Stone Age Cultures

Stone Age Cultures

1. Stone Age Cultures
Ankesh Kumar Maurya

5. •The age when the pre-historic man began to use stones for utilitarian
purpose in termed as the Stone Age.
•Started around 2 to 2.5 million years ago.
•The earthisover400 million years old.
•Theevolutionofitscrustshowsfourstages.
•The 4
th
stage is called the Quaternary, which is divided into Pleistocene
(Most recent) and Holocene (Present).
•Man is said to have appeared on the earth in the early Pleistocene when
true ox, true elephant and true horse also originated.
•InAfrica, about 3 mya.

6. Stone Age Cultures
Palaeolithic
(Old Stone
Age)
5,00,000 –
10,000 BC
Mesolithic
(Middle
Stone Age)
8,000 –4,000
BC
Neolithic
(New Stone
Age)
4,000 –1800
BC

7. Palaeolithic
Lower
2 MYA to 1,00,000 years ago
Middle
1,00,000 to 40,000 years ago
Upper
40,000 to 10,000 years ago

8. PalaeolithicAge
•Belong to the Pleistocene Geological Era.
•Itwastheperiodwhenicecoveredtheearth’ssurface.
•Hunting and Food gathering culture.
•RobertBruceFootwasthefirsttodiscoveraPalaeolithicstonein
India.

9. Tools
•Club,Sharpened Stone, Chopper, Hand Axes, Scraper, Spear, Bow and
Arrow, Harpoon, Needle etc.
•Hard rock Quartzite
•QuartziteMan (PalaeolithicMan).

12. Lower PalaeolithicAge (2MYA to 1,00,000
years ago)
•It covers the greater part of the Ice age.
•Tools-Hand Axes, Cleavers, Choppers, Chopping Tools.
•Quartzite
•In Hunsgi(Karnataka) –Limestone
•InLalitpur–PinkGranite
•InMaharashtra –Besalt

13. Lower PalaeolithicTools

14. Lower PalaeolithicSites
Sites States
BelanValley MP and UP
Bhimbetka, Jogdaha Madhya Pradesh
Bagor, BudhaPushkar Rajasthan
Patne, Nandipalle Maharashtra
Renugunta, Kurnool Caves Andhra Pradesh
Singhbhum Jharkhand
SohanValley West Punjab (Pakistan)

17. Middle PalaeolithicAge(1,00,000 –40,000 BC)
•Its tool pattern is based upon flakes and crude pebble industry.
•Smaller, lighter flake tools, blades, points, borers.
•This stage is also known by several names such as Series II, Nevasian
and Middle Stone Age in India.
•H.D. Sankaliain 1955 first discovered and identified Middle
Palaeolithiccultural phase at Nevasaon the Pravarariver valley.
•The site revealed a number of artifacts such as scrapers, points and
borers made on flakes.
•The raw materials used for making these artifacts are siliceous
materials like chert, chalcedony, agate and jasper.

18. Life During Middle PalaeolithicAge
•During the Middle Palaeolithicperiod, open-air sites along streams,
hill slopes, stable dune surfaces and rock shelters continued to be
used.
•Sanghaocave in modern Pakistan, sand dunes of Didwana, river
valleys of Chambal, Narmada, Son, Hunsgi, Kortallayaretc.

19. Tools

20. Middle PalaeolithicSites
Sites States
Nevasa Maharashtra
Bhimbetka, Narmada Valley Madhya Pradesh
Bagor, KarmaliValley, Didwana Rajasthan
Singhbhum Jharkhand

21. Upper PalaeolithicAge (40,000 –10,000 BC)
•It is characterized by burins, scrappers, fintindustry and appearance of
modern man (homo Sapiens).
•Oneimportant discovery is of the Ostrich Egg Shells at over 40 sites in
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.
•Bonetools.
•The Upper Palaeolithic culture developed during the later part of the
Upper Pleistocene.
•Archaeological evidence of this period comes from the Belanand Son
valleys in the northern Vindhyas, ChotaNagpur plateau in Bihar, Upland
Maharashtra, Orissa and from the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh.

22. Tools

23. Upper PalaeolithicSites
Sites States
Kurnool Caves Andhra Pradesh
BelanValley MP and UP
Nevasa Maharashtra
Sabarmati Valley Gujarat
Singrauli MP
Kichler Andhra Pradesh
HungsiValley Karnataka
Attirampakkam Tamilnadu
Pahalgam Kashmir
Hathnora, Narmada Valley, Bhimbetka, Adamgarh MP
KortallayerValley Tamilnadu

25. Mesolithic Age (8000 –4000 BC)
•Hunters and Herders
•Transitionalphasebetween thePalaeolithicandNeolithic
•MicrolithsorSmallPointedandSharpStoneTools
•Favourablechanges in the climate and changes in tools
•Riseintemperature
•Warm and Dry/Humid Climate
•E.g.-Birbhanpur(WB)-IncreasingAridity
•Higher Rainfall e.g.-Didwana,RJ (Salt lake sediments and Pollen grains)
•Icecaps melted forming rivers as an effect of global warming
•Availability of new resources (Human Migration)
•Increased Population

26. Tools
•Smaller in size and better in finishing
•MoreGeometric
•Microliths(SmallStoneTools)(1to8cm)
•Main Types-Blade, Core, Point, Triangle, Lunate, Trapeze
•ComponentsofSpearheads,Arrowheads,Knives,Sickles,Harpoons,
Daggers
•Use ofBowandArrow –Hunting

28. Mesolithic Sites
•First major human colonization of the Ganga plains took place during
this period
•Therearemorethan200MesolithicSitesfoundinAllahabad,
Pratapgarh,Jaunpur,Mirzapur and Varanasi
•Adamgarh(MP) and Bagor(RJ) provide the earliest evidence for the
domestication of animals like cows, horses and other poultry and
farm animals.

30. Mesolithic Sites
Sites States
Langhnaj Gujarat
Tilwara, Bagor, PachpadraBasin, SajatArea Rajasthan
Satpuras, Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha, Damadama,
ChopaniMando
UP
MorhanaPahar, Lekhakia, BughaiKhor UP
Panchmarhi, Bhimbetka, Adamgarh MP
Patne, Hatkhamba MH
Sanganukallu, Jalahalli, Kibbanhalli Karnataka
Gauri Gundam, Kurnool, Nagarjunakonda, RenigutaAndhra Pradesh
Mayurganj, Keonjhar, Sundergarh, Kuchai Orissa
Paisra Bihar
Birbhanpur WB
ShillongPlateau, Sebalgiri, Garo Hills Meghalaya

31. Habitation
•Pemanent/Semi-Permanent
•CoastalAreas,RockShelters,FlatHillTops,RiverValleys, Lakesides,
Sand Dunes, Alluvial Plains
•SandDunes–GJandMarwar
•Rock Shelter-Vindhya, Satpura, KaimurHills
•AlluvialPlains-Birbhanpur(WB)
•RockyPlains-DeccanPlateau
•LakeShore–GangeticRegions (Allahabad and Pratapgarh)\

33. Subsistence Pattern and Social Life
•Economy –Based on Hunting, Fishing and Gathering
•DomesticationofAnimals(AdamgarhandBagor)
•Meat and Vegetal Food
•Cave Paintings
•HutDecoration
•Sowing Seeds
•PotteryMaking
•Dancing and Singing
•Material Buried Along With

35. Changes in Life –Mesolithic Era
•From Nomadism to Sedentary Settlements
•First disposal of dead and making of graves
•Burials-Bagor,Langhnaj,Bhimbetka
•EmergenceofArts–Paintings
•Red and White Pigments
•RelatedtoHumanSocial and Religious life
•E.g. –MorhanaPaharGroup of Rock Shelters near Mirzapur
•FirstPlants-Wheat and Barley
•First Domestication-Dog, Cattle, Sheep, Goat

36. Mesolithic Art

37. MorhanaPahar(Near Mirzapur)

38. PalaeolithicTools
•Rough
•Big
•Crude
•Unpolished
Mesolithic Tools
•Polished
•Microliths

40. Neolithic Age (4000 –1800 BC)
•Food Producers
•New Stone Age
•Last Phase of Stone Age
•DomesticationofPlantsandAnimals
•Invention of Pottery
•Coined by Sir John Lubbock
•V.GordonChilde –Neolithic Revolution
•PracticeofAgriculture

42. Tools
•Grinding and Polishing of Stone Tools
•Pre-MetalAge

43. Features
•Kashmir-Only site where Microlith is completely absent
•Chirandand Kashmir-Only site which has yielded considerable bone
implements
•Burzahom–Domestic dogs were buried with their masters in their
graves
•Koldihwa-Cultivation of rice in the 6
th
MillemmiumBC.
•MehargarhistheoldestNeolithicsite.

44. NeolithicSites
Sites States
Burzahom, Gufkral Kashmir
Mehrgarh, KiliGul Muhammad Baluchistan
DaojaliHading Assam
ChopaniMando, Mahagarha UP
Chirand, Chechar Bihar
Tekkalakota, Sanganakallu, Narsipur, Hallur, Kupgal,
Kodekal
Karnataka
Nagarjunakonda, Piklihal, Utnur Andhra Pradesh
Paiyanpalli Tamil Nadu

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