Key points
Three-age teaching table
Technology is a dating language. Always add subsistence and settlement.
- Palaeolithic: flake/core tools, foraging, fire later, rock art by Upper Palaeolithic.
- Mesolithic: microliths (~10,000–6000 BCE in many Indian notes), broad spectrum, dog, seasonal camps.
- Neolithic: polished stone, pottery, food production — Childe’s ‘revolution’ as a bundle of sedentism, surplus, inequality seeds.
| Stage | Tools | Life |
|---|---|---|
| Palaeolithic | Chopper to blade | Forage, later art |
| Mesolithic | Microliths | Camps, dog, diversity |
| Neolithic | Ground stone, pottery | Farm, village |
India
Mesolithic India and Natufian
- Bhimbetka, Chaturbhuj Nala, Kupgallu, Lakhudiyar (Uttarakhand) — hunting, dance, family, colours of haematite.
- Bagor, Langhnaj: dog with human burials; Belan valley herding experiments.
- Natufian (Levant, ~12,500–9500 BCE): first semi-sedentary foragers — a step toward farming, not yet Childe’s full revolution.
- Was Mesolithic the first sedentism? Seasonal camps, pits, hearths, territoriality — yes as a step.
Key points
Neolithic and why food production spread
- India: Mehrgarh wheat–barley; Koldihwa rice; southern millets; cattle, sheep, goat; ashmounds; floor burials.
- Theories: Childe oasis (climate drying — not universal); Braidwood hilly flanks; population pressure; social/feasting models — give two plus a criticism.
- Consequences: villages, surplus, crafts, inequality, disease load.
Examples
- Gordon Childe: Neolithic as revolution because foraging → farming reorganises the whole social machine, not because a new rock was polished.
WRAP Exams coaching notes for UPSC Anthropology optional. Pair with the official syllabus when you need every heading in order.