Prehistory: No written evidence; Archeological evidence available, stone age
Paleolithic/old stone age (5,00,000-10,000BC)
- The Earliest Paleolithic man lived on hunting and food gathering.
- The nature of stone tools also varied according to the climate.
- Not knowing how to grow his food, he ate fruits, birds, raw animal flesh, etc.
- The people were wanderers and moved from place to place. They took refuge under the
- rocks in caves and hollow tree trunks.
Mesolithic Age (10,000 - 4,000 BC)
- It was transitional between the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. Its characteristic tools are microliths all made of stone.
- The Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing, and food-gathering.
- The earliest domestication of animals has also been witnessed in MP and Rajasthan.
Neolithic Age / New Stone Age (6,000-1,000 BC)
The word 'neolithic' was first coined by Sir John Lubbock in 1865.
- Animal domestication
- Agricultural practice
- Grind and Polished stone tools and
- Pottery manufacture
Pre Historic Sites
- Bhimbetka - Homo Sapiens' Cave 500 painted Rock Shelters (MH)
- Atranjikheda - Textile printing
- Hastinapur - Wild Sugarcane
- Inamgaon - Statue of mother Goddess (MH)
- Mehrangarh - The earliest evidence of agriculture, and settled life (Baluchistan)
- Koldihva - The earliest evidence of rice
- Bangor and Adamgarh - Earliest pieces of evidence of Domestication of animals (Raj)
- Chirand - Serpant cult (Bihar)
- Burzahom Gulfkral - Pit-dwelling (J&K)
