Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilisation
Domain focus
Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilisation examines how archaeologists reconstruct human life before writing, using stone tools, settlement remains, burials, pottery and dating methods. The exam tests periodisation, technology, subsistence and the shift to farming and urban life.
Core concepts
- Palaeolithic: hunter-gatherers; core tools, handaxes, cleavers and flakes; control of fire; cave art. In South India, Attirampakkam is a key Lower Palaeolithic site.
- Mesolithic: microliths, hunting, gathering and fishing; temporary camps; rock shelters such as Gudiyam.
- Neolithic: polished stone axes, domestication of plants and animals, pottery and permanent villages. The Neolithic Revolution is a process, not one event.
- Chalcolithic: copper plus stone; early farming communities; regional cultures.
- Early Tamilakam evidence includes Neolithic and Iron Age sites. Adichanallur is important for early historic iron and burial evidence, not a Neolithic village.
Worked example
An assemblage contains tiny geometric stone blades, animal bones, shell middens and no pottery. Reasoning: microliths plus hunting-gathering and absence of pottery point to Mesolithic, not Neolithic. If polished axes and domesticated cattle appear with pottery, the interpretation shifts to Neolithic.
Traps
Do not use prehistory to mean no culture; it means no written records. Do not date all Palaeolithic sites by one timeline. Do not treat the Neolithic Revolution as instant or universal. Avoid confusing Adichanallur with Harappan or Neolithic; it is early historic and Iron Age in Tamil Nadu.