Introduction of Neolithic Culture

The Neolithic culture, which appeared about 12,000 years ago and lasted about 4,000 years ago, marked a transformative period in human history. Often referred to as the “New Stone Age,” it was marked by a profound shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled agriculture and animal domestication.

During this era, humans moved from crude stone tools to more advanced tools such as polished stone and pottery, which allowed them to grow crops and raise livestock. This shift to agriculture brought about surplus food production, permanent settlement, and the development of complex societies, as well as the birth of agriculture-dependent civilizations.

The Neolithic period witnessed the establishment of the world’s first villages and the growth of an economy based on agriculture. It laid the foundation for significant cultural developments, including the emergence of organized religion, writing systems, and increasingly sophisticated technology. The Neolithic culture represents a pivotal moment in human history when societies made the shift from a nomadic hunter-gatherer existence to settled agricultural communities that paved the way for the rise of urban civilizations.

Neolithic Culture

Introduction Neolithic culture

The Neolithic is generally defined as a way of life involving crop cultivation, animal husbandry, and sedentary life. The arrival of this phase does not mean that other earlier ways of life have disappeared. They continued to exist alongside new ways of life. This coexistence resulted in mutual contact. In a world context, the Neolithic began around 9000 BC, but in an Indian context, it began in 7000 BC. Mehrgarh located in Baluchistan is the only place belonging to this period. With the advent of crop cultivation and animal husbandry, other related practices in the areas of religion and society also developed. Thus we find new concepts such as belief in life after death, resurrection after death, transmigration of the soul, and the cycle of rebirth. With permanent settlement, a number of new crafts also developed, such as pottery production. However, there are regional, cultural, and chronological variations in the assemblages.

Classification of Stone Age culture

Based on the tradition of tool making, the entire Stone Age culture was divided into three main stages, i.e., Paleolithic Culture, Mesolithic Culture, and Neolithic Culture.

Neolithic sites in Baluchistan

In Baluchistan, we have Kili-Ghul-Muhammad, Rana Ghundai, Anjira, Siah-dumb, and Mundigak as Neolithic sites. At Kili-Ghul, Muhammad Fairservice discovered four phases of occupation. Period I produced radiocarbon samples from 4400 and 4100 BC. People had domesticated sheep, goats, and oxen. Initially, nomads built houses of mud bricks or hard clay by the end of this period. Tools discovered include blades of hornblende, jasper, grinding or grinding stone, awls, or bone points. This period belongs to the pre-ceramic phase. Periods II and III yielded crude handmade and basketry pottery. In Period III, copper was found along with thrown and hand-made pottery. A number of living surfaces and hearths of nomadic people have been discovered at Rana-Ghundai. Ordinary hand pottery, bone points, and a stone blade industry were also found. Bones of sheep, goats, a donkey, cattle, and four teeth of Hermione or half-ass were discovered. In Anjira, the industry is the devil’s blade. bone awls, spatulas, and a small bead were found. Ceramics were thrown on a wheel and painted with motifs. This phase was followed by a level where house walls were prepared from river boulders. At Mundigak in south-eastern Afghanistan, J.M. Casal found a very important sequence of settlements. At first, it was a settlement of semi-nomadic people, followed by a layer of elongated cells with walls of rammed earth. Larger houses with several square or oblong rooms made of dried bricks were built on the next floors. From the beginning, there were home fireplaces. The bread oven was first found in front of the house but was later moved to the yard. A terracotta figurine of a humped bull was also found. Bone awls, alabaster vases, beads in steatite, lapis lazuli and frit, copper objects (needle and small bent blade), club wheat, and jujube are found. Radiocarbon dating at Mundigak shows that it was first occupied between about 4000 and 3500 BC.

Burzahom Neolithic site

In the northern Himalayan valleys, the best-known Neolithic site is Burzahom, situated about six miles northeast of Srinagar. The Neolithic sites of this region are popularly known as Kashmir Neolithic. The earliest settlement was before 2920 BC, characterized by pit dwellings with post holes around the perimeter indicating conical roofs. Steps were cut in the deeper pits, although ladders are thought to have been used. Ashes were found inside the pit and in stone hearths near the entrances. Storage pits yielded animal bones. Pits are usually located on the shores of lakes. The pottery was handmade and poorly fired. Important material remains include a wide variety of bone points, awls, needles, harpoons, stone axes, ring stones and a distinctive perforated rectangular chisel not known in India. A striking characteristic is the complete absence of microliths (stone blade industry). Subsistence may have been based on hunting and fishing, although they seem to have been familiar with agriculture. In the subsequent Phase II, which continued until 1700 BC, traces of adobe houses, a single copper arrowhead, and a number of burials without grave goods were found. Sometimes dogs and wolves were buried with their owners, a peculiar feature of Burzahom. This phase also yielded a stray painted pot depicting a typical early Indus buffalo deity.

Neolithic site of Gufkral

Gufkral, literally ‘potters’ cave’, is another important Neolithic site in Kashmir. Gufkral, located about 41 kilometers southeast of Srinagar, underwent three phases of early occupation. The earliest stage brought pit dwellings without ceramics. However, in later phases, coarse gray pottery and a large number of bone tools were used. The animal remains of the early periods were sheep, goats, and cattle. Wheat, barley, and lentils were reported from the beginning.

the most important Neolithic site of Mehrgarh

In the Indus system, the most important Neolithic site is the Mehrgarh Civilization in the Kacchi Plain, considered the “breadbasket” of Baluchistan. The Neolithic layer at Mehrgarh appears to have arisen from a locally based Mesolithic substrate. Of the seven periods, only the first three are considered Neolithic. The oldest was originally the camp of a group of nomadic shepherds. Bovine bones and the earliest cereal grains indicate that they were domesticated locally. Between 6000 and 5000 BC, there was a subsistence pattern based on wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and cattle. The overall subsistence pattern shows affinities with contemporary cultures in Iran, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor.

Features of the Neolithic phase

The main features of the Neolithic phase are hand-made adobe buildings with cigar-shaped hearths, stone blade industry with flint, composite sickle, various grindstones, bone tools, pottery in levels 1B, C and 1, one-handed-modeled human figures, numerous tombstone burials (bitumen-lined baskets, stone or shell bead necklaces, stone and bone pendants, anklets, food offerings including whole goats, lapis lazuli beads, turquoise, shell fragments, etc.). In Level III we have the first direct evidence of copper smelting. We have evidence of long-distance trade in shells (Arabian Sea), turquoise, lead pendants, and lapis lazuli (Badakhshan). Date palm and jujube stones also date from early periods.

The Neolithic site of Gumla

Gumla is another Neolithic settlement located northwest of Dera Ismail Khan on the right bank of the Indus. Of the sequence of six periods, the first belongs to the Neolithic phase, in which hearths, community ovens, animal bones, coarse pottery, and microliths were found.

The Neolithic site of Sarai Khola

The Neolithic site of Sarai Khola near Taxila is located on the Potwar Plateau. Of the four occupation periods, I only belong to the Neolithic period. The material culture includes ground stone axes, stone blade industry, bone points, ground pottery with a basket-work impressed base, etc. Jalilpur is another Neolithic site located in southwestern Punjab (Multan) near the left bank of the Ravi River. The site is characterized by an industry with stone blades, bone points (both similar to Saraikhola I), use of mud bricks, terracotta net weights indicating fishing as an element of the economy, animal remains of sheep, goats, cattle, and gazelles, handmade pottery of bright red clay, gold, coral and semi-precious beads, plastered floors and horn blades in conjunction with Hakra goods.

Koldihwa and Mahagara

The sites discussed above are mostly located in the regions west and north of the Indus. There are some settlements in the areas lying east of the Indus. Gurdip Singh’s palynological studies in eastern Rajasthan showed an increase in cereal-type grains around 7000 BCE. Similar results were obtained from Koldihwa and Mahagara situated south of Allahabad. At both these sites there are many strata of circular huts, marked by post-holes, with stone blades, ground stone axes, and bone tools, together with one coarse hand-made pottery with impressions of cords or baskets, animal remains of sheep, goats, birds, etc., small cattle pen marked with peg holes and cattle hoof prints, etc. The most interesting find is—evidence of rice in the form of charred rice a. Neolithic pottery containing rice husks. Suggested dates (C14) are 5440 and 4530 BC. It is said to be the oldest evidence of rice cultivation not only in India but also anywhere in the world. At this site, wild rice was recorded in the Mesolithic as at Chopani Mando. However, Chopani Mando provides the earliest evidence of the use of pottery.

Village settlements of the Neolithic phase

Evidence of Neolithic settled village settlements in the lower central Ganges valley comes much later (2300-1600 BC). The main sites are Chirand, Chechar, Senuwar, Maner Taradih etc. Excavations at Chirand (Distt. Saran, Bihar) on the left bank of the Ganges show that it is a small village with bamboo huts and mud plasters. Other finds include pottery, microliths, cut celts, bone tools, semi-precious stone beads, terracotta human figurines, etc. Wheat, barley, rice, and lentils were cultivated at Chirand. This area appears to be the western focus of the development of the East Indian Neolithic, based in part on rice. In Sunuwar, farmers grew rice, wheat, barley, field peas, lentils, some millets, and peas. Later Neolithic-Chalcolithic culture settlers at Senuwar also cultivated gram and moong in addition to earlier crops.

Neolithic site in Patna

At Chechar-Kutubpur situated on the banks of the Ganges near Bidupur on the opposite side of Patna, three Neolithic sub-periods have been uncovered. The main finds are circular wicker and trowels with clay floors and hearths, storage pits, bone industry, antler tools, steatite and chalcedony beads, etc. At Taradih or Bodh Gaya Neolithic Celts, microliths, bone tools, bones, cattle, goat, and pig were found, as buffalo, sheep, deer, birds, fish, shells, snails, and scraps of rice, wheat, barley, etc. We also have wicker and mud houses with fireplaces. This phase is superseded by people using copper.

Neolithic sites further east

Further east, not many Neolithic sites are reported. We have Neolithic levels at Kuchai and Baidipur in Mayurbhanj in Odisha. Another place is Golbai Sasan on the left bank of the Mandakini River. However, these sites belong to the Neo-Neo-Chalcolithic rather than the pure Neolithic phase. Excavations at Pynthorlangtein in Meghalaya, Napchik in Manipur, Sarutaru on the Assam-Meghalaya border, and at Daojali-Hading have yielded rich quantities of polished Neolithic tools. At Daojali-Hading in the northern Cachar Hills of Assam we have Neolithic stone and fossil wooden axes, adzes, hoes, chisels, grinding boards, querns, mullers, handmade gray to dull red Celtic and round axes associated with coarse cord or basket-marked sherds. At Napchik, situated on a hillside in Manipur, hand-made tripod vessels, stone cutters, scrapers, flakes, sharpened knife edges, polished celts grindstones, etc. have been discovered. In Meghalaya at Pynthorlangteia, some Neolithic tools and waste products have been found in connection with hand-made red pottery pressed cord.

Neolithic sites in Odisha

In Odisha, the sites of Kuchai and Bandipur, Mayurbhanj have yielded Neolithic levels. Baidipur is characterized by the occurrence of rice. However, there are some problems with the data on these pages. In West Bengal, the Pandu Rajar Dhibi site shows signs of a Neolithic level characterized by handmade gray ware with rice husk impressions, painted red pottery, ground stone tools, and bone tools. In addition, Bharatpur in the Damodar Valley and Mahisadal in the Kapai Valley have also shown the existence of Neolithic levels below the Chalcolithic Culture.

Neolithic Settled Life in Peninsular India

Another major area where Neolithic settled life began is peninsular India, popularly known as the South Indian Neolithic. This Neolithic is contemporary with the early Indus Valley civilization cultures in the northwestern region (from ca. 3000 BC). These earliest sites in the south are known as the cinder-mound Neolithic settlement type. Such sites are mostly found in Karnataka at Utnur, Kupgal, Kodekal, and Pallavoy and it has been suggested that these cinder mounds were cattle herding sites. From time to time the accumulated dung was burned, probably as part of some ritual. The oldest known sites are located in the forest and were probably temporary settlements. Evidence suggests that the settlers were heavily dependent on nomadic livestock farming and crop agriculture did not form a major part of the economy. Material culture includes ground stone axes, stone blades, and coarse pottery (gray burnished or buffered). These cattle pens were used either to trap wild cattle and/or to graze domestic cattle. This phase of Neolithic culture in the south was called Period I, which ended around 2000 BC, the second phase was dated between c.2100 BC and c.1700 BC, followed by a third phase continuing until c.1000 BC. All three phases show a marked degree of continuity without substantial breaks in material culture. The last two phases were found at Brahmagiri, Piklihal, Maski, Tekkalakota, Hallur, Watergirl, and Budihal. In the second phase, they settled on the tops of granite hills or leveled terraces. We find mud floors and circular huts made of wicker and daub on a wooden frame. Copper and bronze objects and gold are also found. Gold was discovered at Tekkalakota. Some new features in the potting indicating contact with the north are also noted. Lapidary is a brand new feature. This period is attested at Piklihal, Brahmagiri, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota I, Hallur I, Hallur IIA, and T. Narsipur. The third phase is attested at Tekkalakota II, Hallur, Paiyampalli, Piklihal (intrusion period), Sanganakallu 1.2, etc. This phase is characterized by an increase in the number of copper and bronze implements. A copper fish hook was discovered at Hallur. Gray and brown dishes are becoming common. Excavations at Tekkalakota, Sanganakallu, and Hallur have yielded evidence of circular huts with hearths, grinding stones, large pots (storage vessels) buried up to the neck, stone axes, etc. The economy largely depended on cattle, although horse gram and millet or ragi are reported from Tekkalakota I and Hallur II. Green gram and horse gram are reported from Paiyampalli. Date palm wood is reported from Tekkalakota and Utnur. Of the animals, the bones of humped cattle are the most represented, followed by goats and sheep. Cattle were used for food for draft work and for plowing the fields. Other animals include buffalo, poultry, deer, turtles, a unique bone of an Indian elephant, etc. The terracing of the hillsides was an important feature of Neolithic settlement.

evidence of prehistoric art

In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, at sites like Kupgal, Maski, Piklihal, etc., we come across evidence of prehistoric art. Pictures are created with crayons rather than painting. The most frequently depicted subjects are cattle and occasionally deer, tigers, elephants (some with riders), human figures (pin-men), etc. Horse bones belonging to the final phase have been found at Hallur. In addition to rock paintings, several rock bruises were also discovered, on which mainly bulls can be seen. Extended inhumation was the most widespread burial custom. Several tombstones were found, which included stone axes, blades (male grave), spouting pots, and a deep milk jug (female grave). Pottery urns were used for infants. There were burials between the houses.

Patpad pottery in Kurnool district

In Kurnool district (AP), a large group of sites yielded distinctive painted red ware named after the type site, Patpad ware (at Pattu Padu). The channel bowl is a special feature whose date is unclear.

Southern Neolithic site

Recently, evidence has been found at Watgal in Raichur Doab and Budihal in Shorapur Doab that the Southern Neolithic has four phases. Four distinct settlement sites have been identified in Budihal.

Conclusion

The Neolithic was short, but it witnessed all the major developmental changes in human history. The Neolithic stage gives us an idea of ​​how people started farming, why, and how they settled down for stable settlement and life. The Neolithic stage was also special in that the domestication of farm animals such as cattle, goats, and sheep began. This stage also saw the farewell of stone tools and the welcome of tools and weapons with blades, scrapers, spearheads, and arrows. The stage was the perfect embodiment of what development should look like. The Neolithic was the rise of human history, where they initiated the way of life we ​​live now.

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