Mesolithic period:[10,000 BCE - 4000 BCE]
- Mesolithic sites are found in most parts of India
- Paisra(Bihar), Chonapi Mando, Adamgarh and Bhimbetka
- Hunting wild animals and gathering plant food and fishing were people's main occupation during this age
- In India, mesolithic cultures appeared around 10,000 BCE, In certain parts of India including Kerala and Tamilnadu, it continued up to 1000 BCE, till the beginning of the Iron age
- Agriculture was not practiced in the early stages, At the end of the mesolithic period, humans domesticated animals and paved the way for the neolithic way of life. The rock paintings of Central India depict hunting, trapping, fishing and plant food collection
- Traces of oval and circular huts and possible wattle daub are found in Chopani Mando
- The Mesolithic people buried the dead, which suggests their beliefs and humane relationships
- A chert stone used as a core had geometric engravings from Chandravati in Rajasthan, bone objects from Bhimbetka and human tooth engraved with geometric design
- Rock paintings are found in the rock shelters of Madhya Pradesh and Central India. These people might have decorated themselves with flowers and leaves
- Major climate change happened
- Climate became warmer and more humid
- Rainfall increased and so more availability of flora and fauna
- Domestication of animals and plants were seen for the first time. Microliths have been excavated
- They are small stone tools that were probably stuck to stones to be used as saws and sickles
- Starting of agriculture moving from nomadic to settled life
- Wheel discovered
- Ragi, wheat and horse gram were cultivated
- Knew pottery
- It is interesting that the Burzahom domestic dogs were buried with their masters in their graves: pit dwelling(The houses were oval in shape, wide at the bottom and narrow on the top) and the placing of domestic dogs in the graves of the masters do not seem to be the practice with Neolithic people in any other part of India
- They used not only polished tools of stone, but what is more interesting, they used numerous tools and weapons made of bone
- In any case, these Neolithic people led a settled life
- They produced ragi and horse gram. Their polished tools also included microlith blades
- Since in the Neolithic phase, several settlements came to be acquainted with the cultivation of cereals and domestication of animals
- They needed pots which they could store their food grain and milk. They further needed pots for cooking and eating
- Hence hand-made pottery is found in the early stage. Later they used wheels to turn up posts.
- The earliest evidence for drilling human tooth(of a living person) has been found at Mehrgarh. It is seen as a prelude to dentistry
- In the Ganges Valley, and in Central India Neolithic sites are found at Lehuradeva, and Chopani Munda(Earliest evidence of Pottery)
- The site of Lehuradeva has produced early evidence of rice cultivation dated to 6500 BCE
- Nagarjunakonda, Ramapuram, and Veerapuram in Andhra Pradesh and Paiyyampalli(Vellore District) in Tamilnadu are the major Neolithic sites in South India
INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION:
How was it discovered?
1829 - Charlize Mason in 1829 came across mounds of terracotta arts while laying tracks for railways
1878 - Local people called it Mohenjo-Daro i.e. the Mounds of the dead. His findings were collected by Alexander Cunnigham, who visited the site in 1878
1904 - Sir John Marshal (Head of Department of Archeology which came into being in 1904) carried out extensive findings on this site
Geographical area:
- Flourished between 2500-1500 BC
- But 2200 - 1800 BC was its mature period
- It covered present Pakistan and Northwestern and western part of India
- Extension and boundaries of Indus Valley Civilisation: Suktazendor (Sind) in the west to Alamgirpur in UP in the east
- From Manda in Kashmir in North to Daimabad in South
- The Indus region was fertile in ancient times, otherwise it would not have supported towns and villages
- The crops grown were wheat, barley, peas, sesame, mustard. And in Lothal, people started producing rice
- Indus people were the first to produce cotton
- Though there were structures used to store water-Gabarbands or nalas, but channel or canal irrigation seems to have been absent
- Indus valley people had both short and long-distance trade, and also foreign trade
- They used boats and bullock-carts for transportation
- No use of metallic currency, but practiced barter system of exchange
- Developed a uniform system of weights and measures
- Seals and sealings were used in trade, as marks of ownership meant to guarantee the quality of the product
- Presence of some structures with ritual significance indicate the existence of collective worship
- Great Bath, Mohenjo- Daro had a great ritual significance
- Prevalence of cults of fertility and mother goddess worship
- They worshipped tree spirits-Pipal tree was worshipped
- On the seals, a famous deity, who has been identified as proto-Shiva was found. The deity was surrounded by animals like goats, elephant, tiger, and antelope
- There is sufficient evidence for the prevalence of phallic worship. Numerous stone symbols of female sex organs (yoni worship), besides those of phallus, have been discovered. Fertility cult was the main feature
- The worship of fire is proved by the discovery of fire altars at Lothal, Kalibangan and Harappa
- Worship of animals, the most sacred being the "Humpless Bull"
- Worship of Gilgimish - represented by a body comprising half of man and half of lion. It was the mythological hero of the Mesopotamia
- The society seems to be stratified based on class
- They were ruled by rich merchants
- The form of Governance is called Oligarchy(the rule of the rich or an elite group)
- Merchants and priests were an important class of this period
- Though there was worship of mother goddess, it is not so clear, whether the society is matriarchal or not
- They invented the art of writing, but the script is not yet deciphered
- The script is not alphabetical but mainly pictographic
- It is written from right to left; then left to right (i.e) Boustrophedon
- The entire town is built in grid pattern
- The drainage system was there
- Burnt baked decorated bricks with the same measurement were used for construction purposes
- A large granary in Mohenjo-Daro and six granaries of Two Rows in Harappa
- Two-roomed barracks in Harappa, which possible accommodated laborers
- Bronze smiths constituted an important group of artisans in the Harappan society
- Weavers wove cloth of wool and cotton
- Brick-laying was an important craft
- Boat making, Bead-making, seal making, and terracotta manufacture were also important crafts
Credits: Leo Hemananthini
