The stone age can be roughly divided into three parts:-
1. Paleolithic age : old stone age:-500,000-10,000 B.C.
. The old stone age in India developed during the Pleistocene period or the ice age
. The paleolithic sites are spread in all parts of India expect the alluvial plains of the Indus and Ganga rivers
. The people were hunters and food gathers, who had no knowledge of agriculture, fire, pottery or metals.
2. Mesolithic age : middle stone age:-10,000-6,000 B.C.
. The characteristic tools of this age are known as Microliths,e.g., point. blades, scrapers, etc.
. The last phase of this age saw the beginning of plant cultivation
3. Neolithic age : new stone age:-6,000-1,000 B.C.
. During this phase, people used stones other than quartzite for making tools, which were more finished and polished.
. Neolithic men cultivated the land and domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats.
. They knew techniques of making fire and also made pottery; first by hand and then using the potter's wheel. They could also spin cotton and wool, and weave cloth.
. People led a more settled life and lived in circular and rectangular houses made of mud. The dolmens or the Megalithic tombs are a characteristic feature of the Neolithic Age.
. Chopani Mando provides the earliest evidence of the use of pottery in the world.
