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Ancient India
Mesolithic Age in India (9,000 BC - 4,000 BC)
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- Mesolithic Age In India (9,000 BC - 4,000 BC)
- Introduction - Indian History
- Historical Sources (Literary & Archaeological Source)
- Pre-Historic Period (30,00,000 BC - 600 BC) Human Evolution
- The Stone Age/Lithic Age 30,00,000 BC to 1,000 BC
- 7 Highlights of India's Prehistoric Ages
- Vedic Period (Vedic, Rig Vedic, Later Vedic Period) - 1500 BC - 600 BC Original Homo of The Aryan
- Mahajanapada Period (600 BC-325 BC)
- Religious Movements (600 BC - 400 BC) – Jainism, Buddhism
- Maurya Period (322 BC - 155 BC)
- Post-Maurya/Pre-Gupta Period (185BC-319 AD)
- The Sangam Period (1st-3rd Century AD)
- Gupta Period (319 AD - 540 AD)
- Post-Gupta Period/Vardhana Dynasty (550 AD - 647 AD)/Pushyabhuti
- Early Medieval Period (650 AD-1206 AD)/ Rajput Period & Cholas
- Sultanate Period (1206-1526AD) - The Delhi Sultanate
- Vijayanagar Empire (1336-1565 AD) & The Other KIngdoms
- Religious Movements in 15th -16th Centuries ( Bhakti & Sufi Movements)
- Mughal Period (1526-1540 and 1555-1857)
- Maratha State (1674-1720) and Maratha Confederacy (1720-1818)
- The Advent of the Europeans (Portuguese, Dutch, French, East India Company)
- Expansion of British Power (In the context of Bengal, Mysore, Punjab etc.)
- Economic Impact of British Rule
- Socio-Religious Movements in 19th-20th Centuries
- Lower Caste/Caste Movements and Organisations
- Moderate Phase (1885-1905) - Indian National Congress
- Extremist Phase (1905-1917)
- The Gandhian Era: 1869–1948
- Miscellaneous - Indian History
- Brahmanic (Hindu) Texts
- Buddhist Texts and Jain Texts
- Historical and Semi-Historical Texts
- Biographical Texts - Indigenous Sources
- Greek Writers - Foreign Sources
- Chinese and Tibetan Writers
- Arabian & Arabic Writers
- Origin & Development of Indian Archaeology
- Inscriptions of Archaeological Sources
- Mauryan Inscriptions
- Post-Mauryan Inscriptions
- Gupta and Later Inscriptions in India
- South Indian Inscriptions
- Human Evolution Pre-Historic Period
- Neolithic Age (7,000 BC - 1,000 BC)
- Neolithic Sites in India
- Chalco-Lithic Age (3,500 BC - 1,000 BC)
- Iron Age (1,000 BC–500 BC)
- Iron Using Cultures - Iron Age
Mesolithic Age in India (9,000 BC - 4,000 BC)
Meaning of the Mesolithic Age
The term 'Mesolithic' is the combination of two Greek words, Meso (= Middle) and Lithic (= Stone).
Thus, the meaning of the Mesolithic Age is Middle Stone Age.
Being an intermediate stage between Paleolithic Age & Neolithic Age, this is called Mesolithic Age.
This was the age of transition, because they neither totally abandoned the characteristics of Paleolithic Age nor totally adopted the features of Neolithic Age.
Discovery in India
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In India, the credit for the discovery of Mesolithic archaeological materials goes to John Evans.
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Mr. Evan excavated Sakkar & Rohri (archaeological sites of Sindh) in 1866.
Mesolithic Human Life
Taming the Animals
In the lives of Mesolithic men, some reforms had come concerning the lives of previous Paleolithic men.
Although they still depended largely on hunting, they began totameg (domesticate) animals like:
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Dog
-
Sheep-goat
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Cow
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Ox
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Buffalo
-
Wild horse
The earliest evidence of taming the animals has been found in:
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Adamgarh of Madhya Pradesh
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Baghore of Rajasthan
Burial of the Dead
These people were aware of the burial process of dead bodies.
It is confirmed by the graves found in:
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Sarainahar Rai
-
Mahadaha of Pratapgarh district (Uttar Pradesh)
They buried their dead in graves and placed foodstuff, tools, weapons, etc., as grave goods with them.
Probably, they believed in life after death.
From some archaeological sites like Adamgarh, skeletons of dogs are found along with human skeletons.
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It seems the dog was the old companion of man.
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At first, man tamed (domesticated) the dog.
Many sites of the Mesolithic Age have been excavated in which findings of graves are in maximum number.
It is a notable fact that the first of all human skeletons began to appear from Mesolithic Age.
It is also to be kept in mind that from the Paleolithic site Hathnora, only a human skull is found — not the complete skeleton, as we find in Mesolithic sites.
Mesolithic Implements
Tiny Tools: Microliths
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The size of the implements (tools & weapons) of the Mesolithic Age is very tiny.
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Therefore, these are called Microlith or Pigmy Implements.
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They vary in size from 1 to 8 cm.
Some of these implements are refined and short forms of Upper/Later Paleolithic tools, like:
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Scraper
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Burin
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Borer
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Point
Others are new implements such as:
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Lunates
-
Trapezes
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Triangles
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Arrow-heads
(All in different shapes and sizes)
Materials Used
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In the Mesolithic Age, Agate, Jasper, Chert, Chalcedony, etc., were used as raw materials to make stone implements (instead of Quartzite, the main raw material used in the Paleolithic Age).
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From some archaeological sites, implements made from bone & horn are also found.
Mesolithic Sites
State-wise descriptions of Mesolithic sites are as follows:
State |
Sites (Archaeological Remains) |
|
Gujarat |
Situated in the Mehaana district) Langhna (Burial ground. 14 human skeletons, bones of animals), Val sana, Akhaj, Loteshwar & Ratanpur, Situated in Panchmahal district-Pavagarh & Tarsang stone-Shelters: Situated in Ahmedabad district-Undrel; Situated in Sabarkantha district-Dhamsura; Situated in Jamnagar district-Pithau. |
|
Madhya Pradesh |
Situated in Hoshangabad district-Adamgarh [Stone-shelter, 25000 microliths, bones of wild & domestic animals (dog, sheep, goat, cow-ox, buffalo, pig, etc), pottery, rock-painting], Jambudwip trock shelter) & Dorothidwip (rock-shelter), Situated in. Raisen district- Bhimbetka rock shelters/caves (Discoverer-Vishnu Shridhar Vakankar in 1957, evidence of human burial, excess enriched site of rock paintings), Situated in Sidhi district- Baglhore-II. Medhauli, Banki & Ghagharia. |
|
Uttar Pradesh |
Situated in Pratapgarh district-SarainaharRai (Mi-croliths, horn-made implements, 14 burials, 6 fire pits), Mahadaha (dwelling place, burials, fire-pits, bones of twelve-tined, buffalo, elephant, rhinoc eros, pig etc) & Damdama (Microliths, horn-made implements, ornaments, 41 human burials, fire-pits, bones of animals & birds, stone slab & grinder); Situ-ated in Meza Tehsil of Allahabad district-Choponi mando (an extensive field, huts, hand-made earth enware the earliest site of the world from where remains of the use of clay pottery found, findings of Microliths & human skeltons from Karchhana Tehsil, Bora Tehsil, Phoolpur Tehsil (Jamunapur), Koraon Tehsil (Kuda, Bichhiva, Bhikhpur & Marudih) etc Situated in Varanasi district-Chakiya (microliths, human skelton); Situated in Mirzapur district-Morhana Pahar (rock paintings of chariot & horses), Sohagighat (first site of the world from where rock painting discovered, year of discovery -1867-68, discoverer-A.CL. Carllayle, Assistant Surveyor of Archaeological Survey of India), Baghahikhor, Le khaniya/Lekhahiya (stone-shelter, microliths & 17 human skelton) |
|
Bihar |
Rajgir, Situated in Bhagalpur district-Ambar-pur, Dhaltaur & Rajapokhar, Situated in Munger district, Paisara, etc. |
|
Jharkhand |
Situated in Ranchi district-Coochjharia, Palamu. |
|
West Bengal |
Situated in Barddhaman district-Birbhanpur (282 microliths, a combined place of factory & housing). |
|
Odisha |
Situated in the Mayurbhanj district-Kuchai |
|
Maharashtra |
Situated near Mumbai-Khandivalli; Situated in the bank region of Konkan-Kasushol, Janyire, Bayalgo, Jalgarh, etc. |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
Situated in Guntoor district-Nagarjunikonda, Situated in Kurnool district-Giddlur, Situated in Chittur district-Renigunta |
|
Karnataka |
Situated in Bellari district-Sarıgankallu, Situated in Bengaluru district- Jalhalli (Specific Quartz-quartzite Industry- Beginning of technology of D-shaped slant arrow-heads as a new technology), Situated in Gulbarga district- Shorapur doab. |
|
Tamil Nadu |
Teri sites of Tirunevalli district- Magnapuram, Kattaampali, Kuthankali, Sawayapuram, Ketta-lankulam, Kulattur, Pattantaruwai, Surgundi, Na-jerath, Manadu & Kayamoli. Teri's mounds of sand are called"Teri' in the local language.) |
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