Prehistory, about 2 million years ago to 1000 BCE

Prehistory is the part of the human past with no written records, so historians know it mainly through the evidence of archaeology.
That evidence includes stone tools, bones, fossils, burials, pottery, cave paintings, habitation sites, and the remains of plants and animals.
Pottery helps with chronology, because its distinct styles and techniques can be used to date archaeological layers at a site.
The materials, quality and technique of pottery show the level of technology and the economic conditions of the people who made it.
Residue analysis on pottery reveals the diet of ancient people, such as whether they consumed dairy, fish or certain grains.
Similar pottery types found in distant regions point to trade networks or cultural contact between different groups of people.
The range from everyday pots to finely crafted ceremonial vessels hints at social hierarchies and roles within a society.
Designs, symbols and motifs on pottery give insight into the cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs of the people who made it.

Pottery cultures of ancient India

About 5500 to 2600 BCE
Pre Harappan: black on red ware with simple geometric patterns, handmade and kiln fired; the Indus valley and surrounding regions
About 2600 to 1900 BCE
Harappan: fine wheel made pottery, often red with black painted designs; the Indus valley sites of present day Pakistan and northwest India
About 2000 to 1500 BCE
Ochre Coloured Pottery: ochre or light red pottery, often taken as a precursor of the Black and Red Ware; mainly the Gangetic plains
About 1300 to 900 BCE
Black and Red Ware: distinctive black and red pottery with geometric designs, often in white; spread across the subcontinent
About 1200 to 600 BCE
Painted Grey Ware: fine grey pottery painted with black geometric patterns; northwestern India and the Gangetic plain, often overlapping the early Vedic period
About 700 to 200 BCE
Northern Black Polished Ware: shiny, black, almost metallic pottery from a specific firing process; the Gangetic plains and later wider, with urban centres and the rise of major cities

Each pottery culture dates a span of the past and marks a region, so one layer of pots places a site in time and space.Source: Theme 1 handout, Pottery Culture of Ancient India

Lower Palaeolithic
about 2 million to 300,000 or 100,000 years ago
- The Lower Palaeolithic saw the earliest stone tool cultures, whose large and heavy tools were made by mobile hunter gatherers.
- Life in this stage depended closely on rivers, on sources of raw materials for tools, and on the natural environment around each group.
Middle Palaeolithic
300,000 or 100,000 to 45,000 or 40,000 years ago
- Middle Palaeolithic tools were smaller and more refined than those of the earlier stage, and flake tools became important.
- People continued the hunting and gathering way of life, while their adaptation to surroundings improved over that of the Lower Palaeolithic.
Upper Palaeolithic
45,000 or 40,000 years ago to 10,000 BCE
- Upper Palaeolithic tools became more refined and specialised, and blade tools became important in this final stage of the Old Stone Age.
- Cultural development became more visible in this stage, although people continued the hunter gatherer life of the earlier Palaeolithic.
Mesolithic
about 10,000 BCE to 6000 or 4000 BCE, later in some regions
- The Mesolithic began as the climate became warmer after the Ice Age, and its most important feature is the microlith, a very small stone tool.
- Fishing gained importance in some areas, and the first domestication of animals began alongside continued hunting and gathering.
- Semi settled life appeared in some places, and the stage also has burials and rock art at many of its sites.
Neolithic
from about 7000 BCE, later in many Indian regions
- The Neolithic brought agriculture, the domestication of animals and settled village communities in place of a mobile way of life.
- Its people used polished stone tools, made pottery in many regions and began grain storage, while social life became more organised.
Chalcolithic
roughly 3000 to 1000 BCE in many regions
- The Chalcolithic, or Stone Copper Age, used both stone and copper tools, with settled village life and agriculture well established.
- Pottery became more advanced, regional cultures became distinct, trade and craft grew, and signs of social differentiation appeared in some places.
Megalithic
about 1200 to 300 BCE
- In the upper parts of the peninsula, after the Neolithic, the Megalith builders are known from their graves, since their settlements are rare.
- Their graves, encircled by big stones and mostly outside the settlement area, hold skeletons, pottery, iron objects and grain, with black and red ware buried in them.
- They give the first iron objects from south India: arrowheads, spearheads, tridents, hoes and sickles.
- Fewer farming tools than hunting and fighting tools suggest limited agriculture, with paddy and ragi on little cultivated land, away from the plains and low lands.
- Megaliths are found in all upland areas of the peninsula, most in eastern Andhra and Tamil Nadu, and the Cholas, Pandyas and Keralaputras of Ashoka's inscriptions probably belonged to their last phase.

Palaeolithic as a whole

Aspect	In the Palaeolithic
Way of life	Hunter gatherers
Technology	Stone tools
Agriculture	None
Pottery	None
Settlement	Largely mobile
Change	Tools improved gradually

Across its three stages the Palaeolithic kept one way of life; only the tools changed.Source: Theme 1 handout

Burials are found in the Mesolithic, and Mirzapur gives the first evidence of disposal of the dead by burial.
Rock art is important at many Mesolithic sites, and Bhimbetka is known for its rock paintings.
In the Neolithic, settled life and village communities appear, and social life becomes more organised.
Signs of social differentiation appear in some places during the Chalcolithic, the Stone Copper Age of settled village life.

The Neolithic brought the greatest change in the economy, the move from food gathering to food production.
This food producing economy rested on farming and animal domestication, and grain storage also began in the Neolithic.
In the Chalcolithic, copper tools joined stone ones, agriculture was well established, and trade and craft activity grew.
The Ahar Banas culture lay in eastern Rajasthan along the Ahar and Banas rivers, with important sites at Ahar and Gilund.
It made black and red ware, sometimes painted with white designs, and had fortified settlements and evidence of early copper smelting.
The Kayatha or Malwa culture lay near Ujjain, with sites at Navdatoli and Maheshwar, and made distinct painted pottery and terracotta figurines.
The Jorwe culture of Maharashtra, with sites at Jorwe, Daimabad and Inamgaon, made red ware painted black and grew rice.

Chalcolithic cultures

Culture	Region	Pottery	Sites	Also known for
Ahar Banas	Eastern Rajasthan, along the Ahar and Banas rivers	Black and red ware, sometimes painted white	Ahar, Gilund	Fortified settlements, early copper smelting
Kayatha or Malwa	Near Ujjain	Distinct painted pottery	Navdatoli, Maheshwar	Terracotta figurines
Jorwe	Maharashtra	Red ware painted black	Jorwe, Daimabad, Inamgaon	Rice

Three Chalcolithic cultures, each told apart by its region, its pottery and its sites.Source: Theme 1 handout

Rock painting at Bhimbetka
Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is known for its rock painting; rock art is important at many Mesolithic sites.
Yann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A rock shelter at Bhimbetka
Bhimbetka is among the important Indian sites of the Upper Palaeolithic, when blade tools became important.
Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
The World Heritage listing of Bhimbetka, the Madhya Pradesh site known for its rock painting.
See it at UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Stone tools from Attirampakkam
Attirampakkam, in Tamil Nadu, is an important Lower Palaeolithic site, of the earliest stone tool cultures with large and heavy tools.
Ophelia S, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mehrgarh
Mehrgarh, in present day Pakistan, is one of the earliest farming sites in South Asia, considered the first village of the region.
mhtoori, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A megalithic stone circle in Coorg
Megalith builders are known from their graves, encircled by big stones and mostly outside the settlement area.
Unknown (Government of India), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Prehistory: The period of the human past for which there are no written records, known mainly through archaeology.
Protohistory: A period for which writing exists but is not fully understood or deciphered, such as the Harappan civilisation.
Microliths: Very small stone tools, the most important feature of the Mesolithic.
Food producing economy: Producing food through farming and animal domestication, which began in the Neolithic.
Chalcolithic: The stone and copper age, roughly 3000 to 1000 BCE in many regions, when people used both stone and copper tools.
Black and red ware: Distinctive black and red pottery with geometric designs, often in white, about 1300 to 900 BCE, spread across the subcontinent.
Painted Grey Ware: Fine grey pottery painted with black geometric patterns, about 1200 to 600 BCE, found in northwestern India and the Gangetic plain; it often overlaps with the early Vedic period.
Northern Black Polished Ware: Shiny, black, almost metallic looking pottery from a specific firing process, about 700 to 200 BCE, associated with urban centres and the rise of major cities.
Megaliths: Graves encircled by big stones and mostly located outside the settlement area, from which the Megalithic people of the peninsula are known.

Prelims

Try each before opening the answer; every question is also on the Prelims PYQs pages.

2024 · Q55

Consider the following information:

1.Chandraketugarh / Odisha / Trading Port town
2.Inamgaon / Maharashtra / Chalcolithic site
3.Mangadu / Kerala / Megalithic site
4.Salihundam / Andhra Pradesh / Rock-cut cave shrines.

In which of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?

(a)1 and 2
(b)2 and 3UPSC key
(c)3 and 4
(d)1 and 4

Show answer and explanation

Row 2 is correct. Inamgaon on the Ghod river in Pune district, Maharashtra, is the best excavated Jorwe culture Chalcolithic settlement, yielding evidence of farming, craft specialisation and a large habitation with granaries. Row 3 is correct. Mangadu in Kerala is a megalithic site, part of the dense concentration of megalithic burials, including cists, urn burials and hood stones, found across Kerala and the Tamil country. Row 1 fails on state. Chandraketugarh was indeed a flourishing trading and port settlement with rich terracotta finds, but it lies in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, not Odisha. Row 4 fails on description. Salihundam in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh is a Buddhist site of stupas, chaityas and viharas built on a hillock overlooking the Vamsadhara river, not a complex of rock cut cave shrines in the sense of Ajanta or Ellora. Two rows are correct, giving (b), and the paired errors of state and description remove options (a), (c) and (d).

Difficult · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Sources, Chronology and Historiography

2021 · Q37

Consider the following pairs: (Historical place / Well-known for)

1.Burzahom : Rock-cut shrines
2.Chandraketugarh : Terracotta art
3.Ganeshwar : Copper artefacts.

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a)1 only
(b)1 and 2
(c)3 only
(d)2 and 3UPSC key

Show answer and explanation

Pair 1 is incorrectly matched and is the decisive one: Burzahom in the Kashmir valley is a Neolithic site famous for its subterranean pit dwellings, associated dog burials with human remains, and a hunting scene engraving. It has no rock-cut shrines, which belong to sites such as Ellora, Ajanta and Mahabalipuram.
Pair 2 is correctly matched: Chandraketugarh in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal is renowned for its early historic terracotta plaques and figurines.
Pair 3 is correctly matched: Ganeshwar in the Sikar district of Rajasthan, sitting near the Khetri copper belt, yielded a very large assemblage of copper objects and is understood as a supplier of copper to the Harappan world. Hence 2 and 3, giving (d). Knowing only that Burzahom means pit dwellings eliminates (a) and (b) at once.

Moderate · Static · Ancient and Medieval History · Sources, Chronology and Historiography