STONE AGE

The Palaeolithic Age -

The Palaeolithic culture of India developed in the Pleistocene period or the Ice Age, which lasted between one million and 10,000 years before the Holocene period(the present geological period). The Holocene period began 10,000 years ago.The Lower Palaeolithic phase existed between 2,50,000 BC and 1,00,000 BC; the Middle Palaeolithic between 1,00,000 BC and 40,000 BC; and the Upper Palaeolithic between 40,000 BC and 10,000 BC.

The Mesolithic Age-

The Mesolithic culture continued to be important roughly from 9,000 BC to 4,000 BC. The microliths are the characteristic tools of the Mesolithic age. Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is a striking site of both

the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic paintings.The Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing and food gathering.

In the Belan valley (Uttar Pradesh), all the three phases of the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic have been found in sequence.

Adamgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Bagor (Rajasthan) provide the earliest evidence for the domestication of

animals.

The Neolithic Age

The Neolithic Age or the New Stone Age began in 9000 BC. But in the Indian continent, the earliest Neolithic settlement was in Mehrgarh (Baluchistan, Pakistan). T Mehrgarh settlement emerged around 7000 BC.The Neolithic people used tools and implements polished stone. Burzahom means the "place of birth", while Gufla means the "cave of the potter". Burzahom and Gufla were the prominent Neolithic settlements in Kashmir. The Neolithic people in Kashmir also used bones making numerous tools and weapons. The Neolithic settlers were the earliest farming commnities. Neolithic people of Mehrgarh produced wheat and cotton.

The Homo sapiens, the modern man, emerged in the Upper Palaeolithic period.

Chalcolithic period

The earliest evidence of cultivation of plants occurs the region of Rajasthan in India. Large scale farming activities were undertaken by the communities belonging to the Chalcolithic cultures in peninsular India.

The Jorwe culture (1400 BC-7oo BC) covered modern Maharashtra.

The Ahar culture (2100 BC-1500 BC) lay in the Banas river valley in Rajasthan.

Black and Red Ware (BRW) was the most widel] prevalent pottery form in the Chalcolithic period.