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Prehistoric India – Stone Age to Chalcolithic

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Prehistoric Periods in India

Prehistory is the period before written records. In India, prehistoric cultures span from approximately 2 million years ago to around 1500 BCE when the Vedic texts began to be composed.

Classification of Prehistoric India

Period Approximate Timeline Key Features
Lower Palaeolithic 2 million – 100,000 BCE Hand axes, cleavers, choppers
Middle Palaeolithic 100,000 – 40,000 BCE Flakes, scrapers, points
Upper Palaeolithic 40,000 – 10,000 BCE Blades, burins, bone tools
Mesolithic 10,000 – 8,000 BCE Microliths, domestication begins
Neolithic 8,000 – 4,000 BCE Polished stone tools, agriculture, pottery
Chalcolithic 4,000 – 1,500 BCE Copper tools, rural settlements

Palaeolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

Lower Palaeolithic

  • Tools: Hand axes, cleavers, choppers made from quartzite

  • Major sites:

    • Sohan Valley (Punjab, Pakistan) — Sohanian culture
    • Belan Valley (Uttar Pradesh) — Stratified sequence of all three Palaeolithic phases
    • Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh) — Rock shelters with continuous occupation
    • Attirampakkam (Tamil Nadu) — One of the oldest sites, dating to ~1.5 million years

  • Lifestyle: Hunter-gatherers; lived in caves and open-air camps near water sources

  • Diet: Wild animals, fruits, roots, tubers

Middle Palaeolithic

  • Tools: Flakes struck from prepared cores; scrapers, borers, points
  • Major sites: Nevasa (Maharashtra), Didwana (Rajasthan), Bhimbetka
  • Innovation: Levallois technique for making flakes
  • Smaller tools compared to Lower Palaeolithic, indicating shift in hunting patterns

Upper Palaeolithic

  • Tools: Blades and burins made on long parallel-sided flakes; bone tools appear
  • Major sites: Patne (Maharashtra), Bhimbetka (MP), Baghor (UP)
  • Artistic expression: Engraved ostrich eggshells found at Patne
  • First evidence of bone tools and personal ornaments

Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age)

Key Features

  • Microliths: Tiny stone tools (1–8 cm), often set into wooden or bone handles
  • Geometric microliths: Lunates, triangles, trapezes
  • Climate: Warmer and wetter compared to Upper Palaeolithic
  • Domestication: Earliest domestication of dog, cattle, sheep, goat
  • Diet diversification: Fishing and fowling alongside hunting

Major Sites

  • Bagor (Rajasthan) — Largest Mesolithic site in India on the Kothari River
  • Adamgarh (Madhya Pradesh) — Evidence of domestication of animals
  • Langhnaj (Gujarat) — Evidence of burial with grave goods
  • Sarai Nahar Rai (UP) — Double burials and grave goods
  • Bhimbetka — Mesolithic rock paintings depicting hunting scenes, dancing, animals

Bhimbetka Rock Art

The rock shelters at Bhimbetka (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) contain one of the oldest known rock art in the world. Paintings from the Mesolithic period depict:

  • Hunting scenes with groups of hunters with bows and arrows
  • Dancing figures in ceremonial postures
  • Animals like bison, deer, elephants, and tigers
  • Day-to-day activities like food gathering and honey collection

Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

Key Innovations

  • Polished stone tools with sharp cutting edges
  • Agriculture: Cultivation of wheat, barley, rice
  • Pottery: First appearance of handmade pottery (later wheel-made)
  • Settled life: Permanent huts made of mud, reed, and wood
  • Animal domestication: Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs
  • Division of labor: Emergence of specialist craftsmen

Major Regional Cultures

Neolithic Site Region Special Features
Burzahom Kashmir Pit dwellings, dog burials with humans
Gufkral Kashmir Pit dwellings, domesticated animals
Mehrgarh Balochistan Earliest farming community (~7000 BCE); cotton cultivation
Chirand Bihar Bone tools, evidence of rice cultivation
Koldihwa & Mahagara UP Earliest evidence of rice cultivation (~6500 BCE)
Paiyampalli Tamil Nadu Ash mounds; domesticated cattle
Utnur Andhra Ash mounds associated with cattle herding
Daojali Hading Assam Polished stone tools; cord-impressed pottery

Mehrgarh (c. 7000–2500 BCE)

Mehrgarh is arguably the most important Neolithic site in the Indian subcontinent:

  • Located near the Bolan Pass in Balochistan, Pakistan
  • Evidence of continuous occupation from Neolithic to Chalcolithic
  • Earliest farming: Wheat and barley cultivation predates the Indus Valley
  • Cotton: Earliest known cotton cultivation in the world
  • Dentistry: Evidence of proto-dentistry (drilled molars) from ~7000 BCE
  • Craft specialization: Bead-making using lapis lazuli, turquoise, and shell

Chalcolithic Age (Copper-Stone Age)

The Chalcolithic period saw the first use of metal (copper) alongside continued use of stone tools.

Regional Chalcolithic Cultures

Culture Region Time Period Key Features
Ahar-Banas Rajasthan 3000–1500 BCE Copper smelting; black-and-red ware pottery
Kayatha Madhya Pradesh 2400–2000 BCE Copper axes; early contact with Harappans
Malwa Madhya Pradesh 1700–1400 BCE Painted pottery; farming communities
Savalda Maharashtra 2300–2000 BCE Distinct pottery tradition
Jorwe Maharashtra 1400–700 BCE Largest Chalcolithic settlement at Daimabad
Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) Western UP ~2000 BCE Associated with copper hoards

Daimabad

The most important Chalcolithic site in the Deccan:

  • Located on the left bank of the Pravara River (Maharashtra)
  • Excavations revealed five cultural phases spanning Savalda, Late Harappan, Malwa, and Jorwe
  • Famous bronze hoard: A bronze chariot with four solid disc wheels, yoked to two bulls, driven by a human figure; also bronze elephant, rhinoceros, and buffalo
  • These bronzes are extraordinary examples of Chalcolithic metallurgy

Significance of Prehistoric India

  • India preserves one of the longest continuous sequences of prehistoric cultures in the world
  • The transition from hunting-gathering to settled agriculture is well documented
  • Rock art from Bhimbetka provides a unique window into prehistoric life
  • The foundations of Indian civilization were laid during these prehistoric millennia