Pre-Historic Studies – Neolithic Age

Ancient History, History / / 43 Comments

Details about Neolithic age by Harsh Kumar

Background

Pre-historic studies include the study of the age of which no written evidences are available. Pre-historic is basically the study Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Megalithic and chalcolithic. For these periods the writing evidences are not available. The history ages are constructed through the archeological evidences that discovered during the excavation. We have already discussed the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages in our previous blogs you can read them from our website.

 In this, we will discuss about the Neolithic age in detail. The Neolithic means the new stone age. The Neolithic basically evolved after the Mesolithic during the time period roughly 5000 BC to 2800 BC. During this age the settlements further evolved and expanded to other regions of Indian subcontinent as well. The first agriculture village also came into prominence during this age. It was Mehrgarh, which is located in modern day Pakistan. They society further evolved. Let discuss the different dimensions in detail.

Evolution of Material Culture During Neolithic Age

The stone and bone tools of earlier periods were bigger in size and not so much refined. But during the Neolithic the tool making process further furnished that made tools more efficient and effective then previous tools. During the Neolithic age, the humans started using igneous stones for tool making process. These tools were much stronger and efficient than earlier tools. For the first time, people used colts for tool making.

 Colts are basically the handle, which was also included into tool making process by the Neolithic peoples. Because of these handles the tools were became more efficient and effective. These things indicates that the Neolithic peoples were aware of the principle of torque (which is a measure of force that can cause an object to rotate). The tools of this age were based on the technique of grinding and polishing. As of result the tools of this age were highly refined that increases the effectiveness and efficiency of these tools.

Living Pattern and Settlements of Neolithic Age

During the Neolithic age, the Indian natives got spread in every region of Indian, weather it was south or North-east or east. The remains of this age found from every corner of Indian continent. During this age, the houses were built using the sun-dried bricks for residentials purposes. In the Kashmir valley the pit dwelling was practiced because they kept humans warmer.  The sites of Neolithic are spreading from Daijali-Hading, Napchik in North-east to Kashmir valley in north to Paiyampalli in Tamil Nadu. Hence, the Neolithic was universal in the local sense for India.

Socio-Economic Life of Neolithic Peoples

The temperature was started increasing during the Mesolithic was further improved during the Neolithic age, making the environment more suitable for humans. As a result of this the population of India further increased. Thus, the pastoral and hunting gathering life became inefficient for such a large population. Thus, this need gave birth to Agriculture in India for first time. People started living in one place, now they didn’t have go for different places for hunting. Thus, the beginning of agriculture was revolutionary for the Indian subcontinent.

This made humans producer for the first time in Indian history. They peoples were no further dependent on the other living beings and pastoral life. As the discovery of agriculture result in the sedimentary life (settled life). The nomadic life came to an end with the evolution of agriculture. This process gave emergence to the villages for first time.

Mehrgarh, located on the bank of river Bolan in Baluchistan, was the first agriculture village that got develop in the Indian Subcontinent. The need of the store food grains compelled the man to make pottery. Initially, the pots were hand made but later on wheel was invented to turn the pots. The invention of wheel was revolutionary in itself. The invention of wheel paved the way for the invention of carts. The carts greatly expanded the scope of socio-cultural interactions because for the first-time man got a vehicle.

Religious and Cultural Life During the Neolithic Age

The religious and cultural life was got some evolution from the earlier age, but the old practices still followed. As per the evidences the burial practice further evolved. The culture of Neolithic age made progress as people started living in villages that made people close to each other that led to formation of society and the evolution of kinship started. Paintings were still prevalent during the age. The scenes of communal harmony can be scene from the paintings of Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh.

Distribution of Early Pastoral and Agricultural Communities

The early pastoral life in India was commenced around 8000 BC. But the agricultural life commenced around 5000 BC when the first agriculture village commenced at Mehrgarh. They became settled in regions like Mehrgarh. The people started food cultivation during Neolithic age. They started growing food crops like barley, wheat, rice, peas and lentils. The pastoral of this age domesticated animals like goat and ram (the male goat). The metal yet to be discovered as the tools were still made of bones and stones.

The peoples were living in different sites in India. In Belan Valley, the earliest evidence of pastoral life was of around 6000 BC. There are various evidences of houses, bones and stone tools etc. found in this valley. At site of Koldiwha, the wild and cultivable verities of rice found. Koldiwha was the first in the world where the evidence of rice grown for first time. At Bolan Valley, the pastoral life was commenced around 5000 BC. Mehrgarh is the most important site of this valley.

The evidence of crops like barley, wheat and cotton were discovered from the site of Mehrgarh. In Kashmir valley, the agricultural life commenced around 2500 BC. At the sites of Burzahom and Gufikral, the evidences of dead burials found. The dogs were found buried along with the dead bodies, that shows some type of superstitious aspect of that age. In Eastern India (UP, Bihar, Bengal), at the sites of Senaur, Chechar and Chirand the evidences of bone tools were found.

In North-East India the agricultural life was commenced around 2000 BC as the evidence of crops like barley found at the site of Daojali Hading. The pastoral life was also there as they domesticated the animals like goat and ships. From the Sambhar Lake valley, the evidence of food grains was found around the time of 5000 BC. In Peninsular India, the agriculture was commenced around 2500 BC. Here three phases of Neolithic age explored by the historians. First was when the agriculture activities were started in this region along with the pottery, which was red and brown in color.

During the second phase the peoples of these regions started to came down from hillocks and lived in foothills. During the third phase, the agriculture was expanded to larger areas that resulted in diversification of crops. Evidence of crops like wheat, barley, pea was found form this region. The pastoral life also got improved as they domesticated the animals like buffalo, goat and donkey. Thus, the Neolithic culture was spread all over the Indian subcontinent.

Significance of Agricultural Communities

The Neolithic peoples were the most advanced people till that age. They were the first who settled an agriculture village. They started pottery making.  All these developments paved way to the future generation. They became independent of other living for full filling their food needs. The tools made by them were of high quality and hard in nature that improved their efficiency and effectiveness.

The peoples of Neolithic age were also aware of the medical science. The evidence of dentistry was discovered from Mehrgarh. During excavation in Mehrgarh a skeleton was discovered whose teeth were filled with some artificial material. That made them the first medical practice nor of the Indian subcontinent.

Thus, the Neolithic humans were the most advanced peoples of the pre-historic age as they paved way for the future generation by innovation in different fields of life among them the agriculture and pottery were game changer for future generations. After that Neolithic human make way for the development of Megalithic and Chalcolithic culture in the Indian Subcontinent.

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43 thoughts on “Pre-Historic Studies – Neolithic Age”

    1. Harsh Kumar

      Just keep it simple. If you gonna write about coding, then you should aware about the facts and figures of coding. Maintain originality of your work. Don’t copy others blog. Avoid using AI for generating blog. Good luck!

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