Neolithic Age in India

This age started from around 6000 BC and lasted till 1000 BC which was the last age of the Pre-historic age. This age was the most reforming in all the aspects like from human development to cultural development and thus the age is also termed as Neolithic Revolution by V. Gordon Childe. This age led to the foundations of the civilization culture later, and also all the special inventions and innovations began from this age only. People started practicing farming from this age and also started making houses and other structures. Let's start reading more about it;

Beginning of Food Production -

The production of the food started from this era only and all the agricultural reforms occur in this era only. People started cultivating land for food grains and fruits. Crops like corn and horse gram were grown popularly. The exact cropping pattern is not known to us till now but many historians assumes that the people practiced shifting cultivation but the permanent settlement of the community suggests that people didn't perform shifting cultivation. The use of various tools for agricultural purposes were popular but ploughes were not introduced as this was the first time humans were practicing agriculture. Historians think that farming technique was discovered out of accidental event as the discovery of fire. The domestication of animals was also practiced during this age however cattle like ship, goat and cow were only domesticated.

Tools and Technology -

Neolithic people were highly innovative in the designs and shape of the tools they used. They started making tools from polished, ground stones and reduced there dependency on the quartzite stone for making tools as they now were able to give the desired shape to the stones. Also the need of the hand axes increased as people were more focusing on agriculture than hunting animals. The design of these axes were different in different regions as rectangular axes with curved edge were excavated from the North-Western region while the rectangular butt axes were used in the North-Eastern regions and oval sided and pointed butt axes were used in the Southern regions.

Invention of Pottery -

The pottery was invented during the Neolithic era probably by hands and later the potters' wheel was used for making the pots. The pottery was widely popular among the Neolithic period as many of the pots and related stuff has been found during various excavation. Black burnished ware, Grey ware, and Mat-Impressed ware pottery were made during the Neolithic period. The potter was popular among the people but was not as well furnished as it was in the Harappan Civilization. The pottery was kept simple and was not much decorated.

Village Settlements -

Many Sub-urban community were developed during the Neolithic period and in the later phase people led a more settle life like living in well developed houses which were built in groups. People used to built circular and rectangular houses with the help of mud and reed. The life of the people became more social and some of the religious practices were also started by them. Neolithic people also knew to make boats as well as how to spin cotton, wool, and weave cloth. The clothes were made simple without any design. 

Area Covered -

Burzahom and Gufkraal in the Jammu and Kashmir are the two place where many neolithic tools and the well settled village settlements were discovered. Koldihwa in the Belan valley is the place where all three ages tools and items were discovered of Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Iron age period. Community food preparation  proofs were discovered at Budihal in Karnataka. Neolithic settlements also flourished at Piklihal, Paiyampalli, Garo Hills, Saraikhola, Chopani-Mando, etc. 

If any topic is not covered related to the Neolithic age and you want to know then let me know in the comments sections. Also, all the precautions are taken while writing and  even if some errors occurs the mention those in the comments. Hope you guys are liking my articles and stuff.


Also, check out my article on the Palaeolithic age at palaeolithic-age-in-india.

These notes can be helpful for UPSC Preparation, Board Exams, and other competitive exams.

The article on the Mesolithic age is at Mesolithic Culture in India.