IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D - HUNTER-GATHERERS : ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D

HUNTER-GATHERERS : ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Palaeolithic Stage
3.2.1 Palaeol~thic Tools
3 2.2 Palaeolithic Sites
3.2 3 Subsistence Pattern
3.3 Mesolithic Stage
3.3.1 Mcsol~thic Tools
3 3.2 Mesolithic Sites
3.3.3 Subsistence Pattern
3.4 Let Us Sum Up
3.5 Key Words
3.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Exertises

3.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit, you will be able to learn :

the various ways to study the pre-historic hunters-gatherers.
about the archaeological evidences which enable us to reconstruct their history.
about their subsistence pattern,
about the kinds of tools they used, and to what extent pre-historic art helps us in knowing about their organisation.

3.1 INTRODUCTION

It may seem unbelievable to us, living in the 20th century, but it is nevertheless true that human societies during more than 99% of their existence on the earth have lived as hunters/gatherers. This means that before human beings started producing food about 10.000 years ago, they lived off the resources of nature. This they did by gathering various edible items like roots, fruits, sudd, honey and so on which nature had to offer and by killing animals, birds and fish available in the surroundings in which they lived. The total dependence of human being on nature or their environment during the major part of human existence has many implications. It means that the way they acquired their food influenced the character of their relationship with Nature and also how they viewed Nature. Second, the hunters/gatherers existed in groups was also related to the mode of thus acquiring food. What may be noted is that the formation of groups among hunters/gatherers was much more flexible than in other societies.

Considering the very. very long span of time for which human societies have been in the hunting/gathering stage, it is important that we learn about this stage of human history. There are different areas in the world where human beings still live as huntedgatherers. It is thus necessary that we learn something about their cultures in addition to learning about culture changes in human history. How do we learn about hunters/gatherers? We get considerable amount of information about different aspects of the hunters/gatherers way of life, their social organization and their environment from the works of ethnographers/anthropologists who study living human communities. Their works provide us with useful insights into the ways and conditions of life of hunting/gathering communities of the past. However, for the past communities we depend primarily on the works of those archaeologists and other scientists who have specialised in discovering studying and analysing the tools which these communities made, the remains of animals which they killkd and ate and the kind of environment in which Hn"m'-Catherers : Archdogleal they lived. This method which involves coming together of many academic disciplines takes Perspective into consideration many categories of evidence including the study of all animals, plants and other organic remains when archaeologists associate them with human communities of the hunting/gathering stage, and this gives an insight into the character of the immediate physical environment of the early man and the way it was utilised. Since the tools made by the hunters/gatherers have survived in the form of stone tools, archaeologists use different terms like paleoliths, mesoliths to classify tools of different types and period. The stones which may not be used for mixing them and the techniques employed in giving them shape are also studied in detail by archaeologists. The faunal study or the study of animal remains provides a framework which can serve as a reference point for measuring variations in the pattern of pre-historic faunal exploitation. The rock carvings and paintings also give us an idea about the economy and society of the pre-historic people.

3.2 PALAEOLITHIC STAGE

Palaeolithic Culture developed in the Pleistocene period. The Pleistocene period (about 2 million years ago) is the geological period refe*ng to the last or the Great Ice Age. It was the period when ice covered the earth's surface. In India, there has been considerable discussion among archaeologists regarding the terms denoting stone tools of the palaeolithic phase :

One group of scholars wanted to introduce the term 'Upper Palaeolithic' for denoting the phase characterised by tools like blade and burin;
The other group of scholars considered the term 'Upper Palaeolithic' specific to European Palaeolithic culture. Now the term Upper Palaeolithic has been widely accepted in the Indian context.

3.2.1 Palaeolithic Tools

Palaeolithic Culture has been divided into three phases on the basis of the nature of.stone tools made by human beings as well as due to the changes in the climate and environment.

The tools of the lower Palaeolithic phase include mainly handaxes, cleavers, choppers and chopping tools.
the middle Palaeolithic industries are based upon flakes, and
the Upper Palaeolithic is characterised by burins and scrapers