History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c10.3

v1.c10.3

Our understanding of Stone Age technology depends on the collective efforts of the international galaxy of scholars. The experiments conducted by French prehistorians such as Bordes (1947; 1961), Tixier (1963), the British prehistorian Leakey, L.S.B. (1967), and the American prehistorian Crabtree, D. (Bordes & Crabtree, 1969), are glaring examples. Not only have they explained various methods of tool making, but they have also provided objective terminologies and ways for the study of the lithic collections (Leakey, 1967; Bordes, 1961; Movius, 1948; Tixier, 1963). Utilization of the important methodologies and the related terms is imperative for the study of prehistoric evidence for any region. Unfortunately, due to historical reasons, there have been shifts and changes of terminologies in the studies of Stone Age in India. The terms denoting periodization, as well as, techniques were effected by this. For example, Palaeolithic- Mesolithic set of terms was replaced by the Stone Age set, e.g., Early Stone Age for Lower Palaeolithic, Middle Stone Age for Middle Palaeolithic and Late Stone Age for Mesolithic.