History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c4.2

v1.c4.2

The volume contains contribution of thirty Indian experts and begins with Stone Age and Bronze Age technologies to have some idea of the Indian subcontinent in global context. Various Prehistoric cultural terms like Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age etc. are used in Indian context following European and Mediterranean cultures. There is abundant evidence of Stone Age cultures from the time of Pleistocene and these have been described as early, middle and late Stone Age on the basis of major type of Stone industries found in Soan and Beas Valleys (Punjab & Himachal Pradesh) and river of Narmada (Adamgarh, Jabalpur area, Bhera Ghat, Barasimla, Maheshwar etc.), Krishna Bridge, Ganga & Sone valleys (Barkaccha, Sidhpur, Lekhand etc.) and other places around Bombay and Madras. The fashioning of Stone Age tools and techniques, indicates that there was a continuous struggle by prehistoric man for survival which changed skills of fashioning of crude pebbles or lithic tools stage by stage. The next phase of Neolithic culture is marked by some kind of mixed farming, domestication of animals, use of potteries, building of dwelling houses etc, in which the stone is still the basic material of protection.