4 Pre-historic Cultures in India

P. Bhaskar Reddy

1. Introduction

The whole of Indian subcontinent is rich in archaeological sites and remains. Pre-historic sites are both numerous and obvious in much of the Indian subcontinent. It is not therefore, surprising that the stone tools of the Palaeolithic period were found and recognized in India only shortly after they had received official recognition in Europe. The rediscovery of ancient India was in origin almost entirely European, indeed to a large extent British. Robert Bruce Foote, a British Geologist, has rightly been called as the “Father of Indian Pre -history”. During the sixties, seventies and eighties of 19thcentury, he worked unceasingly in the field, and wherever his geological duties took him, he discovered archaeological treasure in the shape of Pre-historic remains. It is true to say that almost every important Pre-historic site in peninsular India vowed its discovery to him. In 1863, Foote discovered the first Indian Paleolithic artifact from a locality at Pallavaram, near Madras (now Chennai). During 1850s Colonel Meadows Taylor carried out number of outstanding excavations of Megalithic graves in Hyderabad State. Prior to it, M.C. Burkitt of Cambridge University, England published an account of the collection of a Magistrate, L.A. Cammaide, from the Krishna basin, and Professors H. De Terra and T.T. Patterson led the Yale-Cambridge Expedition to study the glacial sequence of Kashmir and the Punjab and to relate their findings to the Pre-historic industries of the Punjab, Narmada and Madras. Another archaeologist who contributed greatly to our knowledge of Indian Pre-history was Sir Aurel Stein, whose continuing expeditions led him to Baluchistan and eastern Iran, the Punjab, and North West Frontier Province, no less than to more remote regions of Central Asia.

2. History and Prehistory

The period for which written records are available and used as a primary source in understanding the past is historic period, and all periods proceeding this fall under prehistory. The settled life of human past, which led to development of civilizations, and urban centres for which written records are available, yet undeciphered falls under a separate division, at least in India, which is known as proto-history. The Harappan civilization falls under this category along with the cultures immediately preceding (chalcolithic) and succeeding (Iron Age) it.

Indian prehistory, following several models and based on the evidence of sites of different cultural ages, has been divided into (i) Palaeolithic, (ii) Mesolithic / Microlithic, (iii) Neolithic and (iv) Megalithic periods. The Palaeolithic period is further divided into (i) Lower, (ii) Middle and (iii) Upper palaeolithic periods or cultures, based on stone tool making technologies, styles and stratigraphic sequence.

3. The Palaeolithic Age

The word ‘paleo’ means old and ‘lith’ is stone and therefore it is also called Old Stone Age. It is the earliest period in India where the first human habitation was noticed. The predominant tool prepared and used during this age is of stone, probably supplemented by wooden, bone antler tools. The communities were living in open air or cave settlements. The evidence for cave settlements comes from sites like Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. The Palaeolithic is further sub-divided into lower, middle and upper palaeolithic periods and the chronology varies from region to region.

The findings of early Miocene hominoids like Sivapithecus (14 to 7 Ma) and Ramapithecus (13 to 9 Ma) from the Siwalik deposits of India and Pakistan are a good evidence of primate evolution in Indian sub-continent. Even though the Narmada valley and other river valleys did reveal fossils of faunal species, human fossils are always scanty. In the Narmada valley, faunal remains of species like Bos namadicus, Sus namadicus, Hexaprotodon namadicus, Elephas hysudricus, Equus namadicus and Stegodon-insignis-ganesa belonging to Middle Pleistocene are found associated with Acheulian artefacts. The only hominid fossil remain is that of an archaic Homo sapiens from Hathnora, near Hoshangabad in the Narmada valley. The fossil was found in association with stone tools of late Acheulian type from eroded gravels. A general date of 125,000 is agreed among the scholars for the date of this hominid remains.

Petraglia observes that the geographical and environmental conditions determined the palaeolithic occupation in the Indian subcontinent and identifies distinct ‘regions and eco-zones’ consisting broadly of the (i) greater and lesser Himalayan region, (ii) adjoining Siwaliks, (iii) Indo-Gangetic plains and (iv) peninsular India.

3.1 Lower Palaeolithic

The Lower Palaeolithic in India, about which we have as yet very little cultural information beyond that to be gained from the stone tools themselves, which include hand-axe industries which generally parallel to those of Western Asia, Europe and Africa, but with certain differences and exceptions. The principal tools are the hand-axe and the cleaver, core tools of discoidal and elliptical outline made in a similar manner to the hand-axes, chopping tools of various types and flakes.

The studies conducted by various scholars indicate that the earliest hominin occupation in Indian sub-continent belongs to Acheulian. The dates for earliest hominin occupation in the form of stone tool assemblages are also available from several sites like Riwat in Pakistan (1.9 ma) while well dated Acheulian sequences in Pakistan date between 800 and 700 ka. The overall time bracket for Acheulian assemblages in India is between 400 and 300 ka even though an ESR date of 1.2 Ma is reported from Isampur. The various eco-zones in the Himalayan, Siwaliks and peninsular region have yielded a number of Acheulian bearing sites in different ecological and topographical settings, while it has been interpreted that the Indo-Gangetic plains could have served as a barrier for large-scale human dispersals between the Himalayan and peninsular India, due to the paucity of raw materials.

The evidence for lower palaeolithic presence from the Indian subcontinent is found from sites like Riwat (in Pakistan) on the Soan River, datable to around 1.9 Ma. Another locality yielding early presence is from Pabbi Hills in Upper Siwalik region (in Pakistan), consisting of stone artefacts (simple cores and flakes) on erosional surfaces of fossiliferous deposits. Three such deposits have been dated to ages ranging between 1.4-1.2 Ma; 0.9-1.2 Ma and 1.7-2.2 Ma. While the earlier studies undertaken by De Terra and Paterson tried to identify differences in Soan (unifacial tools on cores and rarer bifacial pieces)and Acheulian (standardized bifaces consisting of handaxes, cleavers and picks on cores and flakes) industries, Petraglia identifies that there is no distinct Soan-Acheulian dichotomy even though there is a generally recognized technological and typological difference between them.

Lower Palaeolithic remains are also found from several other localities in the sub-continent like valleys of the Beas River, another tributary of the Indus,Attirampakkam, Pallavaram near Chennai, Kurnool, Cuddapah, Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Anantapuram, Nalgonda, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad districts in Andhra Pradesh in the river valleys of Penna, Gundlakamma, Krishna, Godavari and their tributaries and in the rock-shelters at Billasurgam (Kurnool), Hunsgi and Baichbal, Tungabhadra, Bhima, Malaprabha, river valleys and at other places. The excavations in a cave at Gudiyam, near Attirampakkam have shown that the early man has not regularly and continuously inhabited the cave. The site of Isampur revealed a remarkably preserved tool manufacturing industry and occupation activities.

A considerable number of caves and rock shelters have been examined and excavated by several archaeologists. R.V. Joshi excavated Adamgarh Hills in Narmada valley and found lower palaeolithic and Mesolithic assemblages. The stone tools of lower palaeolithic comprised of hand -axes, chopping tools, ovates, and a few cleavers. A continuous human occupation starting from lower palaeolithic is indicated from the remains at Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh. The majority of the tools found in all parts of the sub-continent are made of quartzite. Sometimes pebbles were used, particularly for making the earlier and cruder hand-axes, and for making chopping tools at all periods. The other source of quartzite was outcrops of rock and boulders. Factory sites of both pebbles and boulders of various sizes had clearly provided the raw material and can be seen in various parts of India.

The stone hand-axes were hafted to wooden handles for easy handling of the same for cutting the flesh of the animals and for cutting the roots of the trees.

3.2 Middle Palaeolithic

The Middle Palaeolithic tool industry is characterized by flake core types, which is distinct from the previous bifacial industry of Acheulian. Further, it is also identified based on stratigraphy, changes in tool technologies and styles. The prepared core technique or the Levallois technique, which appears during the Middle Palaeolithic is also identified as a cognitive change in evolutionary significance. The change and shift to this technique of tool production is due a distinct preference and desire for the end product design of a tool. Scholars also identify a gradual shift to this technique even during the late Acheulian tool industry and not a sudden transformation. This transition is noticed from several sites in South Asia like Bhimbetka, Beas-Berach complex, Bariapur (all in Madhya Pradesh), Lakhmapur West, Isampur, (Karnataka), Orsang (Gujarat), Narayana Nellore (Andhra Pradesh), Kortallayar Basin (Tamil Nadu). Some of the important middle palaeolithic site are Kaladgi basin (Karnataka), Hajiakheri, Lachchura, Attirampakkam, Kortallyar river valley, Kadmali river basin, Bhimbetka, Chancha Baluch, Panchmahals, Godavari valleys, Bhagi Mohari, Kurnool district, Ganjana valley, Patpara, Upper Son, Mangalpura (Didwana) and others.

As per Petraglia, the Middle Palaeolithic is characterized by flake-based industry, dominated by prepared cores and retouched flakes, with scrapers and points being the most common forms. Scholars also identify a reduction in biface sizes during this period and also a presence of blade and flake-blade industry. A shift in the raw material preference is also noticed in the middle palaeolithic tool collection. While the quartzite of late Acheulian continued during middle palaeolithic period, chert and crypto-crystalline rocks were used for making the tools.

The middle palaeolithic in South Asia can be datable from around 100 Ka to 30 Ka and the chronology varies from region to region.

3.3 Upper Palaeolithic

The upper palaeolithic in South Asia is not prominently present and evidence is available from only a few localities. This period is characterized by a change in tool technology and settlement patterns when compared to the middle palaeolithic. The distinct tool typology during this period is blade, specialized retouched tools and geometric microlithics used to produce composite tools. Further, burins and backed tools comprise the tool typology from some of the sites.

M.L.K. Murthy identifies Upper Palaeolithic in India into three distinct typo-technological groupings. They are (i) flake-blade industries, (ii) blade-tool industries and (iii) blade and burin industries. The flake-blade industries have been identified from Garo Hill (Assam), Palamau, Singhbhum (Bihar), the blade-tool industries at Betamcherla, Muchchhatla Chintamanu Gavi (Kurnool), Vemula (Cuddappah) from Andhra Pradesh; Belgaum, Bijapur and Gulbarga (Karnataka), Bhimbetka (Raisen), Alonia, Chhapra and Bandol (Seoni) all in Madhya Pradesh; Nevasa, Dhavalpuri (Ahmednagar), Papamiya-tekdi (Chandrapur), Khandivli and Marve (Bombay), Bhokar (Nanded), Inamgaon (Pune), Dhulia, Patne (Jalgaon) all in Maharashtra; Pushkar Lake (Rajasthan); Belan Valley (Rajasthan). The blade and burin industries are noticed at Sites around Renigunta (Chittoor), Nagarjunakonda, Kurnool area, Cuddappah, Prakasam, all in Andhra Pradesh; Visadi (Baroda) in Gujarat.

Along with the stone tool industries, a distinct bone tool industry is also reported only from the Kurnool area of Andhra Pradesh. The excavation at Billa Surgam cave yielded bone tools in association with late Pleistocene fauna.

The beginning of Pre-historic rock art in the form of paintings and petroglyphs is also attributed to this phase. The evidence of paintings and petroglyphis found from Central India, Balochistan and Afghanistan are tentatively identified to upper palaeolithic age. The finding of an ostrich egg shell with a criss-cross design is an example of mobile art of this age.

The upper palaeolithic is datable between 40 Ka and 20 Ka and the important sites of this phase are Mehtakheri, Inamgaon, Chandrasal, Dharamouri, Nandipalle, caves in Kurnool area, Rohri and other sites.

Some scholars identify a transitional phase between upper palaeolithic and Mesolithic traditions and it is known as Epi-Palaeolithic.

4. Mesolithic and Microlithic

The Mesolithic / Microlithic throughout India and Sri Lanka are characterized by Microlithic (tiny stone tools) industries. There can be little doubt that this cultural phase is entirely post-Pleistocene, indeed mesolithic industries in many parts of India must be contemporary, in their later stages at least, with Neolithic and later cultures. In southern India, the change from Middle Palaeolithic to Mesolithic, from the flake industry to microlithic tradition, appears to have been a process of continuous development rather than of sudden change. The plains of Gujarat and Western Central India are rich in sites of mesolithic, on river banks and on the hillocks which are in many cases old sand–dunes. Excavations at Langhnaj in Gujarat, Rangpur in Central India have yielded animal skeletons, beads of dentalium shells, Red, Black and Black and red ware pottery, copper knife, iron arrow-head, Quartzite pebbles, a stone hammer, small ground stone axes, quartzite ring stone mace-head were found. The stone industry of this period is based upon the production of small parallel–sided blades from carefully prepared cores. The blades are small, and both the bulbs of percussion upon them and the scars left upon the cores by their removal are very shallow. The assemblage of stone tools of this period is represented by flakes, cores, blades, lunates, triangles, trapezes, scrapers, points, backed blades etc. In general, the tools are made of some kind of crypto- crystalline silica, such as jasper, agates, chert and chalcedony, which are found in the form of small nodules, brought down from the hills of Central India, and in the gravels of the rivers which flow across the plains of Gujarat. There are numerous rock shelters in Central and South India which contain occupation debris in the form of massive quantities of stone tools and waste material, varying amounts of bone, and charcoal and other cultural remains. Two rock shelters at Jambudip and Dorothy Deep, near Pachmarhi, Lekhania in Mirzapur District (Uttar Pradesh), Adamgarh hills in Narmada valley, Modi in the Chambal valley, Birbhanpur on the Damodar river in West Bengal and at other places, mesolithic deposits have been noticed by excavators. The animal bones found in the above excavations include the domestic dog, Indian humped cattle, water buffalo, goat, sheep, pig, and wild animals like Sambar, Barasingha, Spotted deer, hare, Porcupine and monitor Lizard. Hunting scenes and game animals seem to be show various styles in the rock shelters.

The mesolithic/microlithic industries, so far recorded in the southern parts of Indian peninsula are predominantly based on milky quartz. The mesolithic sites at Sanganakallu (Bellary), Raichur region, Jalahalli and Kibbanahalli near Bengaluru, Barapedi cave (Belgaum), and Goa have yielded the tools of different assemblage of this Age. In Andhra Pradesh Giddaluru,Nagarjunakonda, Kondapur, Adilabad area and at several other places,have yielded microliths both in excavation and in the exposed section of rivers of Gundlakamma,Penna, Tungabhadra, Krishna,Godavari and their tributaries. During this period the man transformed from food hunter to food gatherer and started domesticating the animals.

A gradual improvement in his life style can be witnessed during this period. The tiny stone blades were hafted either to wooden or bone sickles and were used for cutting the crops and for day to day use.etc. Tiny stone arrowheads were hafted to wooden or bone handle for speedy hunting of the animals.

The lifestyle of humans was becoming semi-sedentary to sedentary and more preference was given to settlements on the coastal as well as nearer to the alluvial plains. The chronology of Mesolithic traditions can be placed from 10000-7000 BCE, while at some sites it even continues up to 2000 BCE.

The microlithic tradition of manufacturing stone tool appear even before the Mesolithic in Indian subcontinent and the dates from Jwalapuram area goes to as early as 30 Ka.

5. The Neolithic Age

The word ‘Neo’ means new and lith is stone. The deposits of the Neolithic times are very rich in contents, revealed a total life pattern of Neolithic people. The attention of the archaeologists has been directed for over a century towards the large numbers of stone axes, both flaked, edge-ground, fully ground, and pecked or hammer dressed, discovered widely as surface finds. The Neolithic tool technology is characterized by two lithic industries, chipped and ground stone, blade and microliths. The chipped and ground stone industry forms a significant trait of the south Neolithic culture. The artefacts of this industry are made of indigenous metamorphic rocks like basalt or dolerite, diorite and granite. In the most general terms, the following five main groups of axes can be distinguished.

These are .

• The Northern group from Kashmir valley (Burzahom).
• The Southern group spreading south of Godavari River.
• The Eastern group from Assam region,
• The Central group from the hills of Central India,south of Ganges valley.
• The Eastern-Central group from the hill regions of Bihar, Orissa, and Chota Nagpur,
• The Neolithic complex of Balochistan area, which has brought to light the earliest evidence so far in the Indian subcontinent

The evidence from Mehrgarh, Kili Gul Mohammad from Balochistan area of Pakistan is so far the earliest in terms of human shifting from a nomadic lifestyle to sedentary one. There is a gradual evolution from pre-pottery Neolithic to pottery Neolithic at this site with the shift towards domesticated animals replacing the wild ones. The evidence of barley and wheat from Neolithic levels of Mehrgarh is the earliest trace in Indian subcontinent. Later, the pottery was introduced at Mehrgarh and the phase also saw the interaction with other cultures in the form of availability of exotic ornaments and goods. The presence of shell having its origin from the coasts of Karachi, Oman and Makran is a clear indication of long distance trade established by the Mehergarn inhabitants. Similarly, semi-precious stones like turquoise, lapislazuli, carnelian, steatite and others are a clear indication of long distance trade even during the Neolithic age at Mehrgarh. The houses were constructed with plano-convex mud bricks and nearly eight metres of habitation at Mehrgarh have been attributed to Neolithic levels. An elaborate burial practice is also noticed from this phase, which shows the internment of individuals in flexed position placed in utero along with ornaments, stone tools, and goats.

It is assumed that these distributional groups have some cultural- historical significance. The material culture of this Age included are coarse grey or black burnished pottery often with mat- marked bases, copper arrow heads, a wide range of bone points awls, needles, harpoons, polished stone axes with sharp edge, frequently pecked and ground of both oval and oblong section, adzes, chisels, lunates, leaf-shaped blades, burins, ring stone and distinctive pierced rectangular chopper or perforated knife of a kind hitherto unknown in India. The industry is characterized by non-edged tools comprising of hammers, rubbers, pounders, mullers and quern stones.

Most of these tools were used in agricultural and domestic activities,while some might have used as tool producing. During the second phase mud floors with circular post-holes for hutments of wattle and daub on a wooden frame,stone blades prepared from small blade cores of various siliceous stones, like chert, chalcedony,quartz, crystal and carnelian commonly comparable with those found at Brahmagiri, Piklihal, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, Hallur,T.Narsipur, Paiyampalli,Utnur, Nagarjunakonda, Maski in South India have been noticed. This industry is comparable closely with that of Chalcolithic sites in Malwa and Maharashtra. The microliths must have been used after hafting as knives or sickles for harvesting crops.

The southern Neolithic culture is associated from the beginning with people possessing herds of cattle (Bos indicus), sheep and goats, dogs, buffalo, etc. The Neolithic age saw the settled human life and the emergence of domestication, construction of circular huts in groups. In the state of Andhra and Telangana these Neolithic sites have been reported from almost all the districts. As many as forty varieties of stone tools of different types, sizes and varieties have been reported from this age. In the stone industry near Giddaluru (Prakasam district), Banahalli, Budihalli, Sulikunte (Kolar district) and at other places, the change of culture from the microlithic assemblage to Neolithic assemblage is clearly noticeable. The stone axes and celts were highly polished. The axe with sharp polished convex working edge pointed butt end. This is a common type found in most of the sites in the Deccan. The other variety of stone axes is ovaloid in section with convex edge. This feature may be due to the original shape of the pebble of the rock selected for making the tool, but it is possible that this convex margin is the presence of hearths and the charcoal at the entrance of the huts in several places in Deccan suggests that the Neolithic folk were cooking and preparing their daily food. The presence of ash mounds caused by the burning of cow-dung have been noticed at places like Utnur, Piklihal, Budihal, Maski and at several other places is another interesting feature of south Indian Neolithic. The occurrence of charred bones of wild animals around the hearths suggests that he was cooking the meat for his daily consumption. The Neolithic settlements in South India particularly, were not only concentrated on the foot of the hills or near the natural caves but also on plains as revealed in the excavations at Hallur, Nagarjunakonda and at many other places in the Deccan.

The discovery of Neolithic tools of a highly improved variety from the banks of Tungabhadra near Magala (Bellary district) is the best example of their settlement in plain land far away from the hills and caves. Pottery is another important characteristic feature of the culture that leads stability to settled way of life. The Neolithic economy of South India was a mixed one and includes hunting, fishing, primitive agriculture and pastolarism. In addition to farming, animals were bred for food. Mat weaving and bead making formed a part of the Neolithic economy. Twilled mat impressions are seen on the bases of the potsas at Magala, Kodekal (Gulbarga),Tekkalakota, (Bellary),Garapadu,Ramapuram, Pusalapadu in Andhra Pradesh. Coming to the burial–pits, skeletal remains of human being in one of the large sized pits were noticed at Garapadu. The Neolithic-Chalcolithic cultures of peninsular India represented two different modes for the disposal of the dead, which include the primary extended inhumation and secondary post exhumation fractional earth burial or pot burial.

6. The Chalcolithic Age

The term ‘chalcos’ mean copper and ‘lith’ means stone, thus during the Chalcolithic age which succeeds immediately the Neolithic, the emergence of copper is noticed, an important technological marker. Initially, native copper available in the form of medium to large ingots could have been used, directly melted to produce various products, and towards due to the invention of smelting technology, copper ores could be smelted to produce copper. The continuation of stone tools from the Palaeolithic age also continued along with the emergence of copper and a considerable lithic industry was also present during the Chalcolithic Age.

This period also saw the emergence of pyro-technological innovations, which were essential to produce high quality ceramics, metals, specialized products which require high temperature heating. The settlements rose along the river banks all along the important trade routes, partly to cater to the procurement and supply of exotic raw materials, which were essentially acquired due to a surplus in food production, enabled by the previous Neolithic age, thereby supporting craft activities. Villages and town slowly emerged, several regional cultures flourished which in a way was the precursor of the Bronze Age Harappan civilization in the Indus and adjoining river valleys.

The presence of Chalcolithic cultures is also noticed from other parts of India. A few of them being the Ahar-Banas, Savalda, Malwa, Jorwe, late Jorwe, eastern and south Chalcolithic cultures. Some of these co-existed along with the Harappan cultures in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In the Indian sub-continent the chronology of Chalcolithic cultures varies as per the region and the overall chronology is from 5500-1000 BCE.

7. The Bronze Age

Subsequent to the technological innovations and developments happened during the Chalcolithic age, cities and larger towns grew rapidly supporting vast populations and the urban societies developed. Further, the emergence of alloying as a technology by mixing metals like arsenic, tin with copper enabled the production of bronze, which is a distinctive feature of this age. Along with it developed a complex system of administration, trade and religious practices, which united a vast region consisting of different regional cultures. The Harappan civilization, which flourished from 2600-1900 BCE, is an example of Bronze Age in Indian sub-continent.

8. The Megalithic Age

The word ‘mega‘is big and ‘lith’ is stone. Geologically South India is essentially and extensively of Peninsular Gneissic complex. Surrounding the oldest Dharwad rocks of haematite-quartzite, schist etc. In Karnataka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu area, the sedimentary rock formations comprise sand stone, limestone etc. The region has excellent network of water supply from major rivers and their tributaries.

Type of Megaliths

There are various types of megalithic burials in India. In view of the basic architectural construction in stone, they may be broadly classified into two chief types. 1. Constructed or excavated megalithic burial chamber such as orthostatic passage or port-hole chambers and topikals (Hood stones), in the form of cists, stone circles, dolmenoid–cists, dolmens and 2. Un chambered pit-burials, oblong cists, sarcophagus burial urns, single or double with or without lithic appendage, menhirs, cromleches, kudaikals (Kal is stone in South Indian languages). Passage chambers without port –hole in the Deccan are located in the quartzitic sandstone hilly areas (Kaladgi series) of Belgaum-Bijapur-Bagalkot districts of Karnataka, i.e Konnur, Terdal, Halingali etc and Passage chambers with port-hole are available in the lime stone hilly areas (of the Bhima–Kurnool-Cuddapah series) in Gulbarga, Mahabubnagar districts. The Dolmens or Dolmenoid–cists are heavily concentrated in granite hilly areas of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala states. Topikals excavated rock chambers are found in the lateritic formations in the Western coast of Kerala and Karnataka. The stone circles exist extensively in large numbers, more in Karnataka-Andhra–Upper Tamil Nadu areas. Sarchophagus burials are largely in Upper Tamil Nadu, Eastern Karnataka, and southern Andhra areas. Single or multiple urns are concentrated in Southern Tamil Nadu-Kerala and Kadaikals in Kerala. Menhirs are available in south-western Tamil Nadu-Kerala and western Karnataka.

It is noticed that one megalithic type having distinct megalithic features of another type suggest probable contacts among the different social groups practicing megalithic traditions in different ways. There are many sites each having more than one megalithic type and are found at Aihole, Brahmagiri, Jewargi etc. This shows that different community people were practicing different megalithic traditions, living together in the same site. It may be said that ecological conditions and local geological conditions had impact on the megalithic types.

Iron Age Megalithic Cultural elements such as characteristic black -and red ware pottery and the iron objects comprising weapons and tools are found distinctly in considerable quantities and varieties unambiguously indicating their intrusion rather than a gradual local development. Another factor clearly implies appearance of a people with megalithic traditions different from the Neolithic people in the Chalcolithic stage as with their quite distinct burial practice apart from pottery in fabrics and types. The habitation sites are few and far between, in relation to the burial sites in large numbers. Further, in many of the chalcolithic sites, megalithic black-and-red ware pottery pieces in small number are noticed. They were adept in handling different kinds of rock materials for construction. There appears to be a chieftain who exercised control over the community, as evident from the specially built large megaliths. The large burrows of large dimensions probably were of a family of such chieftain as several people have been involved in the construction of such megaliths. South India was ecologically and geologically the most favourable location for the megalithic builders with distinct megalithic architectural tradition and empirical knowledge of iron technology. The people were, probably in small groups, in nomadic stage preferred hilly areas and iron bearing localities for the obvious reasons, and perhaps exploited natural resources. It appears that perhaps from 500 BCE, some sections of megalithic builders in many fertile areas took to settled life practicing agriculture etc.

9. Summary

As can be seen from the above there was a considerable progress in the cultural tradition of Pre -historic folk during the long journey of thousands of years from Lower Paleolithic Age to the Megalithic Age. The method of living and habits of the Pre-historic man was mainly based on geographic, climatic and ecological factors, which are helpful to know something about the primitive man. In the Lower Palaeolithic, the man was a hunterer-gatherer and was depending for his food on hunting and gathering of food. The mode of settlement was either open air sites or rock shelters, preparing stone tools as and when necessary, gathering the foods, both tubers, roots, fruits and nuts and occasionally hunting the slow moving animals. Through the long periods of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic age, the society probably consisted of little more than extended family groups living by hunting and gathering his food in his own loosely defined territories. With the Mesolithic, we see indications of what is probably a wider network of social contacts reflected in the large factory sites and the rock shelters with paintings, which illustrate a varied range of activities and concepts. The first permanent agricultural settlement clearly indicates a more highly organized, if still relatively simple society, demanding a considerable degree of social discipline and conformity. From these we progress by comparatively rapid stages, represented by settlements of steadily increasing size and magnificence, to the Harappan cities. There can be no doubt that these represent a sophisticated and highly complex society. Thereafter, society as a whole, however much depressed during unsettled periods of its development, could never return to the uncomplicated barbarian simplicity of earlier times. The tools of Mesolithic industrial tradition, but varying somewhat in the range and relative proportion of the different types, are found at all open-air sites and also in caves and rock shelters where these occur. The choice of habitations for communities of the Neolithic-Chalcolithic period must have been depended primarily upon their suitability for varying pastoral and agricultural requirements. Water for men and animals was prime necessity, and perhaps too proximity of land suitable for cultivation. The initial settlements of the Indus plains mark an event of great cultural significance. These settlements were placed either on the flood plain itself, or else on high ground immediately beside it.

The settlements of Neolithic culture have produced evidence of circular huts with plastered floors with mud or cow-dung and had hearths at the entrance. The regions, which lie between the Indus Valley and Karnataka, offers a series of intermediary styles of house building and settlement. In the Iron using Megalithic culture one can see the procedure of burying their dead in different types of burials and use of metal for agriculture. The people gradually gave up nomadism and took to settled life practicing even agriculture and domestication of animals, weaving cloths and wearing them.

Thus a gradual development in the human culture can be seen through the different stages of human civilization in Indian subcontinent.

Web links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory
• http://www.historydiscussion.net/essay/essay-on-prehistoric-cultures-of-india/1952
• http://narasimhan.com/SK/Culture/culture_history/culture_hist_prehist.htm
• http://holisticthought.com/india-during-pre-historic-period/
• http://www.facts-about-india.com/pre-historic-period.php