Subject- History I Topic- Pre-Historic Civilization
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Subject- History I Topic- Pre-Historic Civilization Lecture 1 Date: 04- Aug-20 Introduction • Prehistory concerns itself with the period of human existence before the availability of written records with which recorded history begins. • It is thus a study of those pre-literate societies of our earliest hunter-gatherer ancestors and the progress – technological and otherwise, as they domesticated animals, gradually mastered agriculture, and settled down in the earliest settlements, villages and towns. • It follows the development of some of these settlements into centralised human societies and the emergence of the first great civilisations of the world. Introduction • Prehistory also deals with smaller communities in some parts of the world that continued their hunter-gatherer lifestyles or as agro-pastoralists without developing into urban centres. • It is important to note that our knowledge of prehistory – of the fact that the history of human origins goes back much further than the earliest evidences from recorded history, has been obtained in the last two hundred years. Introduction • In early 1806, Sir Richard Colt Hoare excavated burial mounds and barrows in England and Ireland and was frustrated that the origins of the ―tribe that built these structures were shrouded in mystery. • In 1774 Johann Esper – a German priest had found remains of cave bears and other extinct animals in association with human remains. • Frenchman Jacques Boucher de Perthes, who in 1846 through his publication of his finds of human artefacts like stone tools found in association to the remains of extinct animals, seriously considered this as evidence of the antiquity of man Introduction • The Stone Age is divided into three periods, namely Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, based on technological developments and gradual evolution of culture. Paleolithic Society • Paleolithic Period, also spelled Palaeolithic Period, also called Old Stone Age, ancient cultural stage, or level, of human development, characterized by the use of rudimentary chipped stone tools. • The onset of the Paleolithic Period has traditionally coincided with the first evidence of tool construction and use by Homo some 2.58 million years ago. • At sites dating from the Lower Paleolithic Period (2,580,000 to 200,000 years ago), simple pebble tools have been found in association with the remains of what may have been some of the earliest human ancestors. Paleolithic Society • Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age; the earliest period of human development, last until approx 8000 BC. The Paleolithic Period is divided into two eras: the Lower Paleolithic (to 40,000 BC) and the Upper Paleolithic (40,000–8000 BC). • During the Paleolithic period the man was a hunter and food gatherer. The human being used to use simple chipped and chopped type stone tools for hunting and other purposes. Paleolithic Society • The people were not aware of neither agriculture nor home construction hence the life was not properly settled.It has been traced that people survived consumed roots of trees and fruits and lived in caves and hills. The Paleolithic man was a hunter and food gatherer. • Neanderthal was hunter of prehistoric time. The Middle Paleolithic man was scavenger but few evidences of hunting and gathering were traced. The dead were painted before burial. Image of Neanderthal Human Paleolithic Society Paleolithic tools Paleolithic Tools Paleolithic Society in India • Robert Bruce Foote, a British geologist discovered and identified the first Palaeolithic tool in the Indian Subcontinent in 1863, at the village of Pallavaram, near Madras (now Chennai) and laid the foundations of the Prehistory in India. • Since then, prehistoric archaeologists have located hundreds of prehistoric sites in different parts of India and are attempting to understand the life ways of prehistoric people. • The Palaeolithic sites are found throughout the Indian subcontinent in a variety of ecological contexts, including montane regions, hill slopes, alluvial settings, coastal plains, and in rock shelters Paleolithic Society in India • Traditionally, the lower Palaeolithic evidence in India has been divided into two groups, i.e., the Sohanian or Soanian and the Acheulian, based on distinct typological and technological ground of both the industries. • The evidence of this culture is found at a number of sites in the Siwalik hills in northwest India and Pakistan. Explanation • The stage of human development started at the time when people begin the use of tools for their aid. It was the time that laid the foundation of science and the uses of machines. • About 2.6 million years ago, human beings started the regular use of tools in east Africa. • In Indonesia, several hominid fossils have recently been dated between 1.8 and 1.6 million years. • In China, the early stone tools are associated with human fossils dated between 1.7 and 1.9 million years. • In India, no human fossils have been found associated with Stone Age tools. • The various strata of the Sivalik hills containing stone tools have been dated between 2 to 1.2 million years. • The archaeological site of Bori in Pune district of Maharashtra is about 1.38 million years old. It gives the scientific record for the early stone tools in India. • The early human settlement in India is contemporary to the Asian countries, but it is of the later period than that in the African region. Explanation • Based on tool technology, the Palaeolithic Age in India is divided into the following three phases − – Lower Palaeolithic Hand-axe and cleaver industries; – Middle Palaeolithic Tools made on flakes; and – Upper Palaeolithic Tools made on flakes and blades. • The time period of Lower Palaeolithic culture was marked between 600,000 and 60,000 B.C. • The main tool types of this era were hand axes and cleavers, along with chopper-chopping tools. These were made on cores as well as flakes. • The raw materials used for making the stone tools were largely of different kinds of stones, including quartzite, chert, and sometimes even quartz and basalt, etc. Explanation • Following are the major types of sites of the Lower Palaeolithic culture − – Habitation sites (either under rock-shelters or in the open); – Factory sites associated with sources of raw materials; – Sites that combine elements of both these functions; and – Open-air sites (any of the above categories). Explanation • The Lower Palaeolithic tools have been abundantly found throughout the Indian subcontinent, except the plains of the Indus, Saraswati, Brahmaputra, and Ganga where raw material in the form of stone is not available. • Following are the important sites of Lower Palaeolithic cultures − • Pahalgam in Kashmir, • Belan valley in Allahabad district (Uttar Pradesh), • Bhimbetka and Adamgarh in Hoshangabad district (Madhya Pradesh), • 16 R and Singi Talav in Nagaur district (Rajasthan), • Nevasa in Ahmadnagar district (Maharashtra), • Hunsgi in Gulburga district (in Kanlataka), and • Attirampakkam (Tamil Nadu). Mesolithic Society • The Mesolithic Period, or Middle Stone Age, is an archaeological term describing specific cultures that fall between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Periods. While the start and end dates of the Mesolithic Period vary by geographical region, it dated approximately from 10,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE. • The people of the Mesolithic Period formed relationship bonds as their predecessors did during the Palaeolithic Period and lived in groups of 10 to 30. • Living in a permanent location during the Mesolithic accentuated the feeling of cohabitation and cooperation. Mesolithic Society • The organization of voyages in the open sea to locate raw materials (obsidian, andesite) suitable for manufacturing stone tools and to catch large fish (Tuna) are some indications of cooperation and social integration in the Mesolithic society. • During the Mesolithic period, humans developed cave paintings, engravings, and ceramics to reflect their daily lives. Mesolithic Art Mesolithic Human Mesolithic Tools Neolithic Society • Neolithic period or New Stone Age. The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the use of stone tools, the existence of settled villages largely dependent on domesticated plants and animals, and the presence of such crafts as pottery and weaving. • The domestication of plants and animals usually distinguishes Neolithic culture from earlier Paleolithic or Mesolithic hunting, fishing, and food-gathering cultures. Neolithic Society • The termination of the Neolithic period is marked by such innovations as the rise of urban civilization or the introduction of metal tools or writing. • The earliest known development of Neolithic culture was in SW Asia between 8000 BC and 6000 BC. • Leading to the establishment of settled villages based on the cultivation of cereals, including wheat, barley, and millet, and the raising of cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Neolithic Society • In the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, the Neolithic culture of the Middle East developed into the urban civilizations of the Bronze Age by 3500 BC Between 6000 BC and 2000 BC Neolithic culture spread through Europe, the Nile valley (Egypt), the Indus valley (India), and the Huang He valley (N China). • The formation of Neolithic cultures throughout the Old World resulted from a combination of local cultural developments with innovations. • In SE Asia, a distinct type of Neolithic culture involving