History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c10.s3.1

v1.c10.s3.1

The lithic technologies of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic times are marked by a process of development in which two tendencies were pronounced. One, the economy of labour and raw material, which can be seen in terms of the Levallois technique to the blade detaching technique. In case of the latter, expenditure of very limited time and wastage of stone was able to produce much larger and sharper working edges, than was acquired by the flakes obtained by Levallois techniques. Second, during the course of this development the size of implements was gradually decreasing, the culmination of which can be seen in the case of the microliths. Contrary to this the lithic technological attainment appears to reverse back to the earlier technological stage during the Neolithic period. For instance, not only large to very large size tool making was initiated, which compares well with Acheulian tools of the Lower Palaeolithic times, but also input of laborious processes were being involved. The Neolithic technological innovation is marked by the Ground stone tools or axes. Many forms of axes, chisels, picks, hoes, were made which together form tool-kit of a carpenter. Making of a typical Neolithic axe involves three stages of working (Sankalia 1964, pp. 79-82).