Mesolithic Age
          In the Mesolithic Age, the stone tools began to be made more pointed and sharp. This era was the middle part of Stone Age. To ensure a life that had abundance of food and clothing , the stone tools began to appear in increasingly specialized way. The simple handheld stone tools were now attached to thick branches from tree with rope made from animal skin and sinew. These tools are known as hand axes , which could be flung at fast-moving animals from a distance. Apart from hand axes , they also produced crude stone – tipped wooden spears, borers , and burins.
Other Details Of Mesolithic Age
The characteristic tools of Mesolithic age are the Microliths. This period also saw the domestication of animals and growing of wild varieties of crops. Because of farming, small settlements began to take shape. Archaeological excavations have unearthed Mesolithic sites in the Chhota Nagpur area of central India and the areas south of the Krishna River. The famous Bhimbetka caves near Bhopal belong to the Mesolithic Age and are famous for their cave paintings. The exact date of paintings is not certain , but some of the paintings are as old as 12,000 years. The prehistoric artists used natural white and red pigments in depicting the various themes, which were close to his heart and substance. Adamgarh in M.P. and Bagor in Rajasthan provide earliest evidence of domestication of animals. This phase continued till 4000 BC and paved the way for Neolithic culture.
Genesis Of The word Mesolithic
Initially only Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages were used . These terms were introduced by John Lubbock in his work ‘Prehistoric Times’ in 1865. It was Hodder Westropp who introduced the term Mesolithic in 1866. This era was introduced as an intermediate category. Basically this age was characterized by decline in hunting of large animals in favour of hunter-gatherer way of life. Along with this there was a marked by refinement in the small lithic tools.
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