THE MESOLITHIC HORIZON AND ASSOCIATED ROCK ART
Archaeological History of India
Chapter – 3
Table of Contents
THE CONCEPT OF A MESOLITHIC LEVEL AND ITS DISTRIBUTION
- The Mesolithic period marks the transition between the upper palaeolithic and the rise of food production and village farming.
- The mesolithic is situated between the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene and is rooted in the upper palaeolithicphase while predating the neolithic.
- The mesolithic industry is primarily recognized for the microlithic tools, which are typically small (1–5 cm) and made from crypto-crystalline silica (e.g., chert, chalcedony, jasper).
- Microlithic tools include points, scrapers, burins, awls, as well as lunates, triangles, trapezoids, and rhomboids, with geometric shapes distinguishing different types.
- Geometric microliths are not necessarily later than non-geometric microliths in sequence.
- Microliths were often hafted into handles of wood or bone to create composite tools like saws and sickles.
- The microlithic industry evolved from the upper palaeolithic tools, showing continuity in lithic technology.
- Patne in Maharashtra is an important site with stratigraphic continuity between the upper palaeolithic and mesolithic phases, including the development of microlithic tools.
- Radiocarbon dating from Patne indicates the upper palaeolithic phase ‘e’ with microlithic tools dates to the end of the Pleistocene (~23,050 ± 200 BC).
- The Batadomba–Lena site in Sri Lanka provides consistent radiocarbon dates for geometric microliths between c. 26,000 BC and c. 9,500 BC.
- Tuticorin in south-east India shows microlithic tool-types in association with red sand dunes (teris), with some evidence suggesting they may be from the late Pleistocene to early Holocene.
- Geomorphological studies in Tuticorin suggest microliths may postdate dune formation, but the issue is not yet settled.
- The Belan valley provides evidence of epi-palaeolithic and mesolithic artefacts, with microliths emerging towards the end of the Pleistocene.
- Microliths continued to appear into the Iron Age in India, with some sites (e.g., Dihar, Bankura) showing microlithsmade from bottle glass.
- The tradition of making microliths from bottle glass was documented in the Andaman Islands in the 19th century.
- Undated microlithic finds cannot be definitively assigned to the mesolithic, complicating the classification of microlithic contexts.
- The distribution of microlithic sites in India is extensive, with microliths more ubiquitous than palaeolithic tools, found in areas like central India, eastern Vindhyas, and near Banaras.
- Microliths are common in the landscape, though modern population expansion has destroyed many microlithic sites.
- In the Ganga plain, microliths are mostly absent, and the north-east has limited evidence of this industry.
- Carlyle noted the widespread occurrence of microlithic tools across India, with their discovery nearly everywhere.
