Prehistoric period
- No written records are available
- Development of archaeology and archaeological remains helps much to understand the life and culture of the people who lived in this period
- Archaeological remains- stone tools, pottery, artifacts, and metal implements used by prehistoric people
Dating technique of prehistoric age
- Radio-carbon dating- It is based on measuring the loss of carbon in organic materials over a period of time
- Dendro-Chronology- refers to the number of tree rings in wood. By counting, the number of tree rings in the wood, the date of the wood is arrived at
Famous sites of Old Stone Age (2 mn BCE to 10000 BCE) in India:
- Soan valley and Potwar plateau
- Siwalik hills on the north India
- Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh
- Adamgarh Hills in Narmada Valley
- Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh
- Attirampakkam near Chennai
Characteristic features:
- Hunter gatherers- food was obtained by hunting animals and gathering edible plants and tubers
- They used stone tools, hand-sized and flaked-off large pebbles for hunting animals
- Stone implements are made of a hard rock called quartzite
- Language and communication were not well known
- Their way of life became modified with the passage of time since they made attempts to domesticate animals, male crude pots and grow some plants
- A few Old Stone Age paintings have also been found on rocks at Bhimbetka and other places