The Prehistorical Period

Indian Ancient history the Prehistorical Period or stone age note for ssc, railway, and other exam

The

Prehistorical

Period

 

• The Prehistorical period in the history of mankind can roughly be dated from 20,00,000 BC to about 3500-2500 BC, where the first civilization began to take shape.
• The first modern human beings or the Homo Sapiens set foot on the Indian subcontinent somewhere between 50000 BC and  40000 BC and they soon spared through a large part of the subcontinent, including peninsular India,
• They continuously flooded the Indian subcontinent in waves of migration from what is present day Iran.
•  These primitive people moved in group of few "families and lived mainly on hunting and gathering".

stone age

 Stone Age

•  The age when the prehistorical man began to use stone for utilitarian purpose is called as the stone age.

• Stone Age is divide into three broad division- 

  1. Paleolithic Age or Old Stone Age (from unknown till 8000 BC)

  2. Mesolithic Age or Middle Stone Age (8000 BC - 4000 BC)

  3. Neolithic Age Or New Stone Age (4000 BC - 2500 BC ) 

     ( On The Basis Of Stone tools, which were made during that time)
     
     

     (1) Paleolithic Age 0r Old Stone Age

     •  The human being living in the Paleolithic Age were essentially food gathers and depend on nature of food
     • The art of hunting and stalking wild animals individually and later groups led to these people making stone weapons and tools.
     • these kind of tools were generally use to kill small animal and for tearing the flesh from the carcass of the hunted animals.
     • these tools are characteristic of the Paleolithic Age and were very rough.
     
     

     (2) Mesolithic Age or Middle Stone Age

     •  In the Mesolithic Age , the stone tools began to be made more pointed and sharp.
     •  To ensure a life that had abundance of food and clothing, the stone tools began to appear in increasingly specialize way.
     •  Apart From hand Axes, they also produced crude, stone-tipped wooden spear, borers, and bruins.
     • This period also saw the domestication of animals and cultivation of wild varieties of crop.
     • Because of farming, small settlement began to take shape.
     •  Archaeological excavation have unearthed Mesolithic site in Chotta Nagpure area of central India and the area in the South of the River Krishna.
     • Fire was started to be produced.
     
     

     (3) Neolithic Age  Or New Stone Age

     •  Neolithic Age (4000 BC - 2500 BC ) or New stone Age was the last phase of stone age and is characterize by very finely flaked small stone tools, also known as blade and burins.
     • Neolithic Age also saw the domestication of cattle's, horses, and other farm animals.
     • An important invention of this time was the wheel.
     • Fire was started to be produced.
     
     

     (4)Chalcolithic Phase

     • Toward the end of Neolithic Period, metals like bonze and copper began to be used.
     • This was the Chalcolithic phase (1800 BC - 100 BC) .
     • Some of the sites of this era are Brahmgiri (near Mysore) and Navada (on River Nermada).