Stone Age in Uttar Pradesh

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Stone Age in Uttar Pradesh, Prehistoric Age in Uttar Pradesh, Stone Age for UPPCS Mains, Prehistoric Sites in UP, Stone Age Sites in UP

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Stone Age in Uttar Pradesh or Prehistoric Age in Uttar Pradesh

1. Socio-Economic Conditions in UP during Stone Age in Uttar Pradesh

(i) Socio-Economic Conditions during Palaeolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

• Lifestyle: Nomadic, dependent on hunting and food gathering.
• Shelter: Caves or open-air sites near rivers.
• Tools and Cultures:
  • Lower Palaeolithic:
    • Tools: Hand axes, cleavers, choppers
    • Culture: Pebble-Chopper-Chopping Culture
  • Middle Palaeolithic:
    • Tools: Flakes, points, scrapers, borers
    • Culture: Flake Culture
  • Upper Palaeolithic:
    • Tools: Blades, burins, flakes
    • Culture: Blade Culture
• Religious Beliefs
  • Animism and Nature Worship likely prevailed.
  • Early humans feared and revered natural elements like fire, water, thunder, animals, etc.

(ii) Socio-Economic Conditions during Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age)

• Lifestyle: Transition to hunting–herding, semi-permanent settlements.
  • Sarai Nahar Rai (Prayagraj) – Evidence of semi-permanent dwellings and fishing–hunting economy.
  • Mahadaha (Prayagraj) – Multiple burial pits suggest a semi-settled community.
• Tools:Microlithic tools (tiny, sharp stone tools).
  • Microliths found at Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha, and Damdama sites.
• Economic activity:
  • Domestication of animals – Faunal remains from Damdama (Prayagraj)
  • Early plant cultivation – Use of wild grains and fruits plants
• Social development:
  • Burial practices suggest belief systems evolving – found at Mahadaha and Sarai Nahar Rai.
  • Use of rock art – Mesolithic rock paintings have been reported from Lakhaniya Dari (Sonbhadra, UP)
  • Pottery Emergence: Handmade cord-marked pottery.
• Religious Beliefs
  • Emergence of more structured belief systems.
  • Burial practices become more complex (grave goods, careful placement of body).
  • Development of ritualistic burials in Belan and Son valleys (eastern UP).
  • Inclusion of microliths or grave goods in burials may reflect concepts of spiritual world or afterlife.
  • Likely worship of fertility, animals, or hunting deities, inferred from lifestyle.

(iii) Socio-Economic Conditions during Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

• Lifestyle:Settled agricultural communities, began food production.
  • Lahuradewa (Sant Kabir Nagar District, UP): Provides the earliest evidence of rice cultivation in the Ganga Valley. Earlier, this distinction was attributed to Koldihwa (Prayagraj District).
  • Mahagara (Prayagraj District) – Evidence of domesticated cattle and settled life.
• Tools:Polished stone tools with geometric designs.
  • Tools from Koldihwa and Mahagara
• Other Socio-Economic Developments
  • Use of Fire: Evidenced from burnt earth and charred grains at Koldihwa.
  • Pottery: Ochers colored Pottery (OCP)
  • Domestication of Animals: Mahagara: Evidence of domesticated cattle and goats.
  • Improved Farming: Cultivation of rice, barley, and pulses seen at Koldihwa.
  • Permanent Housing: Huts or mud dwellings suggested by post-holes and house floors at Mahagara.
• Religious Beliefs:
  • Beginning of settled life led to development of communal rituals.
  • Dominated by Nature Worship.
  • Purpose was largely mundane—survival, fertility, and seasonal rhythms.
  • Early humans likely worshipped elements like the sun, rivers, animals, and trees.
  • Evidence of domestication and agriculture likely gave rise to fertility cults (e.g., Mother Goddess figurines).
  • Emergence of symbolic worship, possibly of Mother Earth and animals.
  • Evidence of animal worship, Yoni and phallus worship (lingam-like symbols).
  • Fire altars and megalithic structures in some regions shows Use of fire, possibly in domestic or ritual context.

(iv) Socio-Economic Conditions during Chalcolithic Age (Copper-Stone Age)

• Transition phase between Stone Age and Bronze Age (IVC).
• Key Features:
  • First use of metal (copper) along with stone tools.
  • Indication of technological advancement and long-distance trade.
• Economic Development:
  • Growth in agriculture and animal husbandry
  • Specialized craftsmanship – pottery, beads, metal objects.
• Societal Changes:
  • Emergence of social stratification
  • Rudimentary governance and organized settlements
  • Pottery: Red and Black Pottery
• Religious Beliefs:
  • Though UP lacks strong independent Chalcolithic cultures, cultural diffusion from neighboring regions (like MP, Bihar) may have brought ritualistic practices.
  • Religious life became more organized.
  • Continued Mother Goddess worship and nature deities.
  • Burials accompanied with pots, tools, and ornaments, indicating belief in afterlife.
  • Terracotta figurines and animal motifs suggest worship of both male and female deities.
• Significance for UP:
  • Though Chalcolithic cultures are more prominent in regions like Maharashtra, MP, and Rajasthan, their influence may have extended to parts of southern and western UP through trade and cultural diffusion.

Uttar Pradesh’s prehistoric society evolved from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled food producers, showing significant technological and social changes over time. The progression of tools, settlements, and belief systems reflects increasing complexity, laying the foundation for the later Harappan and Vedic cultures.

2. Prehistoric Sites in UP

Stone Age for UPPCS Mains

1. Paleolithic Sites in UP

Belan Valley (Sonbhadra and Prayagraj):

• Remains of all the three ages of the Palaeolithic Age
• Text book of Prehistoric Age
• Handaxes, cleavers, and choppers
• Chopanimando, and Koldihwa

Singrauli Valley (Sonbhadra):

• Transition phase site
• Microlithic tools of later stages of the Paleolithic

Chakia (Chandauli):

• Stone tools and animal remains
• Painting of hunter-gatherer communities

2. Mesolithic Sites in UP

Known for burial practice and animal rearing.

Sarai Nahar Rai (Pratapgarh):

• Grave of four human skeleton
• Rock paintings depict hunting scenes, animals, and geometric patterns

Damdama (Pratapgarh):

• 5 double burial (couples’ grave/Two human skeletal graves)
• 1 triple burial grave – a burial of three individuals together

Mahadaha (Pratapgarh):

• 35 well-preserved skeletons

Chopani Mando (Prayagraj):

• Microlith tools

Lakhaniya Dari (Sonbhadra District, UP):

• Mesolithic rock paintings
• These paintings depict hunting scenes, animals, and daily life, showing the cultural development of early humans in the Vindhyan region.

Rock shelters in Mirzapur District:

• Rock shelters in Mirzapur were the first excavated Mesolithic sites.
• Paintings and tools show continuity of cultural practices.

3. Neolithic Sites in Uttar Pradesh

The Neolithic Age marks a fundamental shift in the trajectory of human civilization in Uttar Pradesh. It laid the foundation for settled societies, food production, and technological advancements, paving the way for later complex cultures.

Lahuradev (Sant Kabir Nagar):

• Earliest Neolithic settlement
• First evidence of food grains, rice cultivation (8000 – 9000 BC)
• Evidence of the oldest permanent life

Koldihwa (Prayagraj):

• Earlier known for earliest evidence of rice

Sarai Nahar Rai (Pratapgarh):

• Burial practices

Maholi (Sitapur):

• Pottery-making
• tool technology advancement

4. Chalcolithic Sites in Uttar Pradesh

Aharora (Kannauj):

• One of the largest Chalcolithic settlements in UP
• known for urban planning, craft specialization, and trade networks.

Alamgirpur (Meerut):

• Copper tools, diverse pottery, and brick structures

Sadikpur Sinauli (Baghpat): Chalcolithic to Late Harappan settlement

• Copper shields, swords and helmets

• Underground sacred chamber
• Wooden coffin burials
• Decorated legged coffins
• Demotes presence of a warrior class
• India’s largest known necropolis (cemetery) of the late Harappan period – 126 burials
• Female burials with sword indicate the Female Warrior Class.

According to Local legends Sinauli is one of the five villages that God Krishna unsuccessfully negotiated with the Kaurava princes to avoid the War at Kurukshetra.

Existence of a warrior class around 2,000 BC challenge some of the basic premises of the Aryan invasion theory that claim that horses were brought in by the invading Aryan army around 1500 to 1000 BC.

Paribhog (Mainpuri): Evidence of copper smelting

Stone Age in Uttar Pradesh, Prehistoric Age in Uttar Pradesh, Stone Age for UPPCS Mains, Prehistoric Sites in UP, Stone Age Sites in UP

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