UPSC Express

Prehistoric period 

• It is known as the period before history i.e. it is the time period before the emergence of writing.
• The prehistoric period is divided into three ages:

1. Stone age
2. Bronze age
3. Iron age

• In India, the prehistoric period is divided into:

1. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)
2. Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
3. Neolithic (New Stone Age)
4. Metal Age

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 agriculture, people use to hunt animal and gather edible plants and tubers.
• There was no family life, people use to live in caves or wander in jungle.
• 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 – tools largely included flakes.
3. Upper Palaeolithic – tools included were burns and scrapers.

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 beginning of the art of making clay pot is significant development of Mesolithic age.
• The man was hunting and gathering food and domesticated dog.
• In this period bones were used as tools and the 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, now 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 included blade, core, point, scrapper, burin, chopper.

Neolithic Age

• This is the age when people 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 a 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.

Chacolithic or metal age

• At the end of the Neolithic Period, use of metals like copper along with stone started.
• In this way, it is named as Chalcolithic which means the stone-copper phase.
• Smelting of metal ore and creation of metal artefacts is the important development during this period.
• Cultures during Chalcolithic phase grew in river valleys.
• Probably, Gold was discovered earliest but it was used for ornaments only.
• Some of the important sites of this phase are in:
• Rajasthan
• Maharashtra
• West Bengal
• Bihar
• MP
• Farming communities settled along the river valleys of Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra, Pennar and Kaveri in South India.
• Black and red pottery is the most popular among the different types of pottery, used by the Chalcolithic people.
• People generally lived in thatched houses as they were not acquainted with burnt bricks.

Iron age

• Iron age follows the Chalcolithic age.
• There is a frequent reference of iron in the Vedas.
• Megaliths of this age are spread across the Indian subcontinent.
• Bulk of them are found in peninsular India, concentrated in the states of Maharashtra (mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.