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:
- Lower Palaeolithic – tools included were hand axes, cleavers, choppers.
- Middle Palaeolithic – tool largely includes flakes.
- 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.
Section : History & Culture
