Neolithic pot of joy promises to shine light on prehistory in Kashmir, beyond: 

Neolithic pot of joy promises to shine light on prehistory in Kashmir, beyond:

Context?

4,000-year-old pot has been excavated in the Haigam area of Sopore in Kashmir and  is the first piece of Neolithic pottery in Kashmir that has been found entirely intact. Before this,  only stone tools, pieces of pottery, and some human remains had been unearthed.

What is Neolithic period?

A remarkable progress is noticed in human civilization in the Neolithic Age.In India Neolithic Age is not earlier than 6000 BC and at some places in South and Eastern India; it is as late as 1000 BC

Earliest evident of Neolithic culture have been found at Mehragarh on bank of river Bolan (Baluchistan) 7000 BC showing beginning of agriculture & domestication of animals

Where are Neolithic settlements in India located?

Based on the types of tools used, the Neolithic settlements in India ae found in three main areas:

• One area is found in the valley of Kashmir in an are called Burzahom at a 20km distance from Srinagar and another Gufkral . The people here had a hunting and fishing economy,settled in pits and seem to have had no knowledge of agriculture . Tools made of bone are the special feature here. They had coarse gray pottery. An interesting find here is that the practise of burying Burzahom domestic dogs with their masters in the graves.
• The second group of Neolithic people lived in South India south of the Godavari river. They used stone axes, domesticated sheep and cattle. The large number of domesticated cattle is an important feature here. They used stone querns which shows that they were acquainted with the art of producing grains.
• The third are of discovery of Neolithic tools is the hills of Assam.
• In addition Neolithic settlements are found in Allahabad, Chirand in Bihar, Belan valley in Uttar Pradesh , Vindhyas and Garo hills of Meghalayas among others.

Significance of Neolithic period

The Neolithic period was significant for a number of reasons:

• Since, in the Neolithic period they came to be acquainted with cultivation of cereals and domestication of cattle, they needed pots to keep foodgrains and milk. Hence,handmade pottery in the early periods and footwheeled pots in the later period were found.
• Some of them were cattle herders and domesticated sheep,cattle ,goats,etc.
• The later Neolithic settlers were agriculturists and lived in houses made of mud and reed.They produced Ragi and Horsegram.
• Polishing of stone tools is another significant feature.
• Crops such as rice,wheat,barley came to be produced.
• Cultivation of plants and domestication of animals led to the emergence of village communities based on sedentary life.

Conclusion

Researchers are now searching for clues to determine if these sites played a role in transmitting knowledge of agriculture, particularly wheat and barley cultivation, from western Asia into China, where farm practices played a key role in supporting the early rise of the Chinese state.