Prehistoric Period Questions and Answers – Page 3

The wheel greatly improved transport and pottery production in the Neolithic and subsequent periods. Controlled use of fire began much earlier, iron tools belong to a later technological age, and the plough alone does not explain both transport and wheel-made pottery.

Burzahom in Kashmir is famous for Neolithic pit dwellings and a burial in which a dog was interred with a human. Chanhudaro, Lothal and Ropar belong to different archaeological contexts and are not the standard answer. Therefore the other options either belong to another chronological phase, a different site, or an older interpretation that does not best fit the evidence.

Lahuradewa in Uttar Pradesh has yielded very early evidence associated with rice cultivation, making it a safer modern answer than the older textbook claim centred only on Koldihwa. Lothal has rice husk evidence, Mehrgarh is known for early wheat and barley, and Kalibangan for a ploughed field. Therefore the other options either belong to another chronological phase, a different site, or an older interpretation that does not best fit the evidence.

Mehrgarh in Balochistan provides the earliest well-known evidence of farming and herding in the Indian subcontinent, beginning in the seventh millennium BCE. Koldihwa and Lahuradewa are important for early rice, Burzahom for pit dwellings and Bagor for Mesolithic pastoral evidence. Therefore the other options either belong to another chronological phase, a different site, or an older interpretation that does not best fit the evidence.

Sarai Nahar Rai and Mahadaha in Uttar Pradesh are important Mesolithic burial sites in the Ganga plain. Bhimbetka is known for rock shelters and paintings, while Lothal and Kalibangan are much later Harappan sites.

Adamgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Bagor in Rajasthan provide important Mesolithic evidence of animal domestication in present-day India. Mehrgarh offers earlier subcontinental farming and herding evidence but lies in present-day Pakistan. Therefore the other options either belong to another chronological phase, a different site, or an older interpretation that does not best fit the evidence.

Homo sapiens emerged during the Palaeolithic age, with anatomically modern humans associated especially with the later or Upper Palaeolithic. The Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic are later cultural stages.

The Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh preserve prehistoric paintings and occupation evidence spanning several Stone Age phases. Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta are primarily historic-period rock-cut religious monuments. Therefore the other options either belong to another chronological phase, a different site, or an older interpretation that does not best fit the evidence.

Palaeolithic communities lived mainly by hunting animals and gathering wild plants, fruits and roots. Settled agriculture and large-scale animal husbandry developed later, while long-distance organised trade was not the principal subsistence base.

The Stone Age is conventionally divided into three principal stages: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. They are distinguished by tool technology, subsistence and settlement patterns, though regional chronologies vary.