What is the basis of classification of the stone ages into Paleolithic,

Mesolithic and Neolithic? Why are the sites of Bhimbetka, Bagor and
Mehrgarh important? Do you think the cultural changes associated with
Neolithic stage justify the term Neolithic revolution?

The Indian Stone Age is classified into Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.
The basis for their classification can be put under three simple headings
geological age, the type and technology of tools, and subsistence base. The
upper Paleolithic period in India is generally identified from 2mya to 100,000
years ago. The middle Paleolithic from 100000-40000 years ago and the
upper from 40000-10000 years ago. The lower, middle and upper Paleolithic
was set in the lower, middle and upper Pleistocene periods respectively. The
Mesolithic period and the Neolithic period on the other hand sit in the
Holocene period. Certain types of tools and subsistence patterns can be
identified to divide the Stone ages. However this does not mean complete
uniformity in the type of tools found at different sites during the same period.

The lower Paleolithic period is associated with pebble and core tools like hand
axes, cleavers and chopping tools. The middle Paleolithic brings in Flake tools,
such as those prepared by the Levalloisian technique. The upper Paleolithic
mainly sees the coming of blade tools made on flakes, such as burins and
parallel sided blades.

The Mesolithic period saw the tools becoming smaller and compact. These
tools were known as the microliths. However there was still the use of certain
tools from the Upper Paleolithic also. In the Neolithic period, the tools got
even more refined. Ground and polished hand axes formed the lot. Such axe
like tools was known as Celts.

If we were to look at the subsistence pattern as the basis for classification, we

can notice the change from a complete hunting gathering economy during the
entire Paleolithic period to system where hunting, gathering, fishing and
isolated instances of animal domestication existed in the Mesolithic period. If
we move along the time scale to the Neolithic period we find a subsistence
pattern based entirely on animal and plant domestication.
There are also several other attributes which are taken into account while
classifying the Indian Stone Age. Such as the settlement patterns, type of
materials used to make the tools etc. The type of material used to make the
tools in fact varied from region to region in the Indian subcontinent over the
three lithic stages. There have been also instances of bone tools being used,
such as that in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh in the even in the
Paleolithic period. The settlement patterns also varied from rock shelters, to
camping in the open, to living in pit houses in some places like Burzahom in
Kashmir valley.

There are several sites in India that gives us an idea of the Paleolithic,
Mesolithic and Neolithic stages in Indian sub-continent. Three major sites
among these are Mehrgarh, Bhimbetka and Bagor.

Bhimbetka is situated 45 km south of Bhopal in Raisen district of Madhya

Pradesh. It is famous for its caves and rock shelters, formed by natural process
of weathering of the sand stone of the Vindhya hills. The cultural period spans
from the Lower Paleolithic to the Late Mesolithic. Bhimbetka is particularly
famous for its rock paintings, which some claim to be as old as the Upper
Paleolithic. Of all the cultural phases, the Acheulian or the Lower Paleolithic
period deposit is the thickest and includes tools like scrapers, cleavers and
hand axes.

The Mesolithic culture in Bhimbetka is well-defined. There is a sudden

increase in population seen from the occupation of more caves in the area.
The Mesolithic people introduced microliths that they prepared with the
pressure technique. These tiny tools could often be mounted on a bone to
serve as knives, arrows and spears. The presence of ash, charcoal and charred
bones of animals tell us about the use of fire. People mainly lived in caves, but
there were also evidences of people living in open-air camp sites. This is
supported by the fact that a large amount of Acheulian and microlithic tools
were found scattered in the open.

Bhimbetka is rich in rock paintings. There are nearly 600 shelters which
contain paintings on the walls and on the ceiling. These paintings mainly
depict dancing and hunting scenes. Animals, pregnant women and men with
weapons were also depicted on the paintings.

Bagor is situated on the right bank of the rover Kothari, a tributary of the
Banas, about 25 km west of the district of Bhilwara in Rajasthan. This is the
largest Mesolithic site excavated in India and it has yielded 3 cultural phases,
in which phase 1 is dated from 5300 BC-3800 BC, phase 2 from 2500 BC-1000
BC and last phase from 500 BC-200 CE. No other sites in India has provided
with so many microliths. The greatest density is found in phase 1. The
microliths in Bagor are truly and predominantly geometric in nature and
include blades, triangles, trapezes and crescents which could be hafted on a
bone or wooden handle to work as a ‘composite tool’. Quartz and Chert were
the main raw materials used in making them. The people lived in huts with
stone paved floors. There is no clear evidence of pottery in the first phase but
there is evidence in the subsequent phases. The only clear evidence in the
reconstruction of the subsistence pattern of the region is through the animal
bones which are found in large numbers. These were mainly sheep, goat,
humped cattle etc. The fragments of querns and rubbing stones may suggest
the use of food plant. The economy was therefore based on a combination of
hunting-gathering and food production.

Mehrgarh is situated on the banks of the River Bolan in Kachi plains of

Baluchistan, Pakistan. This is the site which has provided the earliest evidence
of agricultural activity based on wheat-barley cultivation and sheep-goat
domestication in the Indian subcontinent. This site was excavated by Jarrige in
1970’s and 1980’s. This site reveals a continuous cultural growth from 7000
BC to the Harappan period. The sequence of growth in Mehrgarh can be
divided into mainly three phases: 7000 BC-6000 BC; 6000 BC-5000 BC; 5000
BC-3500 BC.

Mehrgarh is often considered as the nuclear region for the beginning of wheat
and barley cultivation. In the first phase there are impressions on mud bricks
which talk about the cultivation of wheat and barley. A large number of animal
bones have also been recovered showing sheep and goat domestication.
However there is no evidence of bone tool industry here. The human burials
have given up evidences of personal ornaments, namely necklaces made of
shell, bone rings, and sometimes lapis lazuli beads. The presence of lapis lazuli
beads indicates the existence of trade contact with sites in Afghanistan which
contains lapis lazuli mines.

The second phase in Mehrgarh is marked by the use of pottery, though it is

handmade and is very limited. There have also been compartmented
structures which were found suggesting the storage of grains as seeds of
barley have been reported from some of them. It is most likely that barley was
grown here with the help of irrigation. Two complete sickles with inset
microlithic tools have also been discovered from this site.

In the third and the last phase there is great progress in craft activities.
Copper smelting was also found to be practiced here during the period. This
conclusion has been arrived from the traces of copper found on terracotta
crucibles and presence of copper beads and rings. In the burial system
sometimes more than one person was buried together. Ornaments were also
sometimes along with the grave goods. A recent discovery in Mehrgarh was
the existence of ‘flint-tipped wooden drills’ to cure dental diseases. This is
supposed to be the earliest evidence of dental care in the world. Slowly and
gradually the life at Mehrgarh came to merge with the Harappan civilization.

The term ‘Neolithic revolution’ was coined by Gordon Childe to emphasize on

the progress that happened during the Neolithic period; The progress from a
hunting gathering to food producing economy and the consequent growth of
farming communities and settled village life. Childe also put forward the
argument that farming initially originated in a ‘nuclear region’, in
Mesopotamia or in the near East from where it spread to the different parts of
the rest of the world.

However the theories that Childe have put forward regarding this, has not
been substantiated by enough evidence. Many counter the use of the term
‘revolution’ as it signifies something sudden or abrupt, whereas the journey
towards Neolithic stage was long drawn extending well over the Paleolithic
and Mesolithic stage as well. Later Childe himself admitted that the Neolithic
stage was in fact the culmination of long drawn process of change. It would be
more appropriate to call the Neolithic period as a period of ‘transformation’
and ‘evolution’ rather than ‘revolution’.

Bibliography

Jain, VK- Prehistory and Protohistory of India

An appraisal Paleolithic-Non Harappan Chalcolithic Cultures

D.K Printworld, New Delhi, 2006

Singh, Upinder-A history of Ancient and Early Medieval India

From the stones ages to the 12 th century

Peason Longman, Delhi, 2009