Hunting wild animals and gathering plantfood and fishing were
people’s main occupationduring this age. Agriculture was not practisedin
the early stages. At the end of the Mesolithicperiod, humans
domesticated animals andpaved the way for the Neolithic way of life.
Therock paintings of Central India depict hunting,
trapping, fishing
and plant food collection. Art is an integral part of human
existence.While evidence of art is found in Europe in largevolume, they
are found only at a few sites inIndia. A chert stone used as a core had
geometric
engravings from Chandravati in Rajasthan,bone objects from
Bhimbetka and human toothengraved with geometric design. Rock
paintingsare found in the rock shelters of Madhya Pradeshand Central
India. They show people hunting,
trapping animals and fishing and
dancing.Bhimbetka near Bhopal, Raisen and Pachmarhiin Madhya Pradesh and
South Mirzapur in UttarPradesh are some of the sites. Haematite, an
iron-rich stone with traces of rubbing, has been found.
These people might have decorated themselveswith flowers and leaves.
The
faunal evidence from this period showsthat people belonging to this
period huntedcattle, gaur, buffalo, barasingha, porcupines,sambar,
chital, gazelle, hog deer, nilgai, jackal,turtle, fish, wild hare,
lizard fox and monitorlizard. Bones of rhinoceros and elephant havealso
been found. They used spears, bow and
arrow and traps. The paintings
of Bhimbetkashow that various animals were hunted and forthis men and
women went together.The people used fire and perhaps roastedfood.
Domestic animal bones of cattle, sheep,goats, pig and dog have been
found at Kanewal,Loteshwar and Ratanpur, and from Adamgarhand Bhimbetka
in Madhya Pradesh sites. Camelbones have been found from Kanewal.
The
hunter and gatherers using microlithictools continued to live in the
later period, evenafter the development of Neolithic, Iron Ageand
historical periods. Perhaps they becamepart of the marginalised
communities, whenthe people who lived in the cities acquiredmore wealth.
Some of the people who live inthe forests even today in some remote
areas andalso in the Andaman region could be consideredas those people
who prefer to live by huntingand gathering. Many such groups lived in
the19th and 20th century, as recorded in the EdgarThurston’s Castes and
Tribes of Southern India.Describing them as primitive is incorrect.
Theyshould be considered as people who preferredto live by hunting and
gathering. When theIndus Civilisation was in its peak, Tamil Naduhad
microlithic hunter-gatherers. The Andhra–Karnataka region had the
agro-pastoralists ofthe Neolithic period.The Neolithic period marked the
beginningof agriculture and animal domestication.It is an important
phase in Indian history.Early evidence of Neolithic culture is foundin
the Fertile Crescent region of Egypt andMesopotamia, the Indus region,
the Gangesvalley of India and also in China. Between10,000 BCE to 5000
BCE,
agriculturemergedintheseregions,whichledtoseveralculturaldevelopments.The
introduction of domestication ofanimals and plants resulted in the
productionand supply of a large quantity of grains andanimal food. The
fertile soil deposited by the
rivers enhanced the growth of
agriculture,generating a surplus of grains. Surplus foodproduction
played a major role in the rise ofearly civilisations. Large villages
came to existand pottery developed. Permanent residenceswere built.
Hence, the cultural developments ofthis period are called Neolithic
revolution.
Historic Periods. In this place, people lived inpit
houses (about four metres in depth) in orderto escape the cold weather.
The houses wereoval in shape, wide at the bottom and narrowon the top.
Postholes used for constructing athatched structure were found around
the pithouses. The Neolithic period of Kashmir had
domestic sheep,
goat and cultivated plants.The Neolithic people of Burzahom traded
withthe people of the Harappan Civilisation. Theyused handmade pottery.
They used tools suchas stone axes, chisels, adzes, pounders, mace-heads,
points and picks. Awls were used forstitching skins into clothes to
beat the weather.
Scrapers were used for working the skins.Two phases
of Neolithic culture have beenidentified. They are termed aceramic and
ceramicphases. Aceramic phase did not have evidence ofceramics. Ceramic
phase shows evidence for theexistence of pottery. In the ceramic phase,
peoplebuilt mud houses. They used copper arrowheads.They also used black
ware pottery, beads of agateand carnelian and painted pottery. A burial
atthis site produced wild dog bone and antler horn.
An engraving of a hunting scene is depicted on astone here with dog and sun.
Seeds
of wheat, barley, common pea andlentil have been recovered from the
excavations.people domesticated animals include cattle,sheep, goat, pig,
dog and fowl. Bones of wildanimals such as red deer, Kashmir stag,
ibex,bear and wolf suggest that they hunted animals.There is evidence of
menhirs and the use
of redware pottery and metal objects in
themegalithic culture. The use of lentil suggeststhat contacts had been
established with CentralAsia. These people had interactions withHarappan
Civilisation.
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