English Translation of “Bharathiya Samskruthi” (2019) | Page 49
Chapter 3 The Proto – Indic Culture In India, the pre-historic period can be divided into two divisions: a. Stone Age b. Chalco-lithic Age In Europe pre-historic period is divided into four divisions: a. b. c. d.
Eolithic Age Paleolithic Age Microlithic Age Neolithic Age
In the Indian sub-continent, the evidence is lacking and so we cannot make so detailed a division of the pre-historic age. Even today in India many tribes on the main-land and also on the Andaman and Nicobarese islands they still live in pre-historic state. But still in the cultural history of India the important stages of Stone Age can be traced. a. Eolithic Age: Some experts guess that Eolithic Age stone tools were manufactured during tertiary period. In the “Airawati” (Irawaddy) river basin in Burma (Myanmar) along with Meiocene age fossils, stone tools have been discovered. In the Narmada river basin in a place called Bhutra, palaeontologists have discovered stone tools made from sandstone from Vindhya mountains and they have also discovered fossils of such extinct animals as Rhinoceros, fossils of pre-historic elephant called “Eliphas Nomadicus”, Oxen and Stone menhirs. It has not been possible to determine whether these Menhirs are man-made weapons or natural formations. In India the stone “Handaxe, Coup de-poing” (Knuckleduster) denotes the beginning of stone age culture. Perhaps this is made by Neanderthal man. The Paleolithic age began later in the Indian sub-continent. During the Eolithic Age, the hand axes were made from “Laterite Stone” of eastern coastal region1. ___________________________ Footnotes 1. Mysore Castes and Tribes Vol I. Panchanan Mitra, Pre-historic India. P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, The Stone Age in India.
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