make tools
• Major sites of lower Palaeolithic age
  • Soan valley (in present Pakistan)
  • sites in the Thar Desert
  • Kashmir
  • Mewar plains
  • Saurashtra
  • Gujarat
  • Central India
  • Deccan Plateau
  • Chotanagpur plateau
  • North of the Cauvery River
  • Belan valley in UP
• There are habitation sites including caves and rock shelters
• It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2003
• An important place is Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh

Middle Palaeolithic age

• Tools used were blades, pointers, scrapers and borers.
• The tools were smaller, lighter and thinner
• Important middle Palaeolithic age sites
  • Belan valley in UP
  • Luni valley (Rajasthan)
  • Son and Narmada rivers
  • Bhimbetka

Upper Palaeolithic age

• Emergence of Homo sapiens
• Lot of bone tools, including needles, harpoons, blades, fishing tools and burin tools.
• Major sites of Upper Palaeolithic age
  • Belan
  • Son
  • Chota Nagpur plateau (Bihar)
  • Maharashtra
  • Orissa and
  • Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh
• Paintings at Bhimbetka site belong to this age.

Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age)

• Major climate change happened.
• Climate became warmer and more humid.
• Rainfall increased and so more availability of flora and fauna.
• Domestication of animals and plants were seen for the first time.
• Started 12000 years ago.
• First animal to be domesticated was the wild ancestor of the dog.
• Sheep and goats were the most common domesticated animals.
• Hunting and food gathering continued.
• First human colonization of the Ganga plains.
• Microliths have been excavated.
• They are small stone tools that were probably stuck to stones to be used as saws and sickles.
• Major sites:
  • Brahmagiri (Mysore)
  • Narmada
  • Vindhya
  • Gujarat
  • UP
  • Sojat (Rajasthan)
  • Bhimbetka
  • Godavari Basin
  • Sarai Nahar Rai
• Tools used were blades, crescents, triangles, trapezes, spearheads, knives, arrowheads, sickles, harpoons and daggers.

Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)

• Starting of agriculture
• Moving from nomadic to settled life
• Wheel discovered. Ragi, wheat and horse gram were cultivated
• They knew to make fire
• Knew pottery
• Art was seen in cave paintings of dance
• Also show first intentional disposal of the dead
• Important sites:
  • Inamgaon
  • Burzahom (Kashmir)
  • Mehrgarh (Pakistan)
  • Daojali Hading (Tripura/Assam)
  • Hallur (AP)
  • Paiyampalli (AP)
  • Chirand (Bihar)
  • Evidence of houses

Chalcolithic Period (Copper Age/Bronze Age)

Indus Valley Civilization (2700 BC – 1900 BC)

• Other settlements at
• Brahmagiri Navada Toli (Narmada region)
• Chirand (Ganga region) and
• Mahishadal (West Bengal)

Iron Age

• Arrival of the Aryans: Vedic Period
• Jainism, Buddhism
• Mahajanapadas: the first major civilisation on the banks of the river Ganga after the Indus Valley.