MESOLITHIC PERIOD

MESOLITHIC PERIOD

In the Mesolithic Age, the climate became warm and dry. Climatic changes brought about changes in faW1a and flora and made it possible for human beings to move to new areas. Since then, there have not been any major changes in climate. This age intervened as a transitional phase between the Palaeolithic Age and the Neolithic Age which began aroW1d 9000 Be. The Mesolithic people lived on hW1ting, fishing and food-gathering; at a later stage they also domesticated animals. Characteristic tools are microliths. Adamgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Bagor in Rajasthan provide the earliest evidence for the domestication of animals (aroW1d 5000 Be). The cultivation of plants aroW1d 7000-6000 Be is suggested in Rajasthan from a study of the deposits of the former salt lake, Sambhar.

The Mesolithic culture roughly spanned the period, 9000 Be to 4000 Be.
In the Belan valley all the three phases of the Palaeolithic followed by the Mesolithic and then by the Neolithic have been fOW1d in sequence. Similar is the case with the middle part of the Narmada Valley. But in several areas the Neolithic culture succeeded the Mesolithic tradition which continued at places till 1000 Be.