Prehistoric Period Notes for SSC Exams

The Prehistoric Period is the first chapter of Ancient Indian History and a very scoring topic in SSC exams. The questions are mostly direct: the name of an age, a famous site and its state, a tool type or the first discovery. These notes cover the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic ages with comparison tables, important sites and practice questions, in the way an SSC teacher would summarise the whole chapter.

What Is Prehistory?

• Prehistory is the period before the invention of writing, for which we depend only on archaeological evidence (tools, bones, pottery, burials, paintings).
• Protohistory is the transitional period when writing existed but is not yet deciphered, for example the Harappan Civilization.
• History begins with written records that can be read.
• Archaeology is the study of ancient remains. Anthropology is the study of human beings and their cultures.

Stone Age Divisions at a Glance

Note: Dates differ slightly in different textbooks. Learn the order of the ages and their features, which is what exams ask.

Palaeolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

• People were food gatherers and hunters, lived in caves, rock shelters and river banks, and moved from place to place.
• Fire was discovered. There was no agriculture, no pottery and no permanent houses. Tools were made of hard rock, mainly quartzite, so Palaeolithic people are also called quartzite men.
• The first Palaeolithic tool of India was found by Robert Bruce Foote at Pallavaram (near Chennai) in 1863.
• Dog was probably the first domesticated animal (late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic).

Three Phases of the Palaeolithic Age

• Hathnora (Narmada valley, Madhya Pradesh): the skull of an archaic Homo sapiens was found in 1982 (by Arun Sonakia).
• Bhimbetka: rock shelters with paintings in red and white, discovered by V.S. Wakankar in 1957; UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003.
• Cave paintings of the Upper Palaeolithic show animals like bison, rhino, tiger and scenes of hunting.

Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age)

• It is the transitional stage between Old and New Stone Age. The climate became warmer after the ice age.
• Typical tools are microliths (small, sharp stone tools) fixed in handles. The bow and arrow came into use.
• People hunted, fished and gathered food, but also began domesticating animals. Evidence at Adamgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Bagor (Rajasthan) is the earliest in India.
• Sarai Nahar Rai and Mahadaha (Uttar Pradesh) have burials and human skeletons. At Mahadaha a man and a woman were buried together.
• Langhnaj (Gujarat), Bagor (Rajasthan) and the Bhimbetka rock shelters are other important sites.
• Paintings show hunting, group dances, child birth, animal fights and riding scenes in a more lively style.

Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

• The beginning of agriculture and settled life. People grew wheat, barley, rice and millet, and domesticated cattle, sheep and goat.
• Polished stone tools (celts and axes) and handmade pottery were made. Wheel-made pottery came later. Bone tools were also used.
• People lived in huts of mud and reed and in pit dwellings. The use of fire for cooking and weaving of cloth began.
• This stage is often called the Neolithic Revolution by the archaeologist V. Gordon Childe.

Chalcolithic Age (Copper-Stone Age)

• Copper was the first metal used by humans. Bronze (copper and tin) came later. Stone tools were also still in use.
• People lived in village settlements, mostly in the hilly regions and river valleys of central and western India. They produced wheat, barley, rice, lentils, and kept cattle, sheep, goat and pig. They did not know ploughing with iron.
• Pottery included the famous black-and-red ware and painted pottery. The dead were buried in the house under the floor, often in a north-south direction in Maharashtra.
• They had no knowledge of burnt bricks in most places and did not use the horse.

Rock Art of India

• Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh) has the largest number of rock shelters with paintings in India.
• Other rock art sites include Lakhudiyar (Uttarakhand), Kupgallu and Piklihal (Karnataka), Edakkal (Kerala) and Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh).
• Colours used were mainly red (haematite) and white. Subjects were hunting, dancing, animals, war and family life.

Quick Comparison and Memory Tips

• Fire was discovered in the Palaeolithic Age. Wheel and pottery in the Neolithic. Copper in the Chalcolithic. Iron in the Iron Age.
• Microlith = Mesolithic. Polished celt = Neolithic. Copper plus stone = Chalcolithic.
• First domesticated animal: dog. First metal: copper. First crop at Mehrgarh: wheat and barley. Earliest rice: Koldihwa.
• Memory trick for the order: P-M-N-C-I (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Iron).

Practice Questions With Answers

1. Who found the first Palaeolithic tool in India? Answer: Robert Bruce Foote
2. Microliths are associated with which age? Answer: Mesolithic Age
3. Which site shows the earliest rice cultivation in India? Answer: Koldihwa
4. Which Neolithic site in Kashmir has pit dwellings? Answer: Burzahom
5. Which was the first metal used by man in India? Answer: Copper
6. Bhimbetka rock shelters are located in which state? Answer: Madhya Pradesh
7. In which age was fire discovered? Answer: Palaeolithic Age
8. Inamgaon is associated with which culture? Answer: Jorwe culture (Chalcolithic)
9. Adamgarh and Bagor are famous for: Answer: Early domestication of animals
10. Who coined the term Neolithic Revolution? Answer: V. Gordon Childe

Next, study the Indus Valley Civilization notes and revise with our previous year question papers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is meant by the Prehistoric Period?

The prehistoric period is the time before the invention of writing. We know about it only from archaeological remains such as stone tools, bones, pottery, burials and cave paintings. In India it covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic ages, before the Harappan and Vedic cultures.

What are the main divisions of the Stone Age?

The Stone Age is divided into the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and Neolithic (New Stone Age). The Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone) Age follows, and then comes the Iron Age.

Who is called the father of Indian prehistory?

Robert Bruce Foote, a British geologist, is called the father of Indian prehistory. He found the first Palaeolithic tool (a hand axe) at Pallavaram near Chennai in 1863.

What were the main features of the Palaeolithic Age?

People were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived in caves and rock shelters, used crude unpolished stone tools made of quartzite, discovered fire and had no knowledge of agriculture, pottery or permanent houses.

What tools were used in the Palaeolithic Age?

Hand axes, cleavers, choppers and chopping tools in the Lower Palaeolithic, flake tools like scrapers and borers in the Middle Palaeolithic, and blades and burins in the Upper Palaeolithic.

What are microliths?

Microliths are tiny, sharp stone tools, usually less than 5 cm in size. They are the hallmark of the Mesolithic Age and were fixed in wood or bone handles to make arrows, sickles and harpoons.

Which site has the oldest evidence of animal domestication in India?

Adamgarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Bagor (Rajasthan) show the earliest evidence of animal domestication in India, in the Mesolithic period. The dog was the first animal to be domesticated.

What is the importance of Bhimbetka?

Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh has hundreds of rock shelters with paintings that range from the Palaeolithic to the historic period. The paintings show hunting, dancing, animals and daily life. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

What are the key features of the Neolithic Age?

Agriculture, domestication of animals, polished stone tools (celts), handmade and later wheel-made pottery, settled villages and the beginning of social life. This is why it is called a food-producing revolution.

Which Neolithic site in Kashmir is famous for pit dwellings?

Burzahom in Kashmir is famous for pit dwellings, and for the burial of dogs along with their masters. Gufkral is another Neolithic site in Kashmir.

Where was rice first cultivated in India according to archaeology?

Koldihwa in Uttar Pradesh (Belan valley) has the earliest evidence of rice cultivation in India, dated to about 6000 BCE. Chirand in Bihar is known for bone tools and rice.

What is the Chalcolithic Age?

It is the age in which people used both stone and copper tools. They lived in villages, practised farming and made painted pottery. Major cultures are Ahar-Banas, Kayatha, Malwa, Jorwe and Savalda.

Which Chalcolithic site is known for a large village with house burials?

Inamgaon in Maharashtra (on the Ghod river, Jorwe culture) is the largest excavated Chalcolithic settlement, with fortification, granaries and burials inside houses.

What was the first metal used by humans in India?

Copper was the first metal used in India. Later bronze (copper and tin) and then iron came into use.

Why is Mehrgarh important?

Mehrgarh in Balochistan (Pakistan) is a Neolithic site of about 7000 BCE showing early farming of wheat and barley, cattle herding and cotton. It is considered a forerunner of the Harappan civilization.

Which prehistoric topics are asked in SSC exams?

Questions come on the names of ages, tools, famous sites and their states, the first discoveries, features of each age, cave paintings and the first crops and animals. The tables in these notes are designed for these questions.