Articles from General Knowledge TodayMesolithic Age in India2011-05-04 14:05:41 GKToday

The t ransit ion f rom the Palaeolithic period to Mesolithic period is marked byt ransit ion f rom Pleistocene period to Holocene and favourable changes in theclimate. The climate became warmer and humid and there was expansion off lora and fauna cont ributed by increased rainfall. This led to availabilit y of newresources to humans and thus the human beings moved to new areas. Thisperiod is marked with increased populat ion, though core economy of thisperiod cont inued to be based on hunt ing and gathering.

Most important Change

The early period of Mesolithic age marks the hunt ing, f ishing and foodgathering which turn to hunt ing, f ishing, food gathering as well asdomest icat ing the animals.One more important fact about the Mesolithic era in India is that the first humancolonization of the Ganga plains took place during this period. There are more thantwo hundred Mesolithic sites found in Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Mirzapur andVaranasi districts of Uttar Pradesh. This era also marks the dramatically increasedsettlement in deltaic region of Bengal, the areas around Mumbai and other placesof western coast of India.

Tools of Mesolithic Era

The tools are Mesolithic Era are smaller in size and bet ter in f inishing (moregeomet ric) than the Palaeolithic age and are called Microliths. Thesemicroliths are t iny tools of one to f ive cent imet res length, made by blunt ingone or more sides with steep retouch. The main tool t ypes are backed blades,obliquely t runcated blades, points, crescents, t riangles and t rapezes. Some ofthe microliths were used as components of spearheads, arrowheads, knives,sickles, harpoons and daggers.They were f it ted into grooves in bone, wood and reed shaf ts and joinedtogether by natural adhesives like gum and resin. Hunt ing-gathering way of lif ewas slowly replaced by food product ion f rom about 6000 B.C. Thus we seethat the use of the bow and arrow for hunt ing had become common in thisperiod, which is evident f rom many rock paint ings. The Bored stones, whichhad already appeared during the upper Palaeolithic, became common duringthis, and the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. These are believed to havebeen used as weights in digging st icks and as net sinkers. Similarly, shallowquerns and grinding stones also occur at several sites. These newtechnological elements led to enhanced ef f iciency in hunt ing, collect ion andprocessing of wild plant foods.

Changes in Lif e- Mesolithic Era

Fro m No madism t o Sedent ary set t lement s

There were some more interest ing changes in lif estyle of the Mesolithic erahumans. The favourable climate, bet ter rainfalls, warm atmosphere andincreased food securit y led to reduct ion in nomadism to seasonally sedentaryset t lement .

First Dispo sal o f dead and making o f Graves

The sedentary set t lements lead to beginning of the t radit ion of various waysof intent ional disposal of the dead. The first evidence of intentional disposal ofthe dead comes from Mesolithic Era. Mesolithic human burials have been foundat Bagor in Rajasthan, Langhnaj in Gujarat , Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh etc.The dead were buried in graves both in extended and crouched posit ion. Insome cases two individuals were buried in a single grave. The dead wereoccasionally provided with grave of ferings which include chunks of meat ,grinding stones, stone, bone and ant ler ornaments, and pieces of haemat ite.

Emerging art s

The Mesolithic man was a lover of art , evident f rom the paint ings in severalthousand rock shelters in the Vindhyan sandstone hills in cent ral India. Thepaint ings have been found in both inhabited and uninhabited shelters. Thepaint ings are made most ly in red and white pigments, made form the nodulesfound in rocks and earth. The subject mat ter of the paint ings are most ly wildanimals and hunt ing scenes, though there are some related to human socialand religious lif e such as sex and child birth.

Fo o d Pro duct io n

The hunt ing-gathering way of lif e was slowly replaced by food product ionf rom about 6000 B.C. The core economic act ivit ies were now included hunt ing,fowling, f ishing and wild plant food gathering. The first animals to bedomesticated were dog, cattle, sheep and goat and the first plants to be cultivatedwere wheat and barley. This new subsistence economy based on foodproduct ion had a last ing impact on the evolut ion of human society and theenvironment . In the humid lands, extending f rom the middle Ganga valley toChina and Southeast Asia, rice cult ivat ion and domest icat ion of pig wasaccomplished probably around the same t ime because rice and pig existed inwild form in this region. The cult ivat ion of yams and taro also took place in thisregion. Domest icated animals proved to be useful not only for meat but alsofor milk, hide, agricultural operat ions, and t ransport .

Meso lit hic Era: Impo rt ant Po int s

Agriculture had not fully developed.The earliest evidence of domest icat ion of animals has been provided byAdamagarh in Madhya Pradesh and Bagor in Rajasthan. A study has alsosuggested cult ivat ion of plants around 7000-6000 years back nearSambhar lake in Ajmer Rajasthan.The Pachpadra basin and Sojat Area of Rajasthan is a rich Mesolithicsites and lot of microliths have been discovered.Bagor in Rajasthan is the almost largest Mesolithic site in India. Anothermajor Mesolithic site in Rajasthan is T ilwara.In Guajarat some places on the banks of river Sabarmat i are Mesolithicsites which include the Akhaj, Valsana, Hirpur, Langhanj etc.Sarai Nahar Rai in Allahabad-Pratapgarh of Ut tar Pradesh is a Mesolithicsite. Other sites in Ut tar Pradesh are Morhana Pahar and lekkahia.In Madhya Pradesh Bhimbetka along with Adamgarh are major Mesolithicsites.In Jharkhand Chhota nagpur plateau is a major Mesolithic site in India.In Orissa Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundergarh is a major Mesolithic site inIndia.In south India Godavari basin is rich in microliths,The rock paint ing of Mesolithic period is found in Adamgarh, Bhimbetkaof Madhya Pradesh and Pratapgarh, Mirzapur of Rajasthan. Apart f romthe animals, hunt ing scenes, the Mesolithic sites have also paint ing ofsocial lif e, sexual act ivit y, child birth, rearing of children and burialceremony.

Articles from General Knowledge TodayMesolithic Age in IndiaMost important ChangeTools of Mesolithic EraChanges in Life- Mesolithic EraFrom Nomadism to Sedentary settlementsFirst Disposal of dead and making of GravesEmerging artsFood ProductionMesolithic Era: Important Points