Mesolithic Cultures
V.K. Jain
Chapter – 4
Table of Contents
Introduction
- The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age cultures represent a phase of transition from the preceding hunting and food-gathering stage of the Palaeolithic period to farming and herding in the succeeding Neolithic period.
- The earliest evidence of Mesolithic man in India was noted in 1867-68 by A.C.L. Carlyle, who discovered a large number of microliths in caves and rock shelters in the Kaimur range (Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh).
- There was little significant progress in the knowledge of the Mesolithic period until H.D. Sankalia conducted excavations in the 1950s at Langhnaj and other places in Gujarat.
- The Mesolithic period is sometimes treated as a later part of the Palaeolithic Age (called Epipalaeolithic), but in the Indian context, it has been accepted as a separate phase of Prehistoric culture.
- The Mesolithic period was marked by significant improvement in tool technology and life patterns, though some of the earlier traditions continued.