What is Pre-History?
The Prehistoric Period—or when there was human life before records documented human activity.
Roughly dates from 2.5 million years ago to 1,200 B.C. It is generally categorized in three archaeological periods: the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
From the invention of tools made for hunting to advances in food production and agriculture to early examples of art and religion.
Palaeolithic Period: 2 million BC – 10,000 BC
Mesolithic Period: 10,000 BC – 8000 BC
Neolithic Period: 8000 BC – 4000 BC
Chalcolithic Period: 4000 BC – 1500 BC
Iron Age: 1500 BC – 200 BC.
Palaeolithic Period (Old Stone Age)
divided on the basis of tools used by Humans for hunting and according to the climatic conditions. Most of the period of old stone age was of ice age.
- Early/lower Palaeolithic. (500000 BC-50000BC)
- Middle Palaeolithic. (50000-40000 BC)
- New/upper Palaeolithic (40000-10000 BC)
Tools Used:
Limestone and bones were used to make tools.
Chief Occupation:
Hunters and food gatherers.
Important Sites:
- Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh.
- Belan Valley in Mirzapur UP.
- Rajasthan.
- Gujarat.
Note: Palaeolithic sites are absent in alluvial plains of Indus and Ganga.
Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone age)
Palaeolithic age came to end after Ice age around 9000 BC.
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.
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.
Tools Used:
Limestone and bones were used to make tools but smaller size called Microliths.
Chief Occupation:
Hunters and food gatherers.
Important Sites:
- Brahmagiri (Mysore)
- Narmada
- Vindhya
- Gujarat
- UP
- Bhimbetka
- Godavari Basin.
Note: we will read about pre-Historic art and cave paintings in A&C classes.
Neolithic Period (New Stone Age)
Starting of agriculture
Moving from nomadic to settled life
Wheel discovered. Ragi, wheat and gram were cultivated
They knew to make fire
Pottery appeared for the first time for the purpose of Grain storage and cooking.
Use of polished stone and weapons made of bones/horns of animals
disposal of the dead
Tools Used:
Stone with handle.
Chief Occupation:
Hunters and food gatherers and agriculture.
Three distinct sites of Neolithic settlements in India are:
- Western Himalaya.
- Eastern Himalaya.
- South India.
Important Sites:
- Inamgaon
- Burzahom (Kashmir).
- Mehrgarh (Pakistan) is the oldest Neolithic site in India
- Daojali Hading (Tripura/Assam)
- Hallur (AP)
- Paiyampalli (AP)
- Chirand (Bihar)
Note:
Mehrangarh people cultivated Wheat and Cotton and lived in Mud houses.
In Burzahom(Kashmir) people were buried with their Dogs and used pottery.
Chalcolithic Period (Copper Age/Bronze Age)
(4000 BC – 1500 BC)
Use of Metal (copper) and stone simultaneously.
The end of the Neolithic Period saw the use of metals of which copper was the first and a culture based on the use of stone and copper arrived.
Chalcolithic period was transition between Stone Age and metal age. This was the period in which stone tools were losing their significance and copper tools were finding grounds.
The new technology of smelting metal ore and crafting metal artifacts is an important development in human civilization.
Unlike stone age which grew in mountains and hilly areas Chalcolithic cultures had grown in river valleys.
Indus Valley Civilization (2700 BC – 1900 BC) belong to this period.
Smelting of metals such as Copper began which was used for raw material to be used in tool production. Later, Tin was mixed with cooper and bronze appeared which stronger metal than both tin and copper was. Use of bronze for tools led to the invention of wheel which revolutionized transport and pottery production.
The presence of painted pottery is a hall mark of the Chalcolithic period. The burial practice was another striking feature and the dead were buried in a particular direction all over a particular area.
Important Chalcolithic cultures were:
- Ahar culture c. 2,800-1,500 B.C.
- Kayatha culture c. 2,450-700 B.C.
- Malwa culture c. 1,900-1,400 B.C.
- Savalda culture c. 2,300-2,000 B.C.
- Jorwe culture c. 1,500 -900 B.C.
- Prabhas culture c. 2,000-1,400 B.C.
- Rangpur culture c. 1,700-1,400 B.C.
Difference between Chalcolithic Age and Harappan Culture?
Harappan was highly advanced than chalcolithic period. Stone tools were completely replaced by bronze and copper in harappan culture. All aspects of society intellectual, religious, social, economic, political and military (security) were equally advance.
Inamgaon:
Inamgaon was a mid-sized Chacolithic (Bronze age) era settlement in Maharastra that thrived between 1600 BCE -700 BCE.
The people who lived here were mostly farmers who had knowledge of making copper implements.
A large stash of pottery was also found here.
While all this made Inamgaon an important site, what made it a stand-out was the fact that of the 243 burials found here, there were many that could not be explained.
Plethora of twin-urn burials, mostly belonging to children below the age group of six.
The head and shoulder of the dead were inserted into one urn while the legs were inserted into the other and the urns were sealed mouth to mouth.
Although urn burial was common in that age where skeletal remains were put into urn and buried, however. In case of Inamgaon entire human body of an adult are found to be stashed in urn and buried.
Head was kept in north and leg in south direction.
Iron Age: 1500 BC – 200 BC.
Arrival of the Aryans: Vedic Period
Jainism, Buddhism.
Mahajanapadas: the first major civilization on the banks of the river Ganga after the Indus Valley.