Pre-Historic Society

Introduction

Prehistoric society means the way early humans lived before writing was invented: how they got food, where they lived, how they organised themselves and what they believed. We know all of this only from archaeological evidence (tools, bones, burials, rock art).

The big story of prehistoric society is the shift from food gathering (Paleolithic and Mesolithic) to food producing (Neolithic onwards).

Human Evolution (Background)

India link: The Narmada skull (Hathnora, Madhya Pradesh), found in 1982, is the earliest human fossil in India. It is regarded as Homo erectus / early Homo sapiens. Paleolithic tools from Attirampakkam (Tamil Nadu) show very early human presence.

1. Paleolithic Society (Old Stone Age)

Economy and Food

• Hunting and gathering; fishing and collection of fruits, roots and nuts

• No agriculture, no animal domestication

Settlement and Shelter

• Nomadic life, following animals and seasons

• Caves, rock shelters and open camps (e.g. Bhimbetka)

Social Organisation

• Small bands of roughly 20 to 30 people, based on kinship

• No private property, no ruler: egalitarian society

• Division of labour: men hunted, women gathered

Technology

• Fire discovered but not yet widely controlled

• Tools of quartzite: hand-axe, cleaver, chopper, flake

Religion and Art

• Upper Paleolithic: beginning of rock paintings (animals, hunting scenes)

• Baghor (Son Valley, UP) has a stone structure linked to early worship, possibly of a female deity

2. Mesolithic Society (Middle Stone Age)

What changed? The climate became warmer and wetter at the end of the Ice Age. Big game declined and small animals, birds and fish became important.

• Microliths (tiny stone tools) were fixed on wood or bone for arrows and sickles

• Animal domestication began: dog first, then sheep and goat. Bagor (Rajasthan) and Adamgarh (MP) show early evidence

• Larger and more seasonal camps, sometimes near lakes (e.g. Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha, Damdama in UP)

• Burials with grave goods show belief in life after death. Damdama gives evidence of violence (an arrow-head found in a skeleton)

• Rock art shows hunting, dancing, honey collection and group activities, which shows a stronger community life

3. Neolithic Society (New Stone Age)

This is the Neolithic Revolution (term by V. Gordon Childe): humans moved from food gathering to food production.

Economy

• Agriculture: wheat, barley (Mehrgarh), rice (Koldihwa), ragi (South)

• Domestication of cattle, sheep, goat

• Cotton cultivation at Mehrgarh is among the earliest in South Asia

• Jhum (shifting) cultivation in the North-East (Daojali Hading)

Settlement

• Settled villages with mud-brick houses (Mehrgarh) and pit dwellings (Burzahom)

• Granaries and storage show surplus for the first time

Technology

• Polished stone tools (celts), pottery (hand-made, then wheel), grinding stones

• Wheel invented, which improved pottery

Social Life

• Family and property emerge; first signs of social differences

• Women played a key role in early farming and pottery

• Burials: at Burzahom a dog was buried with its owner, showing the human-animal bond

Religion

• Early Mother Goddess and nature worship appear

4. Chalcolithic Society (Copper-Stone Age)

• First use of metal (copper) with stone tools; economy still mostly village farming

• Painted pottery, black-and-red ware, spinning and weaving

• Regional cultures: Ahar-Banas, Malwa, Jorwe, Kayatha

• Social inequality grew. At Inamgaon (Jorwe culture), a larger house for the chief and craftsmen's houses are found

• Burials: adults in extended position, children in urns under house floors in western India

• Mother Goddess terracotta figurines and bull figures show religious belief

• Mostly rural: no towns, no writing, and people were vulnerable to drought and disease

Comparison Table: Society Across Phases

Key Concepts to Remember

• Food gathering → Food production = the most important change in prehistory

• Surplus led to property, inequality and later to cities

• Domestication order in India: dog (Mesolithic) → cattle, sheep, goat (Neolithic)

• Burials show belief in afterlife and social status

Quick Revision (Exam Points)

• Narmada skull (Hathnora) = earliest human fossil in India

• Bagor and Adamgarh = early animal domestication

• Burzahom = pit dwellings, dog buried with owner

• Koldihwa = early rice | Mehrgarh = early farming and cotton

• Inamgaon = chief's house, child urn burials

• Term "Neolithic Revolution" = V. Gordon Childe

Prelims PYQ Hint: Questions ask about the order of phases, which feature belongs to which age, and site-wise match (Burzahom, Mehrgarh, Koldihwa, Bagor).