An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s5.1

v1.c9.s5.1

The term Mesolithic is conventionally applied in India to denote the cultural stage represented by Microlithic industries not associated with pottery and generally antedating the earliest farming-based village cultures. The evidence for this stage in India is both qualitatively and quantitatively richer than that of the preceding stages of the Stone Age. The reasons for this are: (1) Most of the Mesolithic sites are associated with the existing landscape that has not undergone any significant changes that could disturb them and thereby affect the cultural evidence. (2) Organic material, mainly animal and human physical remains, have been preserved, thus enabling us to reconstruct the subsistence pattern and environmental setting of the culture. The oldest human skeletal remains yet known in India come from the Mesolithic levels. (3) A number of the living sites of this age have been excavated, mainly in w. and c. India, providing us with a variety of data regarding the way of life of the communities. (4) Finally, about two dozen ¹⁴C dates from six sites give us a fairly clear idea of the duration of the Mesolithic period.