by Harsh Kumar
Background
Pre-historic studies include various periods of our past. we have already discussed the first phase which is Paleolithic age, you can access that from our site. In this we going to discuss about the Mesolithic age. This age came into prominence after the paleolithic age during the period roughly 10000 years to 5000 years ago. Mesolithic age was the age when fire was discovered in Indian subcontinent, although the first evidence of fire was found in the cave of China about 500000 years ago. During the Mesolithic age, people started to move toward the plain area for there livelihood. There are various of developing of social group, this can be verified by the paintings of Bhimbetka cave of Madhya Pradesh.
Mesolithic age was the transition phase between Paleolithic age and Neolithic age. During this phase important development happen that form the ground for the development of agriculture in Neolithic age. So, let discuss the different aspects of Mesolithic age in detail.
Evolution of Material Culture
During this the size of tools got smaller. This age witnessed the use of high-quality Quartz stone such as Jesper, Flint and Chert, which were better than the Paleolithic age. The tools of this age were very small in size as the art of tool making got evolved with time and they became sharp over the time with the more refinement. The tools of this age came to known as Microliths (means the stones of small size). These tools were as the arrow heads and spear heads.
Pattern of Living and the Geographical Area Occupied
During the Mesolithic age peoples started to moving toward the plains of Central and Eastern parts of India. They stared developing their livelihood around the river plains. The earliest evidence of Mesolithic settlement in India found from the site Kalpi in Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh. The evidence also found the sites of Mahadaha, Sarai Nahar Rai in the Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. During this time the humans in India started constructed artificial homes. The evidence of hut building found that built with the help of dried grass and bamboos. Evidence of such type of settlements found from the sites of Bagore in Rajasthan, Adamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Langnor in Gujarat, Virbhanpur in West Bengal etc.
Socio-Economic life
By 8000 BC the climate was quite warm that help humans to evolve. Temperature of this age had increased significantly. Researches have brought to light that during this age fast dry winds started to blew over the Indian subcontinent. It was because of these winds that the temperature of this age started to increase significantly, water got dry up from many parts of earth that make the land clear for habitation.
Due to improvement in temperature the size of the population started to increase that resulted in the formation of groups. Thus, the temperature became more suitable for human life. The increase in the population led to formation of community which was group of families. Due to increase on the temperature, the hunting-gathering was no longer sufficient for survival of the communities. The availability of food material was not ensured. Under these circumstances. Humans started the domestication of animal and as a result the pastoral life commenced during Mesolithic age. The goat and sheep were the common animals to domesticated during this age.
Domestication of the animals was facilitated by availability of vegetation. But the economy this age was subsistent as there was no surplus available. Hunting-gathering activities were continued for the survival of humans of Mesolithic age. Thus, society of the Mesolithic age show the sign of kinship formation but at a local level, yet the economy was still subsistent.
Religious and Cultural Aspects of Mesolithic Age
There were no specific religious evidences of the Mesolithic age. The only evidence can be traced trough the practice of burial. They followed the burial practice for disposal of dead bodies. They didn’t dead bodies in open, which shows some type of religious activity during this age.
The cultural life of Mesolithic age can trace through the paintings of Bhimbetka cave. It depicted various type of paintings. These painting depicted the dancing scenes, fighting scenes, hunting and social gathering scenes. The dancing scenes indicate that music could be known to Mesolithic people as dance cannot be done without music. The social gathering shows the communal harmony of that age. Hunting scenes depicted the way of hunting done during the age. Fighting scenes denoted the tension between two group that could be happen because of hunting.
The people of Mesolithic use the natural colors for paintings. For example, roots of plants, fruits etc. were used for color. They used different colors in paintings like red, yellow, green and white. While red and white were their most used colors.
Other Dimensions of Mesolithic Age
The fire was discovered during the Mesolithic age in Indian subcontinent. The people of this age started to consuming roasted food. The fire also used as the lightening object in darkness. During this age, humans became aware of projectiles. As the bow and spear head became sharper during the age. Thus, the combination of projectile and sharp bow and spear result in easy hunting of animals from a larger distance also.
Major Mesolithic Sites in India
Bhimbetka and Adamgarh in Madhya Pradesh
Tilwara in Rajasthan
Chopani Mando, Mahadaha, Sarai Nahar Rai, Lekhakia in Uttar Pradesh
Paisra in Bihar
Sebalgiri in Meghalaya
Loteshwar and Ratampur in Gujarat
Kunchai in West Bengal
Teri Sites in Tamil Nadu etc.
Thus, Mesolithic age denotes the middle age between the Paleolithic and Neolithic age, as a transition phase of human history as the new discoveries were to happen in Neolithic age. Thus, Mesolithic age denotes the important time of our past.