UPSC Express

ABOUT STONE AGE

• The stone age is divided into three stages:

A. Palaeolithic Age

• This age was developed in the Pleistocene period.
• The term Palaeolithic is derived from the Greek word meaning ‘ old stone’.
• Palaeolithic men lead a savage life, using stone weapon for hunting.
• There was no family life, people use to live in caves or wander in jungle.
• There was no agriculture, people use to hunt animal and gather edible plants and tubers.
• Palaeolithic age has been divided into three phases on the basis of the nature of stone tools made by human beings:

1. Lower Palaeolithic – tools included were hand axes, cleavers, choppers.
2. Middle Palaeolithic – tool largely includes flakes.
3. Upper Palaeolithic – tools included were burns and scrapers.

B. Mesolithic Age

• This age was developed in the Holocene period.
• This period witnessed a rise in temperature and the climate became warm and dry, which in turn affected human life and brought about changes in flora and fauna.
• The man was hunting and gathering food and domesticated dog.
• The beginning of the art of making clay pot is significant development of Mesolithic age.
• In this period bones were used as some of tools, use of bones along the stone marked the biggest change in the life of man from Palaeolithic period to Mesolithic period.
• The technology of producing tools also underwent a change; small stone tools were being used.
• The Mesolithic man started using special kind of weapons known as microliths or pygmy tools made of jasper chalk or bloodstone.
• The main tools include: blade, core, point, scrapper, burin, chopper.

C. Neolithic Age

• This age was developed in the Holocene period.
• People entered a new stage in which they instead of depending entirely on resources of nature, they started producing their own food by cultivating cereals and started domesticating some species of animals.
• Domestication of plants and animals led to emergence of village communities based on sedentary life.
• The beginning of this stage of culture in India is revealed by new types of stone tools called Neolithic tools or the tools of Neolithic age.
• The term Neolithic is derived from Greek word meaning ‘new stone’
• The tools of Neolithic age were well shaped, sharp and polished and therefore more effective as compared to earlier period.