History Quiz: Prehistoric India & Indus Valley Civilization |29 Apr, 2021

The history and identity of human settlements in India go back to prehistoric times.

• The credit for doing an early extensive study of Indian pre-history go to Robert Bruce Foote, who discovered what was probably the first Paleolithic tool discovered in India — the Pallavaram hand-axe.
• Later, he discovered a large number of pre-historic sites in South India.

Source: Tamil Nadu Old NCERT

The characteristic tools of this age were microliths (miniature stone tools usually made of crypto-crystalline silica, chalcedony, or chert, both of geometrical and non-geometrical shapes).

They were not only used as tools in themselves but also to make composite tools, spearheads, arrowheads, and sickles after hafting them on wooden or bone handles.

Source: Tamil Nadu Old NCERT

In northern India, the Neolithic age emerged around c.8000−6000 BCE.

At some places in south and eastern India, it is as late as 1000 BCE.

Its significance in pre-history can be gauged by the fact that V. Gordon Childe termed the Neolithic phase as Neolithic Revolution.

Maski, Brahmagiri, Piklihal (proof of cattle herding), Budihal (community food preparation and feasting), and Tekkalakota in Karnataka are the important sites of Neolithic age.

Source: Tamil Nadu Old NCERT

The Harappans relished non-vegetarian food. Fish-eating was common. Milk and curd were also consumed.

• The Harappan societies of Sindh and Punjab largely consumed wheat and barley while those of Rangpur and Surkotda consumed rice and millets.
• The Harappan script was pictographic and logosyllabic (each symbol stood for a word/syllable).
• Harappan writing was boustrophedon, that is to say, right to left and left to right in alternate lines. The Harappan script has not been deciphered so far.

Source: Tamil Nadu Old NCERT

Craft production was an important part of the Harappan economy. Bead and ornament making, shell bangle making and metalworking were the major crafts.

• They made beads and ornaments out of carnelian, jasper, crystal, and steatite, metals like copper, bronze and gold and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.
• The beads were made in innumerable designs and decorations. They were exported to Mesopotamia and the evidence for such exported artefacts has been found from the excavations in Mesopotamian sites.
• Certain Harappan sites specialized in the production of certain craft materials. The following table presents the major centres of craft production.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11.

Pastoralism was also practiced by the Harappans. They domesticated sheep, goat and fowl.

• They had knowledge of various other animals including buffalo, pig and elephant. But horse was not known to them.

• The Harappan cattle are called Zebu. It is a large breed, often represented in their seals.
• They also ate fish and birds. Evidence of boar, deer and gharial has been found at the Harappan sites.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11.

The map below shows the location of major harappan sites with respective rivers.

Source: Themes in Indian History-1 page 2 

Unlike Africa, evidence of hominin [immediate ancestor of Homo sapiens] fossil is rare in India.

• There is a report of a fossil fragment discovered by Robert Bruce Foote from Athirampakkam.

• Its whereabouts are not known now. The only well-known hominin fossil of India was found at Hathnora near Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh.
• The cranium is named Narmada human. A partly preserved hominid skull cap was found in a basal conglomerate deposit in 1982.
• It is considered to represent the Archaic Homo sapiens. It is the only existing fossil find of human ancestors in India.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11.

In north-eastern India, Neolithic culture appears at to a very late period. The Neolithic cultures of north-eastern India generally date from 2500-1500 BCE or even later.

• Shouldered axes and splayed celts have been found at the sites in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Daojali Hading and Sarutaru are the Neolithic sites in the Assam region.
• This region bears evidence for shifting cultivation. Cultivation of yams and taro, building stone and wooden memorials for the dead, and the presence of Austro-Asiatic languages are the marked features of this region, which shows cultural similarities with South-east Asia.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11.

Ochre Coloured Pottery Ware culture is found in northern India dating to the Chalcolithic period.

• The OCP pottery has red slip and appears ochre in colour (the ochre colour comes off when the pottery is touched) and hence, it is called Ochre Coloured Pottery.

• It has black painted designs. The OCP comes in the form of jars, storage jars, bowls, and basins.
• The OCP culture dates to 2600- 1200 BCE and is found in the Indo- Gangetic plain and may have had some associations with early Vedic culture.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board class 11.