History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c10.1

v1.c10.1

The basic objective in Stone Age was to obtain desired shapes by breaking rock pieces. The artificial chipping of stones is termed in prehistory as ‘Flaking’. In all the three stages of Stone Age, e.g., the Palaeolithic, the Mesolithic and the Neolithic, various ways or methods of flaking were initiated and practised. It was only in the Neolithic period, modification of tool-surfaces was also done by grinding. It may, therefore be held that, the history of lithic technology is more or less an account of flaking techniques. Methods of tool making during Stone Age are marked by two noteworthy trends viz., process of evolution or development of techniques from crude to refine, and universality in the succession of technological stages through out the world. The first pattern has been discussed in this paper a little later. The second trend does not bear direct relevance to the present theme. But, it may be mentioned that the element of universality has been explained by the anthropologists in terms of the ‘psychic unity of man kind’ (Herskovits, 1955, p. 111). Inspite of this general pattern of development each of the region has its own set of evidence which has contributed, in one way or the other. It is more in case of the history of techniques of the Stone Age, as the remains of the prehistoric period are of very fragmentary nature.