From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food (History)

Who Were the Hunter-Gatherers?

We know of people who lived in the Indian subcontinent as early as two million years ago. Today, archaeologists describe them as hunter-gatherers, a name derived directly from how they acquired their daily nourishment:

• Hunting: They pursued wild animals, trapped birds, and caught fish from local rivers and lakes.
• Gathering: They collected plant foods: wild fruits, edible roots, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, plant stalks, and bird eggs.
• Immense Environmental Knowledge: Gathering was not casual work. It required deep ecological memory: knowing which plants were edible and which were poisonous, tracking ripening seasons, and observing animal habits.

The Four Core Reasons Why Early Humans Were Constantly on the Move

Hunter-gatherers did not stay in one place permanently. Archaeologists identify four strict ecological and environmental necessities that forced them into a nomadic lifestyle:

Functions and Uses of Stone Tools

Two Classical Stone-Toolmaking Techniques

Archaeologists at sites such as Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh) and Paisra (Munger, Bihar) have reconstructed the two primary manufacturing techniques practiced by early toolmakers:

1. Stone on Stone (Direct Percussion): The pebble or nodule from which the tool was to be made (called the core) was held firmly in one hand. Another stone, serving as a hammer stone, was struck directly against the core to knock off flakes until the desired sharp profile was achieved.
2. Pressure Flaking: Here, the core was placed steadily on a hard, unyielding bedrock surface. A pointed piece of bone or hard wood was held against the edge of the core stone, and force was applied using a hammer stone to press off precise, thin flakes, shaping fine edges.

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1. The Palaeolithic Period (Old Stone Age: 2,000,000 to 12,000 BP)

• Etymology: Originates from two Greek words: 'palaeo' (meaning old) and 'lithos' (meaning stone).
• Duration: Stretches from 2 million years ago to roughly 12,000 years before present (BP). It encompasses an astonishing 99 percent of total human history.
• Subdivisions: Archaeologists divide this vast expanse into the Lower Palaeolithic (crude pebble tools), Middle Palaeolithic (flake tools), and Upper Palaeolithic (blade tools and bone needles).
• Lifeway: Purely nomadic hunting, scavenging, and foraging. Habitation occurred inside natural limestone and sandstone rock shelters (e.g., Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh).

2. The Mesolithic Period (Middle Stone Age: 12,000 to 10,000 BP)

Around 12,000 years ago, a major environmental milestone occurred: the earth experienced a dramatic climatic shift toward warmer, more humid conditions.

• Ecological Shift: Melting ice sheets led to the widespread development of lush grasslands across river basins.
• Faunal Boom: Herbivorous grazing animals—such as deer, antelope, goat, sheep, and wild cattle—multiplied exponentially. Early humans followed these multiplying herds and learned their behavioral patterns.
• Microlithic Technology: Mesolithic stone tools were characteristically tiny, known as microliths (measuring 1 to 5 cm). These miniature flakes were glued using tree resin into handles of bone or wood to create composite tools like saws, sickles, and arrowheads.

3. The Neolithic Period (New Stone Age: ~10,000 BP Onwards)

Beginning approximately 10,000 years ago, humanity crossed the threshold into the Neolithic Age. Tools in this era were finely shaped, chipped, and given a polished cutting edge for superior precision. Heavy stone mortars and pestles were developed for grinding harvested grains, signaling the birth of agriculture and settled villages.

Prehistoric Cave Art: The Living Canvas of Bhimbetka

Steps Toward Becoming Farmers

1. Observing Plant Phenology: Early foragers observed where edible wild grain-bearing grasses (wild wheat, barley, and rice) grew naturally.
2. Understanding Germination: They noticed that ripe seeds broke off stalks, fell onto moist soil, and eventually sprouted into green shoots that grew into new plants bearing identical grain.
3. Active Protection: Bands began guarding these natural grass patches from birds, rodents, and grazing herbivores, ensuring the seeds matured safely.
4. Selective Harvesting & Sowing: Humans gathered the healthiest, largest grains and deliberately sowed them in cleared fertile plots. Through this continuous process, humans became farmers.

How Humans Became Herders

The transition to animal pastoralism was equally deliberate and mutual:

• The First Companion: The very first animal to be tamed was the wild ancestor of the dog. Dogs were attracted to hunter-gatherer campsites by food scraps; in return, their sharp senses alerted humans to approaching nocturnal predators.
• Encouraging Herbivores: Humans left grass and grain husks near their shelters to attract gentle herbivores that lived in herds—such as sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs.
• Active Pastoral Protection: Humans protected these docile herds from wild carnivores (lions, wolves, leopards). In exchange, animals provided constant milk, wool, hides, and meat. Thus, humans became herders.

The Science of Domestication

Domesticated plants and animals differ distinctly from their wild ancestors due to conscious human selection:

• Plants Selected: Humans selected wild grains that yielded large kernels, were resistant to fungal diseases, and possessed strong stalks capable of bearing the heavy weight of ripe grains without shattering and scattering before harvest.
• Animals Selected: Humans bred gentle, docile animals. Wild species have massive, dangerous horns and sharp tusks/teeth for defense; domesticated animals gradually evolved significantly smaller teeth, blunted horns, and placid temperaments.
• Earliest Species: The earliest domesticated crops were wheat and barley. The earliest domesticated animals were sheep and goats.

The Inescapable Logic of Settled Life

• Constant Crop Maintenance: Sown fields demanded regular irrigation (watering), weeding out wild shrubs, and daily guarding to prevent birds, deer, and rodents from eating the seedlings.
• Harvesting & Processing: People had to remain stationed beside their plots until the grains ripened and were harvested.
• The Dual Need for Storage: Once harvested, grain had to be carefully stored for two vital purposes: food to sustain the community through the winter months and dry seasons, and seed to sow the next year's crop.
• Storage Innovations: To protect surplus grain from moisture and pests, early farmers began weaving large wicker baskets, digging subterranean storage pits, and fashioning massive earthen clay pots.

Burzahom (Kashmir): Subterranean Pit-Houses

At Burzahom in the Kashmir Valley, archaeologists excavated unique prehistoric dwellings that provide striking insight into cold-climate adaptations:

• Architecture of Pit-Houses: Early people dug deep circular and oval pits into the earth, with stepped entrances cut into the soil leading down to the floor. Plastered with mud, these subterranean pit-houses provided excellent insulation and warmth against freezing Himalayan blizzards.
• Indoor and Outdoor Cooking Hearths: Archaeologists discovered ash and charcoal hearths located both inside the pit-dwellings and outside in the open air. This proves that depending on the seasonal weather, Neolithic families cooked either indoors (during snow and winter rains) or outdoors (during mild summer sunshine).

Neolithic Tool Refinement: Polished Celts & Grinding Stones

The Rise of Pottery and Textile Weaving

• Earthen Pottery: People learned to shape wet clay and fire it in kilns. Beautifully decorated earthenware pots were initially used for storing grains and water, and later became essential culinary vessels for boiling rice, wheat, and lentils.
• Weaving Fabrics: With settled village life came the cultivation of fibrous plants, most notably cotton. People began spinning yarn and weaving cloth, gradually replacing animal hides and tree bark with lightweight cotton clothing.

Architectural and Cultural Hallmarks of Mehrgarh

• Early Farming & Animal Rearing: Men and women learned to cultivate six-row barley and einkorn wheat, and reared domesticated sheep, goats, and humped cattle.
• Rectangular Mud-Brick Houses: Excavations revealed multi-roomed rectangular and square mud-brick houses. Each house typically contained four or more distinct compartments, several of which were utilized as granaries for crop storage.
• Burial Customs and Belief in Afterlife: When people died, their relatives buried them with grave goods. In one striking burial, a deceased human skeleton was found buried alongside several goats. This demonstrates that early communities believed in life after death, providing the deceased with food and livestock for their journey into the next world.

Case Study 2: Daojali Hading (Brahmaputra Valley, Assam)

Situated on the forested hills near the Brahmaputra valley along the trade corridors connecting northeast India to China and Myanmar, Daojali Hading showcases distinct regional features:

• Grinding Equipment: Stone mortars and pestles have been unearthed, proving that the inhabitants cleared hill slopes to cultivate grain and process food.
• Fossil Wood Implements: Hardened prehistoric wood transformed over millions of years into petrified stone (fossil wood) was knapped to produce exceptionally tough cutting implements.
• Jadeite Stone: Archaeologists discovered ornaments and tools made of jadeite, a rare greenish mineral that does not occur naturally in Assam, indicating long-distance exchange networks linking Assam with prehistoric Yunnan (China).

Bihar's Prehistoric Primacy: Chirand, Paisra, and Taradih

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