1.2 Pre-historic Period

According to W.N. Weech, "The story of mankind forms only a small fragment of the earth’s long life, and little of the fragment has been set down in written history." Though history reveals the story of mankind for about five thousand years, much is known of man’s past of a period even prior to the invention of the art of writing. This period, for which written historical records are not found, is known as pre-history. Knowledge about this period is based on the relics of the past, such as tools and weapons, fossils and rocks, fallen buildings and standing monuments. Archaeologists and the anthropologists are able to reconstruct the story of mankind right from man’s first appearance on this earth, on the basis of a few human skulls and bones found in different parts of the world, as also on the tools and weapons used at that time.

Pre-history is divided into 3 periods, according to the materiel used for making tools, namely,

1. The Stone Age (50,000 BC to 4000 BC),
2. The Bronze Age (4000 to 2000 BC), and
3. The Iron Age (1500 BC onwards).

The Stone Age is divided into two periods, the Old Stone Age or the Paleolithic Age (50000 to 12000 BC) and the New Stone Age or the Neolithic Age (12000 to 4000 BC). This distinction is based on the stone implements which were crude, rough and unpolished in the Old Stone Age, and they were pointed, smooth and polished in the New Stone Age. The Old Stone Age is also considered to be the Age of food-gatherers, while the New Stone Age is referred to as the Age of food producers. The Age of civilization began to dawn towards the end of the Neolithic Age.

Index

1.0 - Introduction
1.1 History: Meaning and Importance
1.2 Pre-historic Period
1.3 Early Civilizations
1.4 The Dark Age
1.5 The Medieval Period
1.6 Dates & Events
1.7 Points to Remember

Chapter 2