India’s prehistoric age stands as a testament to the rich tapestry of human history that unfolds across its vast landscape. Spanning thousands of years, this era holds the key to understanding the origins of human civilization on the Indian subcontinent. From the earliest stone tools to the emergence of complex societies, the prehistoric period in India offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of our ancient ancestors.
The Neolithic Age, also known as the New Stone Age, emerged during the Holocene epoch, succeeding the Mesolithic Age. This prehistoric period marked a significant transition characterized by the development of agriculture, pottery, and permanent settlements, often termed as the Neolithic Revolution.
Neolithic Revolution:
Before the Neolithic Age, people hunted and gathered for food. But during the Neolithic Age, they started farming and raising animals for the first time. They domesticated animals like goats, sheep, and cattle, using them for farming and transportation. They also began growing crops like wild varieties of rice, wheat, and barley. With agriculture, a small group of people could now feed a whole community. They also invented pottery, weaving, and spinning, which changed their way of life and led to the development of civilizations.
Features Of Neolithic Revolution
- Agriculture: The Neolithic Revolution is about when people started farming, raising animals, and living in one place. This changed society from one that hunted and gathered food to one that grew it.
People in the Neolithic Age grew crops like ragi, horse gram, cotton, rice, wheat, and barley, so they were called food producers. They also raised animals like cattle, sheep, and goats. - Tools: Unlike in the Old Stone Age, people in the Neolithic Age used polished stone tools and axes, often called celts. These tools were more refined than the rough stone tools from before. They also used tools and weapons made of bone.
- Living: Domesticating plants and animals meant there was a lot more food to store. So, people started making pottery to store food and cook. They had to build houses since they couldn’t live in caves anymore. Villages got bigger, and people lived in permanent homes.
- Housing: In the Neolithic Age, people lived in rectangular or circular houses made of mud and reed. Some lived in mud-brick houses like in Mehrgarh, while others had houses built in pits, like in Burzahom, Kashmir.
- Pottery: Because of farming, people needed pots to store food, cook, get water, and eat. So, pottery became common in the Neolithic Age. The pottery was often grey, black, or had patterns pressed into it.
- Architecture: The Neolithic Age is known for its big stone structures called megaliths. These could be anything from big stones to structures made with boulders.
- Community Life: Producing extra food let villages grow bigger, and some even became early cities later on. Neolithic people shared things like land and resources. They lived settled lives and worked together.
Neolithic Culture in India:
In India, there are three main regions with Neolithic culture: the Kashmir Valley, the Vindhya-Ganga Valley, and Karnataka.
- Vindhya-Ganga Valley: Sites like Chopani Mando, Belan, and Koldihwa.
- Kashmir Valley: Sites like Burzoham, Badatal, and Gufkral.
- Karnataka: Sites like Brahamgiri, Hallur, and Maski. Additionally, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, and Assam had late Neolithic farming communities, with Chirand in Bihar being a significant site. Characteristics:
- Tools: Indian sites had polished or ground stone axes, as well as earlier tools like microliths and blades.
- Pottery: Early Neolithic cultures in some places, like Kashmir and South India, didn’t have pottery at first, but later, they started making earthen pots.
- Housing: People lived in simple huts or pit dwellings, with huts being circular or rectangular in shape.
- Arts and Crafts: They made beads from semi-precious stones and clay figures of animals and goddesses.
In summary, the Neolithic Age brought significant changes to human life, with the advent of farming, pottery-making, and settled living laying the groundwork for civilizations to flourish.
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