Pre-History Period | History for UPSC 2024 (Pre & Mains) PDF Download

 Page 1


Pre-History Period 
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Pre-History Period 
Basic Approach 
T . 1 ime Period/Chronology  
  
L . 2 ocation/Geography 
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Pre-History Period 
Basic Approach 
T . 1 ime Period/Chronology  
  
L . 2 ocation/Geography 
Pre-History 
?4.6 billion years old = Earth  
?Evolution of earth’s crust shows four stages – 4
th
 Stage – Quaternary  
?Quaternary – divided into two epochs – Pleistocene (ice age) and Holocene (post-ice age) 
?2 million BCE to 10,000 BCE – First epoch 
?10,000 BCE to this day – Second epoch 
?3.5 billion years ago – Life appeared on earth –– confined to plants and animals 
?Appearance of Humans – pre-Pleistocene and early-Pleistocene times 
?About 6 million years ago – Hominids lived  
?The earliest humans were not very different from apes which developed 30 million years ago 
?5.5 million to 1.5 million years ago – Australopithecus (southern ape) originated –– both ape-like and 
human characteristics. It was last of the pre-human hominids. 
Page 4


Pre-History Period 
Basic Approach 
T . 1 ime Period/Chronology  
  
L . 2 ocation/Geography 
Pre-History 
?4.6 billion years old = Earth  
?Evolution of earth’s crust shows four stages – 4
th
 Stage – Quaternary  
?Quaternary – divided into two epochs – Pleistocene (ice age) and Holocene (post-ice age) 
?2 million BCE to 10,000 BCE – First epoch 
?10,000 BCE to this day – Second epoch 
?3.5 billion years ago – Life appeared on earth –– confined to plants and animals 
?Appearance of Humans – pre-Pleistocene and early-Pleistocene times 
?About 6 million years ago – Hominids lived  
?The earliest humans were not very different from apes which developed 30 million years ago 
?5.5 million to 1.5 million years ago – Australopithecus (southern ape) originated –– both ape-like and 
human characteristics. It was last of the pre-human hominids. 
Pre-History 
?About 2–1.5 million years ago – The first important Homo or human – Homo habilis (handy or skilful 
man) 
?1.8 to 1.6 million years ago – Appearance of Homo erectus (erect or upright man) 
?New types of stone tools – hand axe 
?Discovered how to make and use fire, and this kept them warm in cold climates and protected them from wild 
animals 
?About 115,000 years ago – Emergence of Homo sapiens (wise man) 
?The full-fledged modern man called Homo sapiens is traceable to southern Africa in the late Stone Age called 
the Upper Palaeolithic. 
?Had a large rounded braincase of about 1200–2000 cubic centimetres in volume.  
?This enabled the modern human to function much more effectively and enabled him to modify the 
environment. 
?Some of the earliest skull fossils have been found in the Siwalik hills.  
?These skulls appear in the Potwar plateau, in Punjab province of Pakistan, which developed on sandstone.   
?Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus - Ramapithecus was the female, but both belonged to the same group 
Page 5


Pre-History Period 
Basic Approach 
T . 1 ime Period/Chronology  
  
L . 2 ocation/Geography 
Pre-History 
?4.6 billion years old = Earth  
?Evolution of earth’s crust shows four stages – 4
th
 Stage – Quaternary  
?Quaternary – divided into two epochs – Pleistocene (ice age) and Holocene (post-ice age) 
?2 million BCE to 10,000 BCE – First epoch 
?10,000 BCE to this day – Second epoch 
?3.5 billion years ago – Life appeared on earth –– confined to plants and animals 
?Appearance of Humans – pre-Pleistocene and early-Pleistocene times 
?About 6 million years ago – Hominids lived  
?The earliest humans were not very different from apes which developed 30 million years ago 
?5.5 million to 1.5 million years ago – Australopithecus (southern ape) originated –– both ape-like and 
human characteristics. It was last of the pre-human hominids. 
Pre-History 
?About 2–1.5 million years ago – The first important Homo or human – Homo habilis (handy or skilful 
man) 
?1.8 to 1.6 million years ago – Appearance of Homo erectus (erect or upright man) 
?New types of stone tools – hand axe 
?Discovered how to make and use fire, and this kept them warm in cold climates and protected them from wild 
animals 
?About 115,000 years ago – Emergence of Homo sapiens (wise man) 
?The full-fledged modern man called Homo sapiens is traceable to southern Africa in the late Stone Age called 
the Upper Palaeolithic. 
?Had a large rounded braincase of about 1200–2000 cubic centimetres in volume.  
?This enabled the modern human to function much more effectively and enabled him to modify the 
environment. 
?Some of the earliest skull fossils have been found in the Siwalik hills.  
?These skulls appear in the Potwar plateau, in Punjab province of Pakistan, which developed on sandstone.   
?Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus - Ramapithecus was the female, but both belonged to the same group 
Pre-History 
 Chronology: 
 Palaeolithic Period: 2 million BCE – 10,000 BCE 
? Early or Lower Palaeolithic Age: up to 100,000 BCE 
? Middle Palaeolithic Age: 100,000 BCE – 40,000 BCE 
? Upper Palaeolithic Age: 40,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE 
 Mesolithic Period: 10,000 BCE – 6000 BCE 
 Neolithic Period: 6000 BCE – 4000 BCE 
 Chalcolithic Period: 4000 BCE – 1500 BCE 
 Iron Age: 1500 BCE – 200 BCE 
  
 The Palaeolithic Age in India is divided into three phases in accordance with the type of stone tools used by the 
people and also according to the nature of climatic change - Early or Lower Palaeolithic, the second Middle 
Palaeolithic, and the third Upper Palaeolithic 
 The Early Old Stone Age may have begun in Africa around two million years ago. In India it is not older than 
600,000 years.