NEOLITHIC PERIOD

NEOLITHIC PERIOD

In the world context, the Neolithic Age began in 9000 Be. The only Neolithic settlement in the Indian subcontinent attributed to 7000 Be lies in Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. Some Neolithic sites fOW1d on the northern spurs of the Vindhyas are as old as 5000 Be. The tools and implements were now made of polished stone. An important Neolithic site is Burzahom, which means 'the place of birth', near Srinagar.

The term 'Neolithic' was coined by Sir John Lubbock in his book Prehistoric Times, first published in 1865. The term denotes an age in which stone implements were made more skilfully and were more varied in form than earlier. V. Gordon Childe defined the Neolithic-Chalcolithic culture as a self­sufficient food economy. Miles Burkit put forward the following four characteristics a culture should fulfil to be known as a Neolithic culture: (i) agriculture practice, (ii) animal domestica­tion, (iii) grinded and polished stone tools, and (iv) pottery manufacture.
The Neolithic people lived there by a lakeside in pits, and probably had a hunting and fishing economy.. Besides stone implements, the people of Burzahom also used bone imple­ments (the only other site in India known for bone imple­ments is Chirand near Patna). They used coarse grey pottery, and buried domesticated dogs with their masters in the graves. Pit-dwelling and burial of dogs in their masters' graves were not practised in any other part of India.
The Neolithic people of South India usually settled on the tops of the granite hills or on plateaus near the river banks. Fire-baked earthen figurines suggest that they kept a large number of cattle. They used rubbing stone querns, which shows that they were acquainted with the art of producing cereals. Neolithic sites in Allahabad district are noted for the cultivation of rice in the sixth millenium Be.
The Neolithic phase in South India seems to have covered the period from about 3000 Be to 1000 Be.

The Neolithic settlers were the earliest farming com­munities. They lived in circular or rectangular houses made of mud and reed. Pottery first appears in this phase-black burnished ware, grey ware and mat-impressed ware. A few villages also appeared.