PALAEOLITHIC AGE IN INDIA

DISCUSS THE SITE DISTRIBUTION AND SETTLEMENT/SUBSISTENCE PATTERN OF PALAEOLITHIC AGE IN INDIA

The Palaeolithic (old stone) Age constitutes the longest phase of prehistory and covers the whole range of the Pleistocene epoch from about 2 mya 10,000 BP. Palaeolithic Age has been divided into three phases - Lower Palaeolithic, the tools included mainly handaxes, cleavers, choppers and chopping tools; Middle Palaeolithic, the tools largely had flakes; and Upper Palaeolithic, the tools mainly included burins and scrapers. This division is based on progressive improvement in tool types which gradually came to acquire better efficiency in their cutting edge and operating phase. The majority of tools found were made of quartzite. These tools, with some regional variations, exhibit remarkable similarity in their form, technique and raw material all over the Indian subcontinent.

PALAEOLITHIC SITES
Lower Palaeolithic stone tools have been found in the Sohan valley (Pakistan). A handaxe was discovered near Pahalgam in Kashmir on the River Lidder. These were known as the Sohanian industries and were dominated by pebble or core tools and characterized as chopper/chopping tools. In Rajasthan, lower, middle and upper Palaeolithic tools have been found around Ajmer and stray finds of lower Palaeolithic tools occur in the Luni valley. The Wagaon and Kadamali rivers in Mewar are rich in Middle Palaeolithic tools where a variety of scrapers, borers, and points have been discovered.

Rivers such as Sabarmati, Mahi, Tapi, Godavari, Bhima and Krishna have yielded a large number of Palaeolithic artefacts and tools. Palaeolithic tools like handaxes, chopper, cleavers, scrapers, and borers have been reported in Chirki (Maharashtra). Bhimbetka (near Bhopal) is a site in which tools representing the Acheulian tradition were replaced at a later stage by the Middle Palaeolithic Culture.

In the Peninsular region, Acheulian handaxes have been found in large numbers in Ghatprabha basin in Karnataka. Anagawadi and Bagalkot are two most important sites

on Ghatprabha where both Early and Middle Palaeolithic tools have been found. Andhra Pradesh is rich in Palaeolithic material, and it is reported mainly from the districts of Kurnool (where bone tools are discovered in limestone caves), Chittoor, and Nalagonda. An Upper Palaeolithic blade and burin industry from a group of sites near Renigunta in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh was also found. The rivers Palar, Penniyar and Kaveri in Tamil Nadu are rich in Palaeolithic tools. Attirampakkam (Tamil Nadu) have yielded both Early and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Middle Palaeolithic artefacts are found at several places on the river Narmada, and at several sites, south of the Tungabhadra River.

In Bihar, a lower Palaeolithic living and working floor was excavated at Paisra in the Kharagpur forests where the area was rich in finished and unfinished artefacts, broken pieces of stone and anvils. The Buharbalang Valley in Orissa has many Lower and Middle Palaeolithic tools. Some Palaeolithic tools have been found in the deltaic region of Orissa formed by the Baitarani, Brahmani and Mahanadi rivers. In Singhbum, many Palaeolithic sites have been reported and the main artefacts are handaxes and choppers. The river valleys and foothills of the Chotanagpur plateau in Jharkhand and the adjoining areas of W. Bengal have yielded lower Palaeolithic tools.

The presence of Upper Palaeolithic artefacts has been reported in the Thar regions, at Sanghao caves in the North West Frontiers Province and in the Potwar plateau of the northern Punjab, from parts of South India, central Gujarat and north-western Kathiawar.

SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS
An analysis of the Palaeolithic sites in India indicates that human ancestors generally lived in open air sites or in rock or cave shelters. The sites were mostly closer to the higher river banks or the hill terraces and their location was governed by the consideration of easy availability of perennial water, enough plant and animal food and the raw material for making tools. The craft activity of the Palaeolithic people is demonstrated in the growing skill in making finer and sharper stone tools and in the selection of better and more compatible raw material.

Faunal remains give us some idea about the relationship between Paleolithic human beings and their resources about their subsistence pattern. These remains suggest that the people were primarily in a hunting and gathering stage. However, there is no evidence of selective hunting in this period. It seems that the subsistence patterns of hunter-gatherers were geared to a dry season/wet season cycle of exploitation of plant and animal foods. It is likely that the Palaeolithic people subsisted on animals such as ox, bison, gazelle, black buck, antelope, wild boar, a variety of birds, tortoises and fishes and on honey and plant foods.

Rock paintings and carvings also give us an insight into the subsistence pattern and social life of the Palaeolithic people. The earliest paintings belong to Upper Palaeolithic. Bhimbetka is well known for continuous season of paintings of different periods. The paintings are predominantly of bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars. These paintings also reflected that Palaeolithic people lived in small band societies whose subsistence economy was based on exploitation of resources in the form of both animal and plant products. These people lived in a group of 20 or 25 and their movement was determined by the seasonal availability of food resources.

CONCLUSION
In the Palaeolithic period, which forms the longest phase of human history, man lived by hunting animals and gathering wild fruits. He inhabited the area close to river banks and hilly terraces where there were enough food and mineral resources for his requirements. His survival depended upon his efficiency to make stone tools which became sharper and more handy.