Neolithic Revolution, Mehrgarh Culture and Chalcolithic Era

Neolithic Revolution, Mehrgarh Culture and Chalcolithic Era
The Neolithic period began around 10700 to 9400 BC in Tell Qaramel in Northern Syria In South Asia the date assigned to Neolithic period is 7000 BC and the earliest example is Mehrgarh Culture
The Neolithic Revolution
The human settlements in the Mesolithic era got more sedentary and this was the beginning of establishment of villages Man now could keep cattle, sheep and goats and protect crops from pests In due course, as the efficiency of agricultural production improved, some farmers were able to generate surplus food As a consequence, a section of the population were freed from the task of food production and their talents and energies were diverted to tasks such as the production of pots, baskets, quarrying of stone, making of bricks, masonry and carpentry
This was the beginning of the new occupations such as the oil presser, washerman, barber, musician, dancers etc This transition from hunting-gathering to food production is called the Neolithic revolution Around 6000BC, the smelting of metals such as Copper began which was used for raw material to be used in tool production Later, Tin was mixed with cooper and bronze appeared which stronger metal than both tin and copper was Use of bronze for tools led to the invention of wheel which revolutionized transport and pottery production
Mehrgarh Culture
Mehrgarh is located on the Bolan River, a tributary of the Indus, at the eastern edge of the Baluchistan plateau overlooking the Indus plain It is supposed to be the oldest agricultural settlement in the Indian subcontinent Despite being an agriculture settlement, the Mehrgarh people used only stone tools so considered a part of Stone Age This culture flourished from 7000BC to 2600 BC and showed improvisation in almost every area of life until it was abandoned
Important Facts about Mehrgarh
The main domesticated animals in Mehrgarh were cattle, sheep, goat and water buffalo while the main cultivated
plants were wheat and barley
Houses made in mud and mud-bricks, created rooms to store grains, buried dead under floors of houses where they lived, used ornaments of steatite, turquise, sea shells etc
Domesticated cotton for the first time Used pottery decorated with images of birds, animals
Learnt use of making stone beads, copper smelting, timber, terracotta, commercial transactions
The first evidence in human history for the drilling of teeth in a living person was found in Mehrgarh
Mehrgarh was discovered after discovery of Indus Valley Civilization and it is now seen as a precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization The above features of Mehrgarh have changed the entire concept of the Indus civilization