Middle Palaeolithic Age: Characteristics

Introduction

The Middle Paleolithic Age represents a pivotal period in human prehistory, marked by significant advancements in tool technology, social organization, and cultural expression.

Characteristics of Middle Palaeolithic Age

• During the Middle Palaeolithic Age, changes took place in lithic technology, and the species of human ancestors diverged due to behavioural modernity. 
• In India, this phase was first identified by H.D. Sankalia on the Pravara River at Nevasa (Ahmadnagar, Maharastra).
• While the African Middle Stone Age is associated with the Homo sapiens, it is associated with the Neanderthals in Europe. 
  • No hominin fossil bone evidence has been found in India during this time.

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• Distribution: Found in Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, and Yamuna areas and south of the Tungabhadra River and Soan River Valley. 
• Ways of Life: the human ancestors were hunter-gatherers and lived in open-air, cave, and rock shelter sites. 
• Tools: Prominent tools include hand axes, cleavers, choppers, chopping tools, scrapers, projectile points or shouldered points, and knives on flakes; the flake industry was predominant with tools like scrapers, points, and borers.
  • The tools became smaller, and there was a decrease in the use of hand axes in relation to other tools.
  • Chert, jasper, chalcedony, and quartz were used to make tools.

Conclusion

• The Middle Palaeolithic Age represents a period of significant innovation and cultural development in human history. 
  • It laid the foundation for the complexities of later prehistoric societies and provided insights into the cognitive and social capacities of early Homo sapiens.