Ancient India

The Stone Age/Lithic Age 30,00,000 BC to 1,000 BC

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The Stone Age/Lithic Age 30,00,000 BC to 1,000 BC

During the early period of humans, some archaeological evidence was found in which stone implements were found in great numbers. That's why this period is called the Lithic Age, Le Stone Age.

The Lithic Age/the Stone Age is divided into three periods:

Paleolithic Age or Old Stone Age
Mesolithic Age or Middle Stone Age
Neolithic Age or New Stone Age

Name of the period	Period	Life Style	Implements (Tools & Weapons)
Paleolithic	30,00,000 BC – 10,000 BC	Hunter & Food–gatherers	Chopper, Chopping Hand Axe, Cleaver, Fake Tools, Blade Tools
Mesolithic	9,000 BC – 4,000 BC	Hunters & Herders	Microlith Implements
Neolithic	7,000 BC – 1,000 BC	Food – Producer	Polished Implements

I Paleolithic Age or the Old Stone Age (30,00,000 BC–10,000 BC)

The term Paleolithic is the combination of two Greek words, Paleo (=old) and lithic (=stone). Thus, the meaning of the Paleolithic Age is "the old stone Age".
In India, the credit for the systematic discovery of Paleolithic archaeological materials goes to Robert Bruce (R.B.) Foote, a geologist of the Geological Survey of India (estd. in 1851).
He discovered a Paleolithic implement—a hand Axe—in a gravel pit at Pallavaram in the Chingelput district of Tamil Nadu state in 1863. R.B. Foote is known as "the father of Prehistoric Archaeology (India)".
In 1982, Arun Sonakia, a geologist in the Paleontology Division of the Geological Survey of India, discovered a woman's skull from Hathnora (a place situated in the Narmada River valley, Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh).
This is an important achievement because, due to this, India is placed on the global map of finding sites of hominid fossils. According to Arun Sonakia, this human skull belonged to the category of Homo Erectus.

Paleolithic Human Life

Food

The life of Paleolithic people was primitive.
They largely depended on hunting and nature-given things. Their food was meat, fruit, or root.
They did not know how to grow grain and vegetables. Their food was not cooked, their clothes were not sewn, and they had no houses.

Since they were not familiar with the use of fire, they ate raw meat. After a long period, sometime between 2,00,000 BC and 1,00,000 BC, they discovered fire (controlled fire or innovation of the fire).

The discovery of fire was accidental. The striking together of two pieces of quartzite stone produced a spark which, when it touched dry leaves and twigs, burst into a flame. This is the way they learnt to make a fire.

Now with the help of fire, they were in a position to cook flesh (of animals) and to keep predator animals away from their places of rest. Thus, the discovery of fire made a significant difference to man, and it can be regarded as a major discovery.

Covering the Body (Clothes)

Primitive man had little care about clothes. When the weather was warm, little clothing was required.
In rainy or winter season, they wrapped the skins of the animals as well as the barks of trees and large leaves around their bodies as clothes.

Dwelling

They had no certain dwelling places and used to live as wanderers.
When in need, they used to take shelter in caves, forests, leafy branches of large trees, and down trees.
In some caves, like Bhimbetaka, etc, remains of paintings are found which are ascertained with the last phase of the Paleolithic Age, i.e., Upper/Later Paleolithic Age.
This clarifies that rock paintings had begun in the Upper/Later Paleolithic Age.

Only Food-Consumers

In this primitive age of civilization, men neither knew animal husbandry and crop-cultivation (agriculture) nor the art of pottery making.
In this age, men were food-gatherers, and for their food supply, they largely depended on nature.
It means they were consumers only of foodstuffs. They couldn't become food producers yet.

There were no specific differences in the lifestyles of men and wild animals. The men of this age were mainly of Negreto race.

Disposal of the Dead Person

They were unaware of the funeral rites of the dead person. They left the dead person in an open space without performing any rituals, where the corpses of the dead person were consumed by birds and animals.

In other words, they placed the dead body in the open space to be eaten away by the birds and animals.

Paleolithic Implements

Based on differences in stone implements, the Paleolithic period is divided into three ages:

Lower/Earlier Paleolithic Age
Middle Paleolithic Age
Upper/Later Paleolithic Age

Name of the age	Period	Implements (Tools & Weapons)
Lower/EarlierEarly Paleolithic Age	30,00,000 BC –1 00,000 BC	Chopper & Chopping ; Hand axe & cleaver
Middle Paleolithic Age	1,00,000 BC – 40,000 BC	Implements made of Flake
Upper / Later / Late Paleolithic Age	40,000 BC – 10,000 BC	Implements made of Fake & Blade

Lower/Earlier/Early Paleolithic implements

Lower Paleolithic people used quartzite (a type of stone) and other stones to make implements (tools & weapons).

Based on implement-type and spread regions, the cultures of the lower Paleolithic period are divided into two parts: Chopper-Chopping Pebble Culture (Sohan Culture) and Hand Axe culture (Madrasian culture)

Chopper-Chopping Pebble Culture: The implements of their culture were first found in the Sohan River valley, West Punjab (Pakistan), which is why this culture is also called the Sohan culture.
Pebble: A piece of rock whose edges have become smooth & shiny due to friction from the flow of water.
Chopper: Unifacial pebble/single-edged pebble (made by chipping of a pebble to make a single edge)
Chopping: Bifacial pebble/double-edged pebble (made by chipping of a pebble to make a double edge).
Hand Axe Culture: The implements of this culture were first found at Badmadurai & Attirampakkam of Madras, which is why it is also called 'Madrasian Culture'.
HandAxee: Hand axe was generally made by the core and flake method. After breaking the stone into pieces, the larger piece is known as the "core" and the smaller piece as a flake. The first part of a hand axe was made thick, and the front part of a hand axe was made thin. A hand axe was used for cutting and tearing.
Cleaver: The cleaver was used to cleave (split) the barks of trees and skins of animals.
Scraper: The scraper was used to scrape (flay) the bark of trees and the skins of animals.

Lower/Earlier/Early Paleolithic Sites

State-wise descriptions of Lower/Earlier/Early Paleolithic sites are as follows:

State	River Valley Region (Archaeological Sites)
Punjab (Pakistan)	Sohan River Valley (Pindi gheb, Adiyal, Khasarkalan, Chauntara, Balbal, Garial, Kasalkalan, Riwat, Aurang-zeb, Morga etc), Potwar.
Kashmir	Liddar River Valley (Pahalgam)
Himachal Pradesh	Vyas-Vanganga River valley (Guler, Dehra, Ghali-yada, Kangara, etc), Sirsa River Valley (Nalgar, etc).
Rajasthan	Chambal River Vallev (Sonita, Bhainsorgarh etc). Gambhiri River Valley (Chittorgarh), Berach River Valley (Nagari), Situated in Nagore District-Didwana.
Gujarat	Sabarmati River Valley (Hadol, Padhamali, Birp, ur etc). Hirana River Valley (Umarethi).
Madhya Pradesh	Narmada River Valley [In Hoshangabad district-Hathnora (from where in 1982, Arun Sonakia, a geologist in Paleontology Division of the Geological Survey of India, found a fossil of a woman's skull which is the earliest finding of human remains in India), Situated in Hoshangabad district-Adamgarh & Mahadev-Piparia, situated in Raisen district-Bhim-betaka]: Son River Valley (Sinhawal, Patpara, Baghor, Khetaunhi, Nakajharkhurda).
Uttar Pradesh	Belan River Valley (from Baraundha of Mirzapur district to Belan-Tons juncture of Meza tehsil of Allahabad district).
Bihar	Munger, various sites situated in Rajgir.
Jharkhand	Various sites situated in the Singhbhum, Santhal Parganas, Hazaribagh, and Ranchi districts.
West Bengal	Various sites are situated in Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, and Midnapur districts.
Odisha	Buhar-Valang Valley (various sites situated in Mayurbhanj district, e.g-Kaliyana).
Maharashtra	Pravara River Valley (Newasa), Godawari River Valley (Gangapur), Pravara-Chirki Nala Valley (Chirki-Newasa), Kukadi River Valley (Bori).
Andhra Pradesh	Various sites are situated in Kurnool, Chittur, Nagarjunikonda, Nalkonda, Kudappa, Nellore, Prakasham, and Mehboob Nagar districts.
Karnataka	Malprabha-Ghatprabha River Valley (situated in Bijapur district-Anagbadi, situated in Gulbarga district, Hunsgi).
Tamil Nadu	Kortalyar River Valley (Pallavaram-first Paleolithic site from where Robert Bruce Foote, a geologist of the Geological Survey of India, discovered stone implement-Hand Axe: Badmadurai, Attirapakkam, Manajkaran, Budida Manuvanka, Gudiam, etc.)

Middle Paleolithic Implements

The chief stone implement material of this age was flint.
The implements made from flakes were Scraper, Burin, Borer, etc. Due to the preponderance of implements made from flint, the Middle Paleolithic Age is also called 'Flake Culture'.
In the making of these implements, the good quality of quartzite (a type of stone) was used.
The precious stone-like Chert, Jasper, and Flint were also used in plenty to make implements.

Middle Paleolithic Sites

State-wise descriptions of Middle Paleolithic sites are as follows:

State	River Valley Region (Archaeological Sites)
Jowajan (Afghanistan)	Sanghao Cave
Punjab (Pakistan)	Sohan River Valley, Indus River Valley (Rohri)
Jammu Kashmir	Liddar River Valley (Pahalgam)
Himachal Pradesh	Vyas-Vanganga River Valley, Sirsa River Valley
Rajasthan	Berach-Bagan-Kadmali River Valley, Luni-Jojari-Resiya-Bandi-Sukari Lilary River Valley, Situated in Nagore district-Jayal, Mangalpura, Janana etc. In the eastern front of Thar district-Budha Pushkar
Gujarat	Various sites situated in Gujarat, Saurashtra, Kuchchh
Madhya Pradesh	Situated in Raisen district- Bhimbetaka caves, Situated in Panna district- Pandav Prapat, Situated in Sidhi district- Sihawall, Nakjharakhurd & Patapara, Situated on the bank of the Narmada- Samanpurur
Uttar Pradesh	Situated in Varanashi district-Chakiya tehsil & Sonbhadra; Singroli basin of Mirzapur district; Meza, Karchhana & Baran tehsils of Allahabad district; Various sites situated in Chitrakuta, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Lalitpur districts.
Jharkhand	Various sites in the Sinhbhum & Palamu districts
West Bengal	Various sites situated in the Purulia district
Odisha	Buhar-Valang Valley
Maharashtra	Khandivalli, Newasa, Bel Pandhari, Suregaon, Kalegaon, Nandumadhameshwar
Andhra Pradesh	Various sites situated in Kurnool, Nagar Junikonda, Nalgonda, Chittur, Kadappa, Nellore, Prakasham, et,c districts.
Karnataka	Various sites situated in Shorapur doab, Bhima river & Hunsgi canal regions of Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbara, districts
Tamil Nadu	Attiraphakkam, Gudiam etc.

Upper/Later Paleolithic Implements

The chief stone implement material of this age was Flake & Blade.
The various types of implements were made from Flake-Blade, in which the Burin is the most important.
Due to the preponderance of implements made from Flake-Blade, the Upper/Later Paleolithic Age is also called 'Flake-Blade Culture'.
In the making of these implements, the precious stones like Chert, Jasper, Flint, etc, were used.
In this age, besides stones, bone-horn implements are also found.
These implements were made mainly from long bones and horns of animals.
Until now, the maximum number of bone-horn-made implements were found from Muchchhatala Chintamanugavi cave shelter of Andhra Pradesh.

Upper/Later Paleolithic Sites

State-wise description of Upper/Later Paleolithic sites is as follows:

State	River Valley Region (Archaeological Sites)
Jowajan (Afghanistan)	Sanghao Cave
Punjab (Pakistan)	Indus River Valley (Rohri)
Rajasthan	Situated in the Ajmer district-Budha Pushkar
Gujarat	Visadi
Madhya Pradesh	Jogdaha, Bhimbetka (finding of some pieces of blue colour stones), Baburi, Rampur, Baghore-I
Uttar Pradesh	Belan River Valley (Finding of a bone-made statue of Matridevi from Lohanda nala region of Meza Tehsil in Allahabad . This is the only statue found from Upper/Later Paleo-lithic sites of India), Son River Valley (a site near Chopan in Sonbhadra district)
Jharkhand	Sinhbhum
Maharashtra	Situated in Jalgaon district-Patne (finding of beads made from egg-shells of ostrich), Bhadne & Inamgaon
Andhra Pradesh	Renigunta, Bemula, Yerragondapalem, Caves (Bila Surganum- remains of Hearth, this is the earliest site of hearth finding in India) of Kurnool, Muchchhtala Chintamanugavi cave shelter (The richest site of bone-horn-made implements remains finding from Upper/later Paleolithic sites of India), Betam Cherla
Karnataka	Situated in Gulbarga district-Shorapur doab doaba region, lying between two rivers, Bijapur district.

Continue learning about the Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages.

Ancient India

The Stone Age/Lithic Age 30,00,000 BC to 1,000 BC

The Stone Age/Lithic Age 30,00,000 BC to 1,000 BC

Name of the period

Period

Life Style

Implements (Tools & Weapons)

I Paleolithic Age or the Old Stone Age (30,00,000 BC–10,000 BC)

Paleolithic Human Life

Food

Covering the Body (Clothes)

Dwelling

Only Food-Consumers

Disposal of the Dead Person

Paleolithic Implements

Name of the age

Period

Implements (Tools & Weapons)

Lower/Earlier/Early Paleolithic implements

Lower/Earlier/Early Paleolithic Sites

State

River Valley Region (Archaeological Sites)

Middle Paleolithic Implements

Middle Paleolithic Sites

State

River Valley Region (Archaeological Sites)

Upper/Later Paleolithic Implements

Upper/Later Paleolithic Sites

State

River Valley Region (Archaeological Sites)

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