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It is a big subject of curiosity to know how the humans lived before any known history or whether the humans even existed before any of the written records? But the written history proves that humans existed on this earth even before the known history. Because during the excavation executed at the written history period, many such remains have been found as tools, utensils, remains of crops, clothes, jewellery, civilization and many other buried things of that time, which proves that the humans were present on this earth even before the known history. We will discuss in details in this article, so stay with the blog.
It has been proved and it is true that humans were present before the written records. The discovery of buried remains such as tools, utensils, crops, civilization and many other things found during the excavation led to the belief that humans existed and lived even before the written records.
As we know that the Earth originated 4.5 billion years ago and it is believed that the existence of humans have been on Earth since about 2.5 million years ago. But we find that the written history period starts only about 5,000 years ago. It is believed that the written history period may have originated from the Sumerian cuneiform script as this series contains the oldest “coherent texts” in history (dated to about 2600 BC).
There is no written information about human history before this or it can be said that humans must have lived on earth without leaving any written record of their way of living. But they left behind other types of remains and artifacts to create behind the curiosity to know their activity for the present people.
By findings during the excavation of the invention of tools made for hunting to advances in food production and agriculture to early examples of art and religion, this enormous time span roughly ending 3,200 years ago. The dates may be vary upon region. But it was a period of great transformation in human civilization.
Name of the archaeologist, who introduced the study of pre-historic period?
Robert Bruce Foote –
Robert Bruce Foote has considered as the founder of the study of India’s prehistory, Foote was a British geologist and archaeologist, who joined the Indian geological survey at the age of 24.
Sir John Lubbock –
Sir John Lubbock was the first who coined the terms “Neolithic Age” and “Palaeolithic” in 1865. The term “Palaeolithic” comes from the Greek words palaios meaning “old” and lithos meaning is the “stone”.
Christian J. Thomsen –
Christian J Thomsen was a Danish scholar who coined the term “Stone Age” in the late 19th century. CJ Thomsen also developed the “Three Age System” for studying the human past.
What is concept of “Three Age System” to study prehistoric period?
When the archaeologist introduced the written history then antiquarians used first time the term “primitive” to describe societies that existed before the written records and the word “prehistory” first appeared in English in 1836.
Prehistory is further divided into three main categories –
01) Stone Age,
02) Bronze Age,
03) Iron Age.
How is the prehistoric period divided into categories?
The prehistoric period is divided into categories based on the elements used in making the tools produced during that period.
For example –
The period in which tools made of stone are found is called the Stone Age.
The period in which tools made of bronze are found is called Bronze Age.
Similarly, the period in which tools made of iron are found is called Iron Age.
In short, the prehistoric period is divided into categories according to the elements of tools found in them.
The Stone Age
As we understand that the how the stone age come into exitance in prehistoric period. Now the experts divided the stone age period further into three periods
01) Paleolithic (or Old Stone Age),
02) Mesolithic (or Middle Stone Age),
03) Neolithic (or New Stone Age)
The stone age era is marked by the use of tools by our ancestors or by the early human. who likely to be evolved around 300,000 B.C. This era eventually gave transformation from the culture of hunting to farming and gathering food production. During this era, the early humans shared the planet with a number of extinct technologies.
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The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age starts from at about 3,000 B.C. to till 1,300 B.C.. During the Bronze Age it was discover the advancement in metalworking like bronze, copper and tine alloy were made. During this period the weapons and tools were converted into the harder metal which replaced its stone predecessors, and helped spark innovations including the ox-drawn plow and the wheel.
This time period also brought advances in architecture and art, including the invention of the potter’s wheel, and textiles—clothing consisted of mostly wool items such as skirts, kilts, tunics and cloaks. Home dwellings morphed to so-called roundhouses, consisting of a circular stone wall with a thatched or turf roof, complete with a fireplace or hearth, and more villages and cities began to form.
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The Iron Age
The Iron Age is seems to be roughly between 1,300 B.C.to 900 B.C.. During this period it was found the discovery the ways to heat and forge iron kicked off. At the time the metal was seen as more precious than the gold. During this period the wrought iron, which would be replaced by the steel with the advent of smelting iron.
Along with mass production of iron tools and weapons, the age saw even further advances in architecture, with four-room homes, some complete with stables for animals, joining more rudimentary hill forts, as well as royal palaces, temples and other religious structures. Early city planning also took place, with blocks of homes being erected along paved or cobblestone streets and water systems put into place. Click on the above link to read in details
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