pre historic period in india

PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD

Palaeolithic Period

• Homo sapiens first appeared towards the end of this phase.
• In this period, Man barely managed to gather his food and subsisted on hunting. 
• Distinguished by the development of the first stone tools made up of quartzite 
• Palaeolithic period is divided into three phases. They are 1. Lower Palaeolithie 2. Middle Palaeolithie 3.Upper Palaeolithie

Mesolithic Period

• Domestication of animals (particularly., dogs) began and characteristic tools were used, called as microliths.
• Bhimbetka in madhya pradesh is known for ancient caves depicting pictures of birds, animals and humans. 

Neolithic period 

• Neolithic people knew about fire and wheel.
• An important site of this age is Burzahom, which means 'the place of birch'

Chalcolithie Period 

• use of copper and stone made tools. 
• They practised agriculture, venerated Mother Goddess and worshipped the bull.  

INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION 

• Indus valley Civilisation is one of the four earliest civilisations of the world. 
• According to radiocarbon dating. Initiation of indus valley Civilisation can be dated around 2500-1750 BC.
• Systematie town planning Was based on grid system; burnt bricks were used to construct houses; well-managed drainage system fortified citadel; highly urbanised; absence of iron implements.
• The Great Bath (mohonjodaro) was used for religious barthing There were changing rooms alongside.
• six granaries in a row were found in the citadel at Harappa. 
• The towns were divided in to 2 parts: the upper part or citadel and the Lower part Harappans were ruled by a class of merchants. as no evidence of weapons are found there. 
• Indus people sowed seeds in November and reaped their harvest in April, because of the danger of flood. 
• Produced wheat. barley, rai, peas, seasum, rice and mustard. 
• Indus people were the first to produce cotton, which the Greeks terned as sindon (derived from sindh).
• Animals known were oxen, sheep, buffaloes, goats, pigs, elephants, dogs, cats, asses and camels. 
• well-knit external and internal trade. Barter system was prevalent. 
• A very Interesting feature of this civilisation was that iron was not known to  the people.
• The Indus people used weights and measures in the multiples of 16. 
• harappans looked on Earth as fertility Goddess and phallic (lingam) and yoni worship was prevalent. 
• Unicorn was the most worshipped animal Many trees (pirpal), animals (bull), birds (dove, pigeon ) and stones to were worshipped though no evidence of temple has been found. 
• Dead bodies were placed in North-South orientation. 
• The seal of pashupati depicts elephant, tiger, rhinoceros and buffalo. Two deers appear at the feet of pashupati.
• The Indus people believed in ghosts and evil forces evident by their use of amulets for protection againts them. Fire altars are found at Lothal and kalibagan. 
• The greatest artistic creation of the Harappan culture were the seals, made of steatite. Harappan seript is pictorgraphic and hasn't been deciphered yet.