Prehistory and Protohistory in India and Pakistan c4.s26: Technological Stages
Prehistory and Protohistory in India and Pakistan c4.s26
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Technological Stages
c4.s26.1
CHILDE²⁴ later came forward with another suggestion, viz. that the various ages: Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Copper and Iron, were not chronological ages, but technological stages. That is, no longer should the terms "Neolithic" etc. denote a particular period in human history; they should merely indicate the stage in which human beings in a particular region or country are. Thus if the Australian aboriginals are called "Palaeolithic" or "Neolithic", it means only that these people have learnt the art of making stone implements in the way we associate with these "ages", but they did not necessarily belong to the hoary past.
c4.s26.2
²⁴ GORDON CHILDE, V., in JRAI, Vol. LXXIV, 1944, p. 7.
c4.s26.3
CHILDE further advised us, after HUXLEY nearly a century ago, to regard the Ages as "homotaxial", but not as synchronous. That is, it is possible that the same types of tools or assemblages of fossils follow one another in the same order all over the world, but this does not imply that these (tools) must everywhere occupy the same position if aligned according to the series of solar years. Thus we can express this mutual relationship by the term "homotaxial" and avoid the implication of parallel development all over the globe.