generation to the next.

It took time, strength, labour, skill, and patience to make

Hunter-Gatherers of the stone tools. Some of them are so aesthetically fashioned that they look like works
of art. Stone tools are found in different contexts.
Paleolithic and Mesolithic Ages FINDS:
In the summer of 1863, Robert Bruce Foote, an officer of the Geological Survey of They may occur on the surface of the ground as surface finds, embedded in river
India, was busy with his routine survey duties at Pallavaram near Madras
deposits at habitation sites, or at factory sites (places where tools were made).
(modern Chennai). A stone embedded in a
It is important to know whether the artefacts were found in a primary context
gravel pit caught his eye and he picked it up. It was a seemingly unremarkable (in the place where they were made or used), semi-primary (slightly removed
piece of brownish quartzite, with one end chipped off, but Foote recognized the from their original place), or secondary context (far removed from their original
unmistakable signs of human workmanship in its form. He had found a handaxe, position).
the first palaeolithic tool discovered in India. Foote went on to find and study
ASCERTAINING METHOD AND USAGE :
many more stone tools and made major contributions to research on Indian
prehistory. The Pallavaram handaxe was not the first prehistoric tool discovered in There are various ways in which prehistorians try to ascertain how stone tools
India. In 1856, Le Mesurier, a railway engineer, had found a small chert may have been made and what they were used for.
arrowhead near Nyagurhee village in central India. Prehistoric tools were
1..They can experiment and try to make similar tools, or they can study
subsequently reported from many areas including the eastern Vindhyas, the
communities who make and use stone tools today.
Jabalpur area, Sindh, the Andaman islands, and Bengal. The geologists who
played a major role in these discoveries shared their evidence and ideas with 2..Another method of understanding the functions of stone tools is microwear
European geologists such as Charles Lyell and archaeologists such as J. D. Evans. analysis. In the course of and edges develop wear marks and a polish or gloss
In 1868, Foote travelled to England to inform the scholarly community about his
. Different kinds of activities—cutting plants, chopping meat, cutting hides, etc. —
work, and in 1873, some of the prehistoric tools he had discovered in India were
leave different kinds of wear marks and polish. By carefully examining these under
displayed at the International Exhibition held at Vienna. Within two decades,
a powerful microscope, it is possible to make inferences about what the tool was
the foundations of Indian prehistory had been laid and had received
used for.
international recognition.
WHO MADE TOOLS ?
Since the 19th century, hundreds of prehistoric sites have been identified in the
Indian subcontinent and new methodologies and perspectives have enhanced our The question of who made the tools is more difficult to answer. However,
understanding of the stone age—the longest part of the human past. considering the active involvement of men and women in subsistence activities, it
is very likely that both sexes participated in making stone tools. Stone tools were a
SOURCES :
very important part of the lives of stone age humans and are therefore an
The sources of information include structural remains, burials, plant remains, important key to understanding their world. But prehistory is not only about
bones of humans and animals, and rock art. However, the most prolific and describing and classifying stone tools. It is about using these and other remains to
important sources are the tools, mostly of stone, made and used by prehistoric try to discover the life-ways of prehistoric people.
humans. The craft skills represented by these tools must have been developed
through experimentation over centuries and carefully transmitted from one
 It was not easy to accept the idea that reptiles and insects had appeared on the
The Geological Ages and Hominid Evolution earth long before human beings, or to recognize certain similarities between
humans and chimpanzees, or to think of the world as millions of years old. Just as
disconcerting was the fact that evolutionary theory suggested that change in
Humans like to think that they have always been the centre of the universe, but nature was continuing, unpredictable, and unstoppable.
science has proved that this is not so. This planet and its innumerable species are
part of an amazingly long, complex, and continuing drama of evolution, in which  The breakthroughs in the natural sciences had an immediate and major
human beings made a very late entry, and have so far played a very minor role. impact on prehistoric archaeology. Stone tools had been found and
The earth is about 4.5 billion years old and humans appeared on it only some reported in earlier decades, but a theoretical perspective within which
200,000 years ago. The many advances in the such finds could be understood was absent.

 physical sciences in the 20th century have greatly amplified our For instance, in 1836, a French customs officer named Jacques Boucher de
understanding of the earth’s history, Perthes had discovered flint tools in the Somme valley. He had argued that
 while genetic science has unveiled the complex mechanisms that such tools, in some instances found along with bones of extinct animals, were
underlay the biological evolution of species. remains of humans who had lived long before the biblical flood.
 In recent years, advances in DNA analysis have provided important De Perthes’ work was greeted by general scepticism until his finds were
evidence regarding the process of human evolution. authenticated many years later by the geologists Hugh Falconer and Joseph
The foundations of geological and biological evolutionary theories were laid in Prestwich, and the archaeologist John Evans.
the 19th century. DIVISION OF HISTORY
 Charles Robert Darwin’s path-breaking book, The Origin of Species Today, geologists divide the history of the earth into four eras or ages related to
(1859) explained how new species arose due to adaptation and how the the evolution of life forms:
process of natural selection led to the survival of the fittest. Darwin had
been deeply influenced by Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology (1830– Primary (Palaeozoic), Secondary (Mesozoic), Tertiary, and Quaternary.
33) which explained the past changes in the earth’s surface as results of
The Tertiary and Quaternary together form the Cenozoic or the age of the
still-continuing processes such as wind action, erosion, earthquakes, and
mammals, which began about 100 million years ago (mya). The Cenozoic is
volcanic eruptions.
divided into seven epochs, of which the last two—the Pleistocene and
 Thomas Henry Huxley’s Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature (1863)
Holocene—are especially important for the story of hominid evolution.
extended Darwin’s idea of evolution to human beings. The authoritative
writings of such scholars ultimately revolutionized prevailing ideas about The Pleistocene began about 1.6 mya, and the Holocene (or Recent period, in
how and when human beings appeared on the earth. which we live) about 10,000 years ago. In biology, evolution refers to the
gradual changes in the heritable features of a species population over
Evolutionary theory had enormous and unsettling implications, and it is not
successive generations due to changes in gene frequencies and the process of
surprising that many 19th century Europeans found it difficult to accept. It ran
natural selection,
counter to the biblical theory of creation according to which nature and humans
were created in all their perfection by a divine agency according to a divine plan.
which favours traits that help the species in adapting to the environment. Over common ancestor of the hominid and pongid ape lines in sub-Saharan Africa
time, this process can give rise to a new species. The terms species (or specie) about 4.4 mya. While the Australopithecines may have used naturally available
and genus are central to discussions of evolution. material as tools, there is no conclusive evidence that they were tool makers.

A species includes organisms that are similar in physical structure and behaviour Fossil evidence of the earliest representatives of the genus Homo—Homo habilis
and which interbreed with each other, or which could do so if they had access to (hand-using man)—was found at sites such as Koobi Fora in Kenya and the
each other. A genus is an assemblage of related species. Olduvai gorge in Tanzania, and is dated about 2 mya. The earliest stone tools
have been found at Hadar in Ethiopia and have been dated about 2.5 mya.
Take the following example: Canis familiaris (the
domesticated dog), Canis lupus (wolf), and Canis aureus Homo erectus (named for his/her fully erect posture) appeared in East Africa
(jackal) all belong to the same genus—Canis—which is around 1.7 mya. From here, this species seems to have spread to various parts of
mentioned first. The second word is the name of the species Africa, Asia, and Europe. The first Homo sapiens appeared a little less than
they represent. There are many differences in skin colour, 500,000 years ago. From about 130,000 years ago, there is
facial features, hair colour, body build, height, etc. among
evidence of Homo sapiens neanderthalis (Neanderthals) in various parts of
modern human beings living in different parts of the world, but
western and central Asia and in Europe. Whether the Neanderthals evolved into
we all belong to the same species of anatomically modern
Homo sapiens or whether they became extinct remains a mystery. Apart from
humans—Homo sapiens sapiens (the second sapiens refers to
Africa and Europe, hominid remains have also been found in various parts of Asia.
our sub-species). Homo sapiens is a Latin term, meaning
Remains of Homo erectus in Java have been dated between 1 to 2 mya and were
‘thinking man’.
associated with animal bones of many species but no stone tools. Remains of
Palaeo-anthropologists have used fossil evidence to piece together the Homo erectus discovered in the Zhoukoudian caves 50 km south-west of Beijing
fascinating story of the biological and cultural evolution of early humans. This is are dated between 0.58 to 0.25 mya. This site also yielded over 20,000 stone
not an easy task. It is sometimes difficult to identify a species on the basis of tools and bones of 96 mammalian species.
incomplete skeletal material and it is not always clear whether these remains are
KEY CONCEPTS
representative of the entire population of an area. Nevertheless, different stages
in the process of human evolution can be identified, as can the implications of What does it mean to be human?
crucial biological markers such as increase in cranial capacity (brain size), changes
Homo sapiens are one of 180 species of primates (the highest order of mammals).
in pelvic structure and the beginnings of bipedalism (walking erect on two legs),
They share some characteristics along with certain other mammals, but they also
and the modification of dental structure due to changing food habits. Some
have their unique features. They are bipedal, that is, they walk upright on two,
important aspects of the cultural evolution of early humans include the making
not four legs. As an adaptation to bipedalism, their legs are longer than their
of stone tools, the emergence of some kind of social organization, the beginnings
arms, and their back-bone has an S-shape. Their hands are prehensile, i.e., are
of language, and the capacity for symbolic thought.
well suited to grasping. The fingers and large thumb (which can rotate through a
The earliest known hominids (man-like species) were members of the 45 degree angle) can be used together to grip a stone tool or a pencil. Compared
Australopithecus genus, who lived roughly between 4.4 and 1.8 mya, and their to other animals, their jaw is small and they do not have protruding canine teeth.
remains have so far only been identified in Africa. The earliest of these, Females of most animal species are sexually active only during limited periods
Ardipithecus (or Australopithecus ramidus) seems to have evolved from some known as estrus; such a cycle is absent in human females. Human infants are born
with undeveloped brains (only 25 per cent of the full adult size) and remain those whose behaviour can be described as human in the senses mentioned
helpless and dependent on maternal care for a very long time compared to other above— appeared only about 50,000 years ago. Others argue that the earliest
mammalian species. traces of some of these ‘human’ traits can in fact be found in species other than
Homo sapiens sapiens, for instance, among the Neanderthals as well as among
The story of hominid evolution is, among other things, a story of an increase in
some of the archaic hominids.
brain size, and increased brain size can be connected to greater memory storage,
learning abilities, and more complex behaviour. The average brain size of modern Anatomically modern humans, known as Homo sapiens, seem to have appeared
humans is large (1450 cc, i.e. cubic centimetres), compared to that of in Africa between 195,000 and 150,000 years ago, and eventually replaced all
chimpanzees (393.8 cc), Australopithecines (507.9 cc) and Homo erectus (973.7 other Homo species. Important fossil remains have come from the site of Herto in
cc). However, the issue is not just one of absolute brain size or weight, but brain Ethiopia, where hominid remains were found along with stone tools and animal
size and weight in proportion to the total body size. The brain of an elephant is bones in levels dated between 160,000 to 154,000 years ago. There are many
more than three times as heavy as that of a human; this doesn’t make the questions to which there are yet no definite answers and which remain matters
elephant smarter than us. Similarly, the brain size of men tends on average to be of debate. It is possible that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and then migrated to
larger than that of women. This does not mean that men are necessarily more various parts of Asia and Europe. Or, the migration out of Africa could have
intelligent than women. happened at an earlier stage, and modern Homo sapiens may have evolved from
Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens more or less simultaneously on different
Human-ness includes cultural as well as biological characteristics and these have
continents. Evolution was not a neat unilinear process, one species making way
always been interdependent. ‘Modern human behaviour’ includes several traits,
for another. There is evidence from various parts of the world of the overlap and
not all of which are easy to deduce from archaeological evidence. All animals
co-existence of species. For instance, the remains in Olduvai gorge in east Africa
adapt to and interact with their environment, but human communities have a
show the co-existence of Homo habilis and Australopithecus, and there is similar
greater ability to manipulate and transform their environment through the
evidence of the co-existence of the Neanderthals and anatomically modern
creation of specialized technology. It has been argued on the basis of experiments
humans in the eastern Mediterranean.
that chimpanzees and orangutans can make and use simple tools. But humans
have a unique ability to make specialized tools, both varied as well as
standardized, and travel considerable distances to obtain the desired raw
Hominid Remains in the Indian Subcontinent
materials.

It is possible that orangutans can learn to use symbols for communication. But
there is no doubt that the human thinking capacity is far superior to that of In sharp contrast to the widespread occurrence of animal fossils and stone tools
members of the ape family and that human social behaviour and cultural systems all over the subcontinent, the evidence of hominid fossils is at present very
are far more diverse and complex than those of the apes. Other traits of human meagre (Kennedy, 2000; Chakrabarti,
behaviour include the organization and delimitation of living space (camp floors,
2006: 10–16). This is no doubt due to inadequate investigations. From the 19th
structures, etc.), symbolic thought and expression reflected in art, ceremonial or century onwards, several remains of fossil apes were discovered in the Siwalik
ritualistic activity (e.g., burials), and ideas of individual and group identity. hills, the outermost range of the Himalayas. Given rather dramatic names such as
Some palaeo-anthropologists argue that while anatomically modern humans Ramapithecus, Sivapithecus, and Brahmapithecus, they came to be collectively
appeared on the earth almost 200,000 years ago, fully modern humans—i.e., known as the ‘God-Apes of the Siwaliks’. Remains of Ramapithecus were
subsequently found in other parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe as well, and were
dated between 10–14 mya. Ramapithecus, who lived in the Miocene– Pliocene some years earlier. These included a hominid clavicle (collar bone) along with
transition, was once thought to represent the oldest direct ancestor of modern animal fossils and several late or middle palaeolithic tools. Estimated dates of
humans. these finds range between 0.5 to 0.2 mya. Sankhyan suggested that the two sets
of human fossils found at Hathnora may well belong to the same woman.
However, this has been questioned on the basis of new dating methods and a
reassessment of the fossil evidence. Authenticated early human remains in In 2001, P. Rajendran, a teacher in the Department of History of Kerala
South Asia are relatively recent. University, found a complete fossilized human baby skull in Odai in the
Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu. Rajendran was excavating a trench which had
In 1966, Louis Dupree discovered a fragment of a right temporal bone at the cave
microliths in the upper levels and upper palaeolithic tools at the lower ones. At a
site of Darra-i-Kur in north-eastern Afghanistan. The deposit in which it was found
depth of 6 m, just under the upper palaeolithic deposit, there was a ferricrete
gave a radiocarbon date of 30,000 ± 1900–1200 BP i.e., 28,950 ± 1960–1235 BCE.
deposit (a mineral conglomerate consisting of sand and gravel, cemented into a
The fragment was considered consistent with Neanderthals as well as
hard mass by iron oxide). The skull was found close to this trench, embedded in a
anatomically modern humans. The associated stone tools seem to belong to a
similar ferricrete deposit which was later dated 166,000 BP, placing it in the
middle palaeolithic context.
middle or upper Pleistocene.
Several cave sites in Sri Lanka—Fa Hien Lena, Batadomba Lena, Beli Lena, and Alu
Lena —also yielded remains of anatomically modern humans in contexts ranging
between 37,000–10,500 BP. More recently, hominid fossils have been found in Uncertain antiquity
central India.
The antiquity of certain other reported hominid finds is uncertain. This is the case
In 1982, Arun Sonakia of the Geological Survey of India made an important with the two human mandibles of an adult male and female Homo sapiens found
discovery near Hathnora village on the northern bank of the Narmada, about 40 by H. D. Sankalia and S. N. Rajaguru on the bank of the Mula-Mutha river in
km north-east of Hoshangabad. Here, embedded in thick, closely packed sandy, Pune district, Maharashtra. The age of the mandible of an adult male found by V
pebbly gravel he found a fossilized fragment of a cranium (skull cap) along with . S. Wakankar in a cave at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is similarly uncertain.
some fossils of vertebrates (proboscideans and bovids) and a few late Acheulian
tools. The skull fragment seems to have belonged to a woman about 30 years old.
Sonakia suggested that she represented an advanced variety of Homo erectus —
‘advanced’ because of her larger cranial capacity range of 1155 to 1421 cc— and
Palaeo-environments
named her Homo erectus narmadensis. However, according to other scholars, the
cranium belongs to an early (archaic) variety of Homo sapiens. Its date too is
uncertain. One view is that it belongs to the early part of the middle Pleistocene,
The environments in which prehistoric people lived were very different from ours.
beginning about 500,000 BP. Between 1983 and 1992, the Anthropological Survey
Some of the major changes that gave the subcontinent its present form took
of India launched an intensive search for human fossils and tools in the central
place millions of years ago, in some instances long before hominids appeared on
Narmada valley. This led to the discovery of hundreds of palaeolithic tools and
the planet. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the peninsula was part of a huge
some animal fossils.
land mass that geologists call Gondwanaland, which included Australia, Africa,
In 1997, A. R. Sankhyan announced important discoveries in the same boulder South America, and Antarctica. At some point of time, this land mass broke up
conglomerate deposit at Hathnora where the cranial fragment had been found and the Indian landmass started drifting northwards at the rate of 20 cm a year,
eventually joining up with the Asian landmass, between 50 and 35 mya. All this river valleys in peninsular India, and the impact of the Toba eruption on hominid
was the result of the movement of massive tectonic plates embedded within the populations in this area is being studied.
earth. The collision and intermittent pressure of the Indian and Asian plates led to
COMING OF HOLOCENE :
uplifts that resulted in the creation of the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayas.
About 10,000 years ago, the Pleistocene era made way for the Holocene era
Rivers brought down immense volumes of eroded sediments from the
(which continues into our own time) and the basic climatic patterns that prevail
mountains, and this resulted in the creation of the fertile northern alluvial plain.
in the world today were established. This does not mean that there have been no
The process of plate tectonics (the word ‘tectonic’ means movements in the significant climatic changes in the last 10,000 years. It is just that these changes
earth’s crust) is not over. The Indian plate continues to press into Asia at the rate have not been as enormous as those that occurred within the Pleistocene.
of 5 cm a year. The Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau are still rising at an
The beginning of the Holocene was marked by wetter climatic conditions than
average of 5–10 mm per year. Occasional movements in the tectonic plates lead
those of the late Pleistocene.
to intermittent earthquakes and changes in the course of rivers in the northern
parts of the subcontinent. The study of the specific features of palaeo-environments is a very important
part of prehistory. Detailed palaeo-environmental studies are so far available for
All over the world, the Pleistocene era, which began about 1.6 mya, was marked
very few parts of the subcontinent. One of the earliest such studies was
by dramatic climatic changes. The earlier idea of a sequence of four ice ages and
conducted in 1935 by H. de Terra and T. T. Paterson on the Soan (Sohan) river in
four interglacial periods for the higher latitudes has been questioned. There seem
the Potwar plateau, between the Pir Panjal and Salt ranges in Pakistan. Their
to have been more than four ice ages and interglacials, corresponding to
team found a large number of tools, mostly of the middle and upper palaeolithic,
alternating periods of cold and warmer climate.
some of the lower palaeolithic as well. De Terra and Paterson identified five tool-
During the cold phases, when ice sheets covered one-third of the earth’s bearing terraces (a terrace is an old bed of a river) of the Soan and tried to
landmass, sea levels fell dramatically. When the climate became warmer, the ice correlate these terraces with the theory of a four-fold glacial cycle in Kashmir,
melted and sea levels rose. It is believed that the tropical and semi-tropical and further, with a four-fold European glacial cycle. This framework was
regions went through alternating dry and wet phases (interpluvial and pluvial extended, through comparisons, to the Narmada and the area around Chennai.
phases), but the rhythm of Pleistocene climatic changes in these parts of the Although most of the correlations, sequences, and conclusions of the de Terra–
world is not fully understood. Paterson study are no longer accepted, it marked an important stage in the
history of prehistoric research in India.
The Pleistocene environments of the subcontinent were influenced
In 1930, L. A. Cammiade and M. C. Burkitt carried out a similar study,
 by larger global patterns of climate, but sometimes also
correlating the stratigraphy of prehistoric stone tools and their environment in
 by distant seismic events. the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh.
For instance, about 75,000 years ago, a gigantic volcanic super-eruption Studies of the Son valley (in northern MP) and Belan valley (in southern UP) have
occurred in Sumatra at a place today represented by lake Toba. This seems to thrown light on the connections between the changes in river systems, climate,
have led to a complex series of palaeo-environmental changes in late Pleistocene and stone age sites in the valleys of these southern tributaries of the Ganga (Clark
times, which had a significant impact on hominid populations in the region. and Williams, 1986).
Tephra ash deposits arising from this eruption have been found embedded in
During the late Pleistocene, the climate in this area was much cooler and drier  In 1863, John Lubbock divided the stone age into two parts, the
than it is today. At the same time, hippopotamus and crocodile bones show that palaeolithic and neolithic.
some permanent water was available in rivers and streams.  A few years later, Edouard Lartet suggested the division of the
palaeolithic into the lower, middle, and upper palaeolithic, largely on the
In the early Holocene, the climate seems to have become warmer and wetter,
basis of changes in fauna associated with the different tool types.
probably leading to an expansion of forests and shrinking of grasslands. The Thar
Archaeologists gradually identified distinct tool-making traditions within
desert today has very little naturally occurring surface water, except for short
the palaeolithic and also recognized the significance of changes in
periods in the rainy season, and people have to rely on rain water stored in tanks,
subsistence patterns within the stone age.
wells, tube wells, and canals. A study of the western Rajasthan section of the Thar
 The use of the term mesolithic is relatively recent.
desert (Misra and Rajguru, 1985), especially around Didwana in Nagaur district,
indicates that the present environment of the Thar is very different from what it The Indian stone age is divided into the palaeolithic, mesolithic, and neolithic
was like in the Pleistocene era. Except for a phase in the upper Pleistocene on the basis of geological age, the type and technology of stone tools, and
(25,000–13,000 BP), during most of that era, surface water in some quantity was subsistence base.
always available; the flora and fauna was as a result much more abundant than it
is today. The sediments of the salt lakes indicate a significant increase in rainfall in paleolithic
the mid-Holocene (6,000–4,000 BP). It is not a coincidence that the most The palaeolithic is further divided into the lower, middle, and upper palaeolithic.
widespread prehistoric occupation in this area belongs to that period.
 A general time range for the lower palaeolithic is from about 2 mya to
100,000 years ago,
 the middle palaeolithic from about 100,000 to 40,000 years ago, and
 the upper palaeolithic from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Classifying the Indian Stone Age
However, there is a great deal of variation in the dates for different sites. The
palaeolithic cultures belong to the Pleistocene geological era, while the
The three-age system mesolithic and neolithic cultures belong to the Holocene era.

—the idea that there was an age of stone tools, followed by one dominated by It must be remembered that this classification is an analytical tool used by
those of bronze and then of iron—was first put forward in the late 18th and early scholars to identify patterns across a very long and complex span of the human
19th centuries by the Danish scholars P. F. Suhm and Christian Thomsen. The past. Except for the dividing line of the Holocene, stone age cultures did not
accuracy of this theory was proved by excavations by another Danish scholar, evolve uniformly in a neat unilinear fashion all over the subcontinent.
Jacob Worsaae.

The Palaeolithic Age

Changes within stone age :

[dkc] : PALAEOLITHIC MATERIAL : Of the 3 major physiographical
The next important step was to identify changes within the stone age. components of india ,the extra peninsular mountain system , the peninsula and
the indo gangetic alluviam _ palaeolithic material have been reported so far in the Period . a crude handaxe was also disc. From the boundary of Boulder
indo gangetic alluviam only at Kalpi on the bank of the Yamuna in UP . Ijn the Conglomerate and Brown Clay and thus both on technological and stratigraphic
extra peninsular mountain system they are fairly common in Sindh , Pakistani grounds it m aybe cons. The earliest handaxe in Asia .
Punjab and the Northwest frontier province , Kashmir , laddakh , himachal
Whether both flake – handaxe of same culture – cant be resolved at this stage
Pradesh and western parts of Nepal. The peninsula which represent a stable block
of earth’s crust and borders the southern edge of the indo – gangetic alluviam
contains the palaeolithic material throughout except the stretches of coastal
alluviam . it is in the peninsula that the palaeolithic distb. Is remarkably
widespread and its sequences particularly clear .

[DP] In the last century a large no. of pal. Sites were discovered all over india LOWER PALAEOLITHIC SITES
Excepting the northern alluvial and kerala . for the absence of traces of earlyu
man in these two regions there could be two main reason :
SITES:
Either the area was avoided bcoz of dnse forests and lack of raw material or the
 Palaeolithic tools have been found in almost all parts of the
recent alluviam has covered the old site .
subcontinent . Although hardly any sites have so far been discovered in
For long it was thought that cave sites were only casually used by the pal. Man in the alluvial stretches of the Indus or Ganga valleys (Kalpi in UP is an
india . but in recent years some rich habitational sites have come to light. exception), they have been identified on rocky areas within or on the
margins of these valleys, e.g., in the Rohri hills in Sindh and the northern
Sanghao [ parkho darra cave ] , north of Peshawar in pak , yielded the M.P tools , fringes of the Vindhyas.
bones and charcoal in plenty from a deposit 3m deep.
 Sites are prolific in other parts of the subcontinent, especially in
Better documented is the site of Bhimbetka , on the vindhyas near Bhopal[ mp] . peninsular India, leaving aside the coastal plains.
a large no. of cave shelters were occup. Here from early pal. To Mesolithic times  Comparatively few palaeolithic habitation sites have been identified,
but unfortunately no faunal and floral remains have survived . but it can be assumed that people lived close to sources of food, water,
and stone in different kinds of habitats—for instance, along the banks of
The complete absence of palaeoliths from Kashmir appeared quite rivers or streams and in caves and rock shelters.
understandable as it was an intensely cold region during glacial times . moreover  Excavated sites are comparatively few and most of the evidence comes
the pir panjal range of the outer Himalaya was cont. rising and causing violent from surface finds of stone tools. Because of insufficient data from most
tectonic disturbances . But in 1969, Sankalia , Pant and Sardarilal reported sites, it is necessary to focus on the published results of stone tools
palaeoliths from Kashmir found in clearly defined stratigraphic contexts
The first discoveryof a massive flake and a crude handaxe was made near . Some sites were inhabited over many stages of the stone age. Even in the
Pahalgam, 65km east of SRI NAGAR . the massive flake showed stepped flaking on absence of detailed studies, some broad inferences about Pleistocene
one side only and was found in the boulder conglomerate of the Liddar Valley , climate can be made on the basis of the deposits in which palaeolithic tools
dateable to the glacier ||. Sankalia feels – 1 interglacial – this would make it the are found.
earliest industry in the sub continent , as it should then fall in the lower pliest.
 For instance, tools often get embedded in river terraces. Although a  A handaxe :
number of other factors are also involved, the erosion and deposition generally a core tool. It is also known as a biface, because it is usually
activity of rivers can be related to rainfall. worked on both sides. Generally made on a core, it is roughly triangular in
 Cemented gravel (a deposit in which small pebbles are packed tightly shape, broad at one end and pointed at the other. Not all hand axes
together in soil) is generally taken to represent a wet climatic phase. were handheld tools; some of them could have been hafted onto
 A boulder conglomerate (a deposit where larger boulders are packed handles.[end of lower pal.]
together) is interpreted as representing a drier phase, while clay or silt  Pebble tools
deposits represent still drier conditions. are tools of different types made on pebbles, in which only the working
edge is flaked, the rest of the tool remaining untouched.
TOOL TYPES :
 A chopping tool
Early palaeolithic tools were fairly large core tools made of quartzite[imp is a tool made on a core or a pebble and is flaked alternately on both
material for lower paleolithic] or other hard rocks. They include: sides to produce a wavy cutting edge.
 A chopper
 chopping tools, is a large, unifacial tool, i.e. worked on one side only.
 Handaxes , and  A cleaver
 Cleavers .  is a flattish tool made on a broad rectangular or triangular flake, on one
end of which is a broad and straight cutting edge.

The term Acheulian is often used to refer to an assemblage of stone

Typical lower palaeolithic tools tools marked by advanced and increasingly symmetrical handaxes and
cleavers. These are associated with the lower palaeolithic, but
continue well afterwards as well.
Stone tools are an important key to understanding the lives of
prehistoric humans. It is therefore very important to
understand the meaning of terms used by prehistorians for
different stone tool types, especially since some of them can be TECHNIQUE :
rather misleading.
Apart from directly breaking off pieces of stone from large boulders, which
If you take a piece of stone and break it into two or more would have required considerable strength, it is possible that people lit fires
pieces, the largest piece is called a core and the smaller piece against rocks and threw water over them so that large fragments broke off
or pieces are called flakes. A stone tool made out of the largest more easily.
piece (core) is called a core tool, while tools made out of the
Within the palaeolithic, there is a gradual increase in the range and
smaller pieces (flakes) are called flake tools. Removing slivers
variety of stone tools and a shift in preference from coarse-grained to fine-
or pieces from a rock is called flaking. The depressions or
grained stone.
marks formed on the surface of a stone when flakes are
removed are known as flake scars.
 Whereas , in POTWAR PLATEAU: excessive amount of fossil remains have
TECHNIQUE : DIRECT PERCUSSION [ hit is very direct – enough been found <Same time frame ; diff geographical area > suggesting climate
pressure] and soil to be conducive for preservation ]

4) At the sites of Gurha Sahan and PS-57, stone tools were found
Asymmetrical flakes coming out .
embedded in the Pinjor bed of the Siwaliks, dated between 2.4 and
2 mya.
Tools were heavier , implying no or less mobility. Heavytools , 5) Stone tools reported in the Jammu and Himachal sections of the
couldn’t be transported. Siwalik hills seem to belong to about the same age. For instance, at
Uttarbaini in the Jammu area, early palaeolithic tools were found in
ANALYSIS: a deposit dated 2.8 ± 0.5 mya.

Skill dev. Is still wanted

MAJOR PALAEOLITHIC SITES
Still learning the process

Factory sites

are generally located close to the sources of raw materials and are marked by a
profusion of stone tools in various stages of preparation. In many instances, they
FINDS AT DIFF SITES :
were visited and used during several phases of the stone age, sometimes even
1) In recent years, important evidence of dates for lower palaeolithic later.
contexts has come from the Potwar plateau and the Siwaliks.
In Sindh, there are a number of such sites in the limestone[upper-harder ; lower
2) At Dina and Jalalpur in the Jhelum basin, members of a British
: not ideal for tool ,till the climate start changing] hills capped by flint nodules
archaeological team discovered 15 artefacts including three
handaxes in a boulder conglomerate deposit dated c. 700,000–
500,000 years ago by the palaeo -magnetic method.
SITE1 : SINDH
3) There are much earlier dates from Riwat near Rawalpindi in DIVIDED INTO TWO :
Punjab province of Pakistan. Here, in 1983, members of the British
Archaeological Mission to Pakistan’s Potwar Project, working with  LOWER SINDH
the Department of Archaeology and the Geological Survey of  UPPER SINDH
Pakistan, discovered stone artefacts embedded in a stone
BASIS OF DIVISION :
conglomerate deposit dated 2.01 mya by the palaeo-magnetic
method.n  GEOGRAPHY ; LANDSCAPE

[RIWAT : first chopper chopping , There’s no evidence of fossil remain so it LOWER : plenty rainfall
could mean that soil and climate was not conducive to preservation.
UPPER : less rainfall , barren
LOWER SINDH :  MOST IMP MATERIAL : flint [ diffy from any other place ; shine itself
;continued till Harappa ]
. In lower Sindh, stone tools belonging to the lower, middle, and upper
palaeolithic were found at sites such as Jerruk and Milestone 101.
2. FINDS AT DELHI :
[dkc] MILESTONE 101 : much smaller limestone plateau.near Hyderabad in
southern sind. Many people tend to think of stone age sites as distant, isolated places. As a
matter of fact, stone age tools are often found in places that are today bustling
This site was probably inhabited for a longer period of time. Also this with activity. A good example are the many sites found in and around the modern
was not ideal for tool making :Rainfall ->moisture ->soft rocks So, city of Delhi.
tools were probably made up of WOOD.
1. Four lower palaeolithic stone tools were found in 1956 on the Delhi
{[dkc] contains a larger % of characteristic lower pal. Tools : cleavers, Ridge, near the main gate of the University of Delhi, and more were
chopping tools , handaxes and core tools of ovate and carinate forms .
subsequently discovered on the northern Ridge.
There is a fair amt of blade and flake industry as well , and it is likely that 2. In 1983, a late Acheulian handaxe was found on the campus of
the assemblage is mixed one and belons to upper pala. } Jawaharlal Nehru University.
3. A systematic study of stone age sites in south Delhi and adjoining areas
(Chakrabarti and Lahiri, 1986) identified 43 sites ranging from the lower
UPPER SINDH : palaeolithic to the microlithic.
4. Excavations at Anangpur in the Badarpur hills to the south of the city
In upper Sindh, there are factory sites in the Sukkur and Rohri hills.
revealed thousands of early and late Acheulian tools along with traces of
ROHRI HILLS -> several palaeo-channels of the Yamuna river. The evidence indicates
that this was a large lower palaeolithic habitation and factory site.
[dkc]Unequivocal mater. Comes from dissected Limestone plateau in the
northern part of the province.
3. FINDS AT RAJASTHAN :
Rohri hills rise about 40-50m from indus plain ,belong to an area of
infrequent and scanty rainfall [90mm] and is covered on its more or less 1. In Rajasthan, lower, middle, and upper palaeolithic tools have been
level top dark grey nodules with mottled rust or black coloured patina. found around Ajmer and
The chert nodules of these hills have always provided the settlers of sind 2. stray finds of lower palaeolithic tools occur in the Luni valley.
with a handy rocky material , but perhaps none more so than the people of 3. There is a detailed profile of the Didwana area of the Nagaur district in
the indus civ whose quarries and working floors dot these hills in some western Rajasthan, with a sequence extending from the early to the
abundance . middle palaeolithic.
 FACTORY SITE : the stone age sites of the area are only factory sites
represented by working floors with various types of tools which
typologically range from the lower to upper pal.s 4. FINDS AT GUJARAT :
 GOOD AMOUNT OF DEBRIS
1. THE BHIMBETKA ROCK SHELTERS In Gujarat, lower palaeolithic tools have fish in the streams, and the hillside is home to many animals such as the
been found in the valleys of the Sabarmati, its Orsang and Karjan deer, boar, nilgai, leopard, wolf, hare, and fox.
tributaries, and in the Bhadar valley in Saurashtra.  Of course, in prehistoric times, conditions wouldn’t have been exactly like
2. Lower palaeolithic and later artefacts have been found all along the this. Nevertheless, it is clear that this site must have been attractive for
Konkan coast up to Goa. stone age people from the points of view of shelter, food, and raw
material for tools.
4.FINDS AT MAHARASHTRA:  Most of the stone tools at Bhimbetka were made of a yellowish
quartzite available in plenty in the area, but a grey quartzite was also
1. In Maharashtra, palaeolithic tools have been found in many places along obtained from further away.
the coast and in the Wardha–Wainganga valleys. Stratigraphic profiles of  Five floors paved with flat stone slabs belonging to the lower palaeolithic
sections of the Mula-Mutha, Godavari, Pravara, and Tapi rivers are were identified.
available.  No bones have been found so far, perhaps because of the acidic soil.
2. Lower and middle palaeolithic tools have been found in stratigraphic
contexts in the Dattawadi area of the Mutha river in Pune. 6.SITE: BELAN VALLEY [U.P] :
3. Lower palaeolithic tools have been found in a stratigraphic context in the In the Belan valley in Uttar Pradesh, detailed studies have revealed a sequence of
Gangawadi area on the Godavari at Nasik. stone age industries from the lower palaeolithic to neolithic to protohistoric.

5.FINDS AT CENTRAL INDIA : 7.SITE: PAISRA :

 In Bihar in eastern India, a lower palaeolithic living and working floor was
 Prehistoric remains occur in various parts of central India in Damoh, excavated at Paisra in the Kharagpur forests near Munger (Pant and
Raisen, and the Narmada, upper Son, and Mahanadi valleys. The Jayaswal, 1991).
Narmada valley is an especially rich and well-researched area.
 The whole area was rich in finished and unfinished artefacts, broken
Excavations at Adamgarh hill, not far from Hoshangabad, revealed a
pieces of stone, and anvils.
sequence of lower and middle palaeolithic tools.
 Eight post-holes were found, marking places where wooden posts had
BHIMBETKA : been dug into the ground to support thatched huts.

 However, the most spectacular finds come from hundreds of rock 8.SITE: CHHOTANAGPUR PLATEAU :
shelters at Bhimbetka (in Raisen district, MP), 30 km north of
The river valleys and foothills of the Chhotanagpur plateau in Jharkhand and the
Hoshangabad, which have given evidence of an enormously long
adjoining areas of West Bengal have yielded lower palaeolithic tools.
sequence of occupation stretching from the lower palaeolithic to the
historic period. 9.SITE : ORISSA :
 The Bhimbetka hillside is composed of sandstone and quartzite.
In Orissa, tools of all three phases of the palaeolithic have been found in many
 There are three perennial freshwater springs in the area, and several
places. A large number of lower and middle palaeolithic tools were found in
creeks filled with water.
explorations at Dari-dungri in Sambalpur district, and lower palaeolithic tools
 A study of the present-day flora and fauna indicates the presence of at
have also been found along the valleys of the Budhabalan and Brahmani rivers.
least 30 plant types which yield edible fruits, tubers, and roots. There are
 ********** vii. Today, the area around Hunsgi supports about 40 types of wild edible
plants as well as plenty of small game.
QUARTZITE HANDAXE FROM THE NARMADA VALLEY
RECENT DISCOVERIES

At one time, it was believed that the lower palaeolithic industry of the south Isampur: a centre of stone tool manufacture
(which was given the name ‘Madrasian’) was different from that of other parts Isampur (Gulbarga district, Karnataka) is a v illage located in the
of the country because of a supposed absence of pebble tools north-western part of the Hunsgi valley, drained by a small seasonal
. The research of the past few decades has proved that this is incorrect, and that stream known as the Kamta Halla. The palaeolithic site lies about 2
pebble tools such as choppers and chopping tools are found along with handaxes km north-west of the village, close to the bank of the stream,
at several sites. covering an area of about 7,200 sq m. It was discovered in 1983, when
the silt deposits overlying the limestone floor of the valley were
o A stratigraphic sequence of lower and upper palaeolithic tools was exposed due to quarrying activity carried out as part of a major
identified in the Malaprabha– Ghataprabha valleys in Karnataka. irrigation project.
o Lower palaeolithic tools have also been found in the Hunsgi– Baichbal
and Krishna valleys. This site offered some obvious advantages to prehistoric humans.
Water and a variety of wild animal and plant food were available.
10.HUNGSI: Another advantage was that siliceous limestone blocks and slabs
occur plentifully in the area at the intersection of flat and steep
i. Lower palaeolithic tools occur at many places at Hunsgi (in the Gulbarga surfaces. There is evidence of Acheulian as well as middle pa laeolithic
district of Karnataka), on the banks of the Hunsgi, a tributary of the occupation at the site. The Acheulian material mostly consisted of
Krishna river (Paddayya, 1982). cores in different shapes, large flakes, and debitage (waste material).
ii. Here, sites with very few types of artefacts may represent places where The main tool types were chopping tools, knives, handaxes, cleavers,
certain specific activities such as making tools or killing game were and scrapers. While unfinished tools occurred in large numbers, there
carried out. were relatively few finished ones. Hammer stones of different sizes,
iii. Sites where tools occur in larger number and variety, may have been made of hard rocks such as quartzite, basalt, and chert were found in
temporary camp sites. very large numbers on the surface and in the excavated levels. There
iv. Still larger sites, where stone tools have been found in great profusion is evidence of quarrying and of different stages in tool manufacture.
and variety, may have been places where groups of people lived for
longer periods of time. FROM SOUTH :
v. MATERIAL: The Hunsgi tools were mostly made of various kinds of stone
a) In Andhra Pradesh, lower palaeolithic tools have been found in inland
including limestone, sandstone, quartzite, dolerite, and chert, some of
areas as well as the coastal Visakhapatnam area, where they have been
which were not locally available.
connected to a sea level over 7 m above the present one.
vi. In one of the excavated areas, huge granite blocks were arranged
Nagarjunakonda, one of the sites that have been studied extensively, has
around a 63 sq m area, perhaps used as a support for temporary shelters
given palaeo-climatic evidence of three alternating wet and dry cycles.
made of branches, grass, and leaves.
 b) Choppers and scrapers made of quartz have been found in the Palghat
district of Kerala. MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC SITES
c) In Tamil Nadu, there is a stratigraphic sequence from the early
palaeolithic to the mesolithic from near Chennai. Gudiyam cave, not far
from Chennai, has yielded a sequence of lower, middle, and upper WITHIN THE PALAEOLITHIC, THERE WERE GRADUAL CHANGES IN STONE TOOLS. HANDAXES,
palaeolithic tools. The fewness of the tools and the absence of other CHOPPING TOOLS, AND CLEAVERS DID NOT ALTOGETHER DISAPPEAR, BUT THE BALANCE SHIFTED
TOWARDS SMALLER, LIGHTER FLAKE TOOLS, SOME OF THEM MADE BY PREPARED CORE
remains suggest that the site was occupied for short periods of time.
TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING THE Levallois technique.
H. D. SANKALIA (1908–89), A PIONEER OF INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY :
Middle palaeolithic tools have been found in many parts of the subcontinent,
Attirampakkam, in the Kortallayar river basin, is one of the richest often in river gravels and deposits, which give clues about prevailing climatic
palaeolithic sites in Tamil Nadu (Pappu et al., 2003). conditions.
o The site was discovered in 1863, and has been excavated, off and on,  In the north-west, lots of stone tools, mostly of the middle palaeolithic,
since then. have been found in the Potwar plateau between the Indus and Jhelum
o The most recent excavations revealed a sequence of lower, middle, and rivers.
upper palaeolithic cultures, with a break in occupation after the middle
 The over 3 m thick deposit in the Sanghao cave in the North-West
palaeolithic.
Frontier Province of Pakistan revealed a sequence of middle and
o Acheulian tools were found in a 4 m thick deposit of clay.
palaeolithic occupation. Thousands of stone tools were found, along with
o The artefacts, mostly handaxes, were made of quartzite stones that
bones (of animals, some perhaps of humans) and hearths. All the tools
were not available locally.
are made of quartz, which is easily available around the site.
o Very little debitage was discovered at the site, suggesting that the tools
were made somewhere else and then brought here. TOOL TYPE : Many of the tools of Period I were made from flakes stuck from
o One of the most interesting discoveries was a set of animal foot-prints prepared cores, and there were lots of burins.
found along with Acheulian tools. The 17 round impressions (15–20 cm)
of animal feet and a set of hoofprints are still being studied by experts. THAR REGION :
This is the first discovery of its kind in South Asia. 1. In the Thar region, middle palaeolithic artefacts occur in reddish brown
o Another interesting discovery was of three animal fossil teeth, possibly soil, which indicates more abundant vegetation, more surface water,
those of some kind of horse, water buffalo, and nilgai, suggesting an open and a cooler, wetter, and more humid climate compared to lower
and wet landscape in early palaeolithic times. palaeolithic contexts
2. . Small factory sites and camp sites have been found in various parts of
LAS BELA PLAIN the Thar, especially near rivers and lakes.
@Karachi- continues in Laddakh

1. Good amount of tools RAJASTHAN

2. Evidence of debris , artefacts
3. Stay for short period of time [contrast : Paisra]
 1. A large number of stone age sites belonging to the middle palaeolithic The flake detached in this way was thin, roughly triangular or oval in shape, with a
phase onwards are located around Budha Pushkar lake, an area which clean undersurface, and shallow, centrally directed flake scars on the upper side.
offers advantages of the easy availability of water and stone. It would need very little further working, because its edges were already sharp.
2. Middle and upper palaeolithic tools are also found around Ajmer. There Because the core of a Levallois flake looks like the shell of a tortoise, it is
is evidence of middle palaeolithic working floors at Hokra and Baridhani, sometimes referred to as a tortoise core.
close to the now dried-up lakes.
3. In the Jaisalmer area, upper palaeolithic material is not as abundant as DISCOID CORE TECHNIQUE
are artefacts of the middle palaeolithic.  There are other prepared core techniques as well. For instance, in the
4. LUNI RIVER SYSTEM : Middle palaeolithic sites have also been located discoid core technique, flakes are scalloped from the circumference of a
along the now virtually extinct Luni river system. The term Luni industry is large core or flake with at least one flat side.
used for middle palaeolithic assemblages west of the Aravallis, and can be  The remaining core has a bevelled rim and is flat in the centre.
contrasted with the industry of the regions lying east of the Aravallis.  DIFF: The Levallois technique can be used to produce only one flake at a
Although certain forms are common to both areas, sites to the west of time, while the discoid core technique can produce several flakes. Flakes
the Aravallis display more variety in stone tool types and larger numbers produced by the latter method tend to be small.
of reworked flakes

GUJARAT.

Middle and upper palaeolithic tools have also been found along the eastern INDUSTRY : NEVASAN
margin of the Gujarat plain. i. The middle palaeolithic industry of central and peninsular India is
sometimes referred to as the Nevasan industry after the site of Nevasa,
TECHNIQUES: where the pioneering archaeologist H. D. Sankalia first
discovered middle palaeolithic artefacts in a stratified context.
The Levallois technique ii. The tools, which include a wide variety of scrapers, are made of smooth,
 The Levallois technique is an advanced way of making flake tools. It is fine-grained stone such as agate, jasper, and chalcedony.
named after a place called Levallois Perret near Paris, where this iii. Patne in the Tapi valley revealed a stratigraphic sequence of middle and
technique was first noticed on prehistoric stone tools. upper palaeolithic and mesolithic tools.
 iv. There is evidence of a middle palaeolithic living and factory site at Chirki
 Instead of breaking off a flake and working on it to produce the desired near Nevasa.
shape, the core was carefully prepared. Its sides were trimmed, and
flakes were then systematically removed from its surface, from the centre GANGA PLAIN : KALPI
outwards in all directions. Then, a striking platform was createdby 1) The earliest trace of human occupation in the Ganga plain is found
flattening the top of the prepared core, and perpendicular blows were embedded in a 20 m thick cliff section at Kalpi (in Jalaun district, UP), on
struck at that point, either directly or through an intermediary tool. the southern bank of the Yamuna.
2) A number of vertebrate fossils—elephant tusk, shoulder blade of
elephant, molars of Equus and bovids—were found here.
 3) Middle palaeolithic stone tools (including pebble tools, points, and side FEATURES :
scrapers) and bone tools (such as end scrapers, points, and burins) were
found along with them  The important technical advance of the upper palaeolithic was the
4) . The tool-bearing level at Kalpi has been dated about 45,000 years ago. making of parallel-sided blades.
EASTERN SITE :  There was also an increase in the number of burins.
 The trend was towards smaller tools, and this must have been due to
There are several middle and upper palaeolithic sites further east, especially in adaptations to environmental changes.
the western part of West Bengal.  It is known, for instance, that the climate of northern and western India
SOUTH INDIA : seems to have become increasingly arid during the upper palaeolithic.
 Older tool types continued to be made for activities that required heavier
1) In South India, the middle palaeolithic culture is marked by a flake tool tools.
industry.  Less wastage
2) MATERIAL : On the Visakhapatnam coast, quartzite, chert, and quartz  Increased toolkit
were frequently used to make stone tools.  More debris – increase in popu.
3) TOOLS: There is evidence of tools made by the Levallois technique at
 Increase in habitation sites
many places. In addition to smaller handaxes, cleavers, and choppers,
 Evidence of burials not too many [ towards end of U.P]
the middle palaeolithic tool kit included new tool types such as  Upper Palaeolithic in Europeon context had bone tools but we have very rare
scrapers of different shapes. sites of bone tools [ basically stone , and wood tools ]
4) A C-14 date for the middle palaeolithic context at the coastal site of
Nandipalli in Cuddapah district indicates that it is older than 23,000 years METTUR @ Karnataka
ago. Imp raw material : DYKE BASALT

ALL TOOL TYPES , VERY LTD. ANIMAL RAMAINS

[DKC] EVIDNCE FROM BALUCHISTAN: las bela distt of S. Baluchistan and other
oreas : unconfirmed reports : prisma facie acceptable : detailed publication on an SITE 55 [ RIWAT N. PUNJAB ]
apparently pebbled based middle palaeolithic industry dominated by scrapers of  INDUSTRY SITE
diff types made on quartzite chert, and rarely jasper from Ladiz and Mashkid  VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE OF HABITATION
valleys in Iranian Baluchistan just across the border . This industry which has been  MATERIAL : QUARTZITE
called the Ladizian industry – demonstrates that the Baluchistan sector of the  ALL KIND OF TOOLS
subcont is much likely to yield mid pala. Materials in future.
SANGHAO CAVE :
In the north-west, the Sanghao cave has given evidence of :
UPPER PALAEOLITHIC SITES 1. middle and upper palaeolithic tools,
 palaeolithic habitation sites have been found in caves and rock shelters of
hearths,: FIRST EVVIDENCE [ cooking, controlled use the Vindhyas.
of fire ] FINE GRAIN QUARTZITE
2. animal bones, and
3. what appear to be burials. EVIDENCE OF MILKY QUARTZ , CHERT
4. Reddish soil
5. Tools out of milky quartz ALL KINDS OF TOOLS
6. Evidence of mobility : climatic change ARCHAELOGIST ARGUE ABOUT THE EVIDENCE OF SOME WOODEN TOOLS.
7. Evidence of creation of RAMPS

SINDH : UTTAR PRADESH:

Upper palaeolithic tools have also been found in the Rohri hills in upper Sindh
and Milestone 101 in lower Sindh.
The upper palaeolithic context in the Belan valley has been dated between 25,000
and 19,000 years ago, and that of the Son valley about 10,000 years ago.
KASHMIR:
In north India, the Kashmir upper palaeolithic has been dated to about 18,000 BP BELAN VALLEY :
and coincides with the onset of a milder climate.
1. Chopani Mando in the Belan valley seems to be a habitation
RAJASTHAN :
site with a cultural sequence from the upper palaeolithic to neolithic.
2. The upper palaeolithic assemblage consisted of tools made from chert, a
stone available in the nearby Vindhyas.
1. THAR : In the Thar, the number of UPPER PALAEOLITHIC SITES IS FEWER than 3. The animal bones discovered in the Belan valley included those of wild
those of the preceding phase, due to increasing aridity. cattle, sheep, and goats. SINCE SHEEP AND GOATS DO NOT SEEM TO BE
INDIGENOUS TO THIS AREA, THEY MAY HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HERE FROM THE NORTH-
Moisture dried away, less of grassland present . this place could be conducive WEST. IF THIS WAS INDEED THE CASE, IT COULD REPRESENT AN EARLY STAGE OF ANIMAL
for living for a short period of time . DOMESTICATION. [CLIMATIC CHANGE ]
4. EPIPALAEOLITHIC- transition
[ mid pal. Conducive]

Diet : mainly of meat ROHRI HILLS [UPPER SINDH]

Aulchins : when you look at the material of hills
Material : milky quartz [ same kind of tools found at other site – mobility]
1. FLINT : best flint qlty. [ L.P. TO HARAPPA ]
2. BUDA PHUSHKAR LAKE : However, there was continuing human 2. DARK GREY COLOR CHERT
occupation around the Budha Pushkar lake. In central India, upper 3. LIGHT BUFF CHERT [UPPER P. TO HARAPPA ]
 SIDDHI [ site @ MP] RETOUCHED TOOLS : to make a blend of tools because of increased tech.
for e.g sharpen a blunt tool
Important for toolkit
The size and weight got reduced
Color gives evidence of functions of toolkit [microware analyses] - how much
the tool is used – wear and tear etc . 1. A blade is a flake tool, the length of which is more than twice its width.
A blade with more or less even, parallel sides is known as a parallel-sided
blade. Which shows their extreme expertise , marvelous increase in
SON VALLEY : technique , better dexterity, cranial capacity .

BAGHOR 2. A burin is a small tool made on a blade. It has a sharp but thickset
working border, similar to that of a modern screwdriver. Burins may have
 In Siddhi district of Madhya Pradesh, in the valley of the Son river, an been used as engraving tools or for making grooves in wood or bone for
archaeological team led by G. R. Sharma and J. D. Clark excavated the upper hafting stone tools.
palaeolithic site of Baghor I.
 A subsequent microwear study of the site Baghor III (not far from Baghor I)
3. Arrow : change in hunting style
(Sinha, 1989) has thrown light on the subsistence activities of this phase. The 4. HARPOON : More like fishing hook , some bend in stone ,
study identified the different kinds of activities that the stone tools found at pressure tech to chisel
the site were used for. Some of these activities, such as boring, scraping, and
WHEN WE LOOK AT UPPER PALAEOLITHIC TOOLS , what is evident is
whittling, were probably related to craft work. Others, such as cutting,
INNOVATION , ADAPTATION [ reducing size and weight of tools ] INCREASING
slicing, piercing, and chopping, could have been associated with food
MOBILITY , ADAPTION TO ENVT. : flora and fauna increase
processing, hunting, or craft work.
 TOOLS : INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF FOOD : Like digging out tubes and roots . styl e
1. Microwear analysis identified the proportion of tools used on vegetal of hunting also changes , now can kill large and fast animals .
materials,
2. those used for processing nonvegetal material, 1) There are many upper palaeolithic sites in the Chhotanagpur region and the
3. and those used to work on wood or bamboo to make hunting and Damin area of the Rajmahal hills. These include Paisra in Munger district.
gathering gear. 2) Upper palaeolithic tools have been found in the various districts of West
4. Some tools showed a kind of wear and polish that indicated they had Bengal.
been hafted onto handles. 3) There is not enough evidence of the palaeolithic phase in Assam and other
parts of the north-east.
4) But in the Lalmai hills of Bangladesh and in the Haora and Khowai river
Upper palaeolithic tools. valleys in western Tripura, a number of tools, including typical upper
TECHNIQUE : Discoid techniques palaeolithic types such as blades, burins, points, etc. made out of
Plenty of extremely small flakes . much sharper and more symmetrical. fossil wood have been found.
5) Similar tools have been found in the upper Irawaddy valley in Myanmar.
6) The upper palaeolithic cave sites of Kurnool and Muchchatla
Chintamanu Gavi in Andhra Pradesh are the only places in the
PALAEOLITHIC ART AND CULTS
Prehistoric art marks the beginning of the history of art. It is also an
subcontinent where tools made of animal bones have been found in an important window into the world of prehistoric people
upper palaeolithic context.
7) Evidence of olive green quartzite of very fine quality.  . Apart from paintings on rocks, rock art includes petroglyphs, a word
8) 90% bone tools and 10% stone tools. used when some substance of a rock surface is removed through engraving,
9) In one of the caves, as many as 90 per cent of the excavated tools were made bruising, hammering, chiselling, or scooping.
of this material. The faunal remains at the site included those of the bat,  TYPE : Prehistoric art can occur in permanent places (e.g., cave paintings)
nilgai, four-horned antelope, gazelle, chital, sambar deer, barking or can be portable (e.g., figurines).
deer, mouse deer, wild boar, tiger, leopard, jungle cat, rusty -  FUNCTION / USAGE : Such remains were clearly an integral and important
spotted cat, spotted hyena, civet, fresh -water fish, mongoose, part of community life and some of them seem to have had some sort of
sloth bear, porcupine, bandicoot rat, gerbil (a rodent), mouse, cultic or religious significance .
bush rat, black-naped hare, grey langur, baboon, horse, ass,  PLACE : In Europe, Australia, and southern Africa, there is clear and
rhinoceros, shrew, and giant pangolin. Apart from giving valuable considerable evidence of upper palaeolithic rock paintings and engravings.
information about the animals that upper palaeolithic people shared their REPRESENTATIONS :
landscape with, this list also suggests that thick forests and more humid  Animals are the predominant motif, and some of the representations
conditions prevailed in this area. may have been part of hunting rituals.
10) Acc. To MURTY : when you look at this site , yielded maximum no. of tools ,  Female figurines known as ‘Venus figurines’ may represent fertility
gives a wide variety of plants yubes , roots and evidence of thick forest.
beliefs and rituals

CAVE IN HINDUKUSH REGION : AQ KUPRUK [ N. AFGHANISTAN ]  EVIDENCE IN INDIA ?

Evidence of domesticity of animals  In India, however, there is very little evidence of palaeolithic art. This is partly
because most of the evidence must have perished over time. However, much
Bones of sheep, goat : 90 % still remains to be discovered. We may in fact have to redefine what we
Wild animals : 10% consider as ‘art’ in order to recognize the remains of artistic activity of
prehistoric people. It has been suggested that some of the paintings at sites
[ sheep and goat : indigenous] such as : Bhimbetka go back to the upper palaeolithic period, but this is far
from certain.
Upper palaeolithic artefacts were also found in a cave at
Renigunta in Chittor district of southern Andhra Pradesh. Stone  There are problems in dating and interpreting prehistoric art, and of
tools of this phase occur at many places along the east coast of ascertaining if an object was simply utilitarian or whether it had some other
peninsular India, and their antiquity ranges between 25,000 and sort of function and significance.
10,000 years ago.
 For instance, a very damaged upper palaeolithic carved boneobject found at triangular stone was evidently originally placed on the platform. It is
Lohanda Nala in the Belan valley (UP) has been identified as a mother interesting to note that the Kol and Baiga tribal people who live in this part of
the Kaimur hills today make circular rubble platforms and worship similar
goddess figurine by some and as a harpoon by others.
triangular stones as a symbol of the female principle or as an icon of a
 Animal teeth found in a cave at Kurnool have grooves which suggest that goddess.
they may have been attached to a string and worn as ornaments.
 A circular disc made of chalcedony at Bhimbetka and a soft sandstone
Ostrich eggshell beads
disc at Maihar (south-west of Allahabad) were found in Acheulian The ostrich (Struthio camelus sp.), the largest living bird in th e world,
contexts; neither seem to be tools. is today found in its natural habitat only in Africa, where it teeters on
 A piece of ostrich eggshell engraved with two panels of criss-cross designs the verge of extinction. However, there is clear evidence that
was discovered at Patne. Four perforated beads and one incomplete bead ostriches roamed over many parts of Asia, including India, till the end
made of ostrich eggshell came from Patne and one from the Bhimbetka rock of the Pleistocene or early Holocene. Ostriches may have been hunted
shelters, all from upper palaeolithic contexts. for food, and their eggs must also have been eaten. The eggs are big —
 Dramatic evidence of artistic-cum-cultic activity comes from Cave III F-24 at their size ranges from about 127 × 103 mm to 160 × 129 mm, with an
Bhimbetka, known as the ‘auditorium cave’. This seems to belong to the average thickness of 1.97 mm. They weigh between 775 g to 1618 g.
borderline between the lower and middle palaeolithic. A roomy tunnel, The shell is smooth, yellowish white, speckled with black. It is so
about 25 m long, leads into a hall which has three other entrances. In the hard, that you have to use a hammer and saw to break it. The shells
middle of the cave is a large rock. The part of the rock facing the tunnel is could have been used as bowls or containers.
flat and vertical. On it are seven cupules (cup-like depressions), up to 16.8 DISCOVERY :
mm deep. A few metres away from this rock, at the bottom of a pit, is
another huge rock. This has one single large cup mark, along with a 1. Fragments of ostrich eggshell have been found in upper palaeolithic
meandering line carved on its surface. One interpretation is that the rock contexts in India. The first discovery was made in the 1860s in the Ken
with multiple cupules was used as a rock gong and that the marks were river in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh.
made when it was hit repeatedly. It is more likely that they were 2. Since then,pieces of ostrich eggshell have been found at Patne in
deliberately made as part of some important prehistoric community ritual. Maharashtra and
3. about 50 discoveries have been made in various parts of Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra
 The site of Baghor I in Madhya Pradesh has given fascinating evidence of
an upper palaeolithic shrine dated c. 9000–8000 BCE. Here, there was a Some eggshell pieces have patterns on them. When examined carefully under the
roughly circular platform made of sandstone rubble, about 85 cm in diameter. microscope, most of these seem to be the result of natural weathering. However,
In the centre was a piece of natural stone with a striking pattern of concentric the fragment found at Patne is clearly engraved with criss-cross patterns made
triangular laminations in colours ranging from a light yellowish red to a dark long ago by human hands.
reddish brown. Archaeologists found nine other fragments of this stone,
mostly on or near the platform. When the ten pieces were joined together, ORNAMENT: Beads and discs for ornaments were also made out of ostrich
they formed a triangle about 15 cm high, 6.5 cm wide, and 6.5 cm thick. This eggshell. Some of them had a hole through which they could be strung. About 41
Indian sites have given evidence of such beads in Pleistocene contexts ranging
from 39,000 to 25,000 BP. For instance, ostrich eggshell beads occur in upper THE LIFE-WAYS OF PALAEOLITHIC HUNTER-GATHERERS
palaeolithic contexts at Patne and Bhimbetka.

o The Patne beads have a diameter of about 10 mm and the Bhimbetka ones of The life-ways of palaeolithic people living in different parts of the subcontinent
6 mm. were based on their adaptations to their specific environments. However, there
o The Bhimbetka beads were discovered in an upper palaeolithic burial in a rock were some basic similarities in the lives of these hunting-gathering communities.
shelter, on the neck of the skull of a buried man. He must have been wearing Ethnographic studies of modern hunter-gatherers can supplement the
a necklace with different kinds of beads; the others had decayed, but the two information from archaeology, although caution has to be exercised while
ostrich eggshell beads survived. drawing parallels and conclusions.
RECONSTRUCTING PROCESS OF MAKING BEADS : HABITATION :
o Making such beads must have required considerable skill and care, and some o Palaeolithic people lived in shelters made of rock, branches, grass, leaves, or
scholars have tried to replicate them experimentally. G. Kumar worked with reeds.
heavily weathered ostrich eggshell and used mesolithic tools, drilling through o More and less permanent settlements can be identified and some sites
both sides, to produce two perforated beads. It took him 10–12 minutes. represent specific kinds of activities.
o R. G. Bednarik used fresh ostrich eggshell. He found that it was best to o Habitation sites such as Bhimbetka and Hunsgi give evidence of
work with tools made of coarse-grained quartizites and quartz, and continuous occupation over centuries.
managed to drill through the shell of a complete egg in 70–90 seconds. o Other sites indicate temporary camp sites, where people came, lived for
Through experimentation, he also reconstructed the process whereby beads some part of the year, and then moved on.
of this material must have been made. o Still others were connected with specific activities—e.g., kill or butchery
FUNCTION : sites and factory sites. As mentioned earlier, some factory sites seem to have
attracted many different communities over thousands of years.
o The role and function of such beads must have been nonutilitarian, symbolic,
or ideological. They must have been produced with such care and perfection
because they were imbued with important cultural meaning. The beads also Food resources—now and then
display an appreciation of an essentially abstract form.

WORLD CONTEXT : Due to the lack of organic plant and animal remains, archaeologists often draw on
ethnographic evidence of present communities living in areas that once
o Beads made of ostrich eggshell have also been found in upper palaeolithic
supported prehistoric populations. Some important case studies have tried to
contexts in Siberia, inner Mongolia, China, and Africa. Clearly, ornaments
understand palaeolithic sites within their broader environmental and settlement
made out of this material were the fashion in many parts of the prehistoric
contexts.
world. Bushmen of southern Africa are known to have used ostrich eggshell
for making beads and as water vessels till recently. o K. Paddayya’s study of the settlement and subsistence patterns of
the lower palaeolithic culture of the Hunsgi valley identified about 40
 species of wild edible plants growing in the valley today, including fruits, Murty listed about 80 edible wild plants used by these people, including fruits,
berries, pods, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, and seeds. The valley does not berries, seeds, tubers, pods, pulps, and vegetables. He pointed to a broad
support any large wildlife today, except perhaps the gazelle and blackbuck. congruence of the location of prehistoric hunter-gatherer sites and those
inhabited by present-day tribal communities relying significantly on hunting and
o But fossilized bones of wild cattle (Bos sp.) and a horn fragment of a deer gathering. This indicates that the ecological niches that were exploited by
were found at the middle palaeolithic site of Hagargundigi on the Bhima prehistoric communities who lived by foraging and hunting still manage to
river, about 80 km to the northeast. support communities who rely on similar subsistence strategies.

o Kodekal, a neolithic site situated 8 km from the Hunsgi valley, yielded

remains of three species of deer (the barasingha, gazelle, and spotted deer). BAND SOCIETY :
1. The basic social structure of palaeolithic hunter-gatherers may have
HUNGSI : corresponded in some ways to what anthropologists call a ‘band society’,
o It is reasonable to assume that thousands of years ago, such animals were although caution always has to be exercised while invoking ethnographic
present in the Hunsgi valley as well. The valley still supports a variety of small parallels.
mammals, birds, reptiles, and aquatic animals. These include the hare, 2. Bands are small communities, usually consisting of less than 100 people.
porcupine, birds such as the sandgrouse, partridge, and quail, reptiles such as They tend to be mobile or nomadic to some extent, moving from one
the monitor lizard, many varieties of fish, and several types of insects. Some place to another, depending on the seasonal availability of the animals
of these resources are routinely exploited for food by local communities living they hunt and the plant food they gather.
in the area today. 3. Members of a band are usually related to each other through kinship,
o The present flora and fauna of the Hun-sgi valley gives us an idea of the range and their division of labour is based on age and sex.
of wild plant and animal food available to prehistoric people who lived in this 4. The exchange of goods is based on rules of reciprocity, not on commercial
area thousands of years ago. Of course, in those times the area must have exchange.
had a much thicker vegetation of savannah woodland and must have 5. Within the band, no single person or persons ‘owns’ the natural resources
supported a much richer range of flora and fauna. Paddayya suggests that in they all depend on.
view of the fact that the plant resources of the area shrink in the dry summer 6. There are no institutions of formal government, no formal or permanent
months, prehistoric people must have had to rely more on hunting animals leaders, not even the powerful chiefs seen in more complex tribal
for food during that period. societies. The behaviour of members of the group is not regulated by
force but through customs, norms, and social etiquette.
M. L. K. Murty’s study focused on present-day hunting-gathering tribes 7. One of the stereotypes about the life of hunter-gatherers is that theirs
of Andhra such as the Yerukulas, Yanandis, Chenchus, and Boyas, as well as was a constant, relentless struggle for survival with little or no leisure
incipient agricultural groups such as the Gonds and Konda Reddis. These time. The material desires and wants of palaeolithic humans must have
communities still depend on wild forest food, small game, reptiles, riverine and been relatively limited and their technology did not permit them to hoard
sea fauna, insects, and honey. food beyond a point.
8. These two factors meant that their subsistence-related activities ceased there were some very broad similarities arising out of a similar type
when they had obtained enough food. This must have given them some of subsistence base.
time for other kinds of activities.
9. Ethnographic evidence in fact shows that not all modern hunter-
gatherers live a hand-to-mouth existence and many of them have plenty
of leisure time to sleep, chat, play games, and relax. Another commonly
held view is that hunting-gathering is an inefficient mode of subsistence.

Further, ethnographic studies have shown that many hunting-gathering

groups do not fully exploit the natural resource potential of their area and
that they consciously practise sensible restraint in their exploitation of the
environment in order to conserve its resources. Modern hunter-gatherers
tend to obtain a significant amount of their food through gathering rather
than hunting. This suggests that the ‘hunting’ part of the term ‘hunter-
gatherer’ has perhaps been overemphasized by scholars and the ‘gatherer’
part neglected.

This conclusion has important implications for understanding

subsistence patterns as well as gender roles and relations
in palaeolithic societies.

 In most modern hunting-gathering communities, men hunt and

women gather food, and a similar division of labour probably existed
in palaeolithic times. But if plant food had a greater dietary
importance, it can be inferred that women must have contributed in
a major way to the subsistence base of palaeolithic communities.
 The artistic, social, and cultic implications of some of the specimens
of palaeolithic art have already been mentioned. Modern hunter-
gatherers regard themselves as part of a larger world of nature
because of their daily and direct encounter with it.
 Animals, plants, and aspects of the landscape may be treated as kin
or foe; they may be worshipped or may form the focus of rituals.
Since modern hunter-gatherers maintain some degree of contact
with more complex societies, it would be a mistake to assume that
prehistoric people had identical beliefs. However, it is possible that