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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