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# Ancient Indian History: Pre-Historic Period
- URL: https://www.upscprep.com/ancient-indian-history-pre-historic-period/
- Published: 2022-12-12T06:22:37.000Z
- Updated: 2022-12-12T06:22:36.000Z
- Author: UPSCprep.com
- Tags: UPSC Basics

No written records are available. History is constructed by the use of plenty of archaeological remains such as stone tools, pottery, artifacts, metal implements, paintings, etc.  

**Stone Age**

1. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age (before 10,000 BC)
2. Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age (10000 BC to 6000 BC)
3. Neolithic or New Stone Age (6000 BC to 4000 BC)

**Metal Age**

1. Chalcolithic or Copper age
2. Iron age

### Stone Age

**Paleolithic**

- Sites generally located near water sources
- Hunter-gatherer society
- Stone tools; hand sized flaked off; large size
- made up of Quartzite
- Hunting: large animals by a group of people
- Attempt of domestication
- Proliferation of painting as oldest art form in upper paleolithic age

  
**Mesolithic**

- Transition period
- Tools: Tiny stone artifacts (Microliths)
- Hunter-gathering continued
- Shift from large to small animal hunting and fishing
- Use of Bow and Arrow begun
- Domestication of animal, horticulture, and primitive cultivation started

  
**Neolithic**

- Practice of agriculture and domestication of animals --> Emergence of village communities
- Crops: Rise, wheat, millets, barley, etc.
- Polishing of stone tools
- **Pottery** started; Use of wheels to make pottery; use: for storing grains, cooking, burials of dead in large urns
- Mud brick houses instead of grass huts
- Used cloths of cotton and wool
- **Mehrgarh**\- a neolithic site is considered as precursor to Indus Valley Civilization
- It was one of the earliest example of farming and herding in S. Asia

###   
Metal Age

**Chalcolithic**

- Technological developments: Smelting metal ores, crafting metal artifacts, etc.
- Copper and Bronze along with stone tools
- Network of chalcolithic cultures due to long-distance travel for metal ores
- Harrapa is considered to be chalcolithic
- Generally, these cultures grew in river valley

  
**Iron age**

- Iron age of southern peninsula is often related to Megalithic Burials.

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