Prehistory and Protohistory of Punjab

Table of Contents

Prehistory and Protohistory of Punjab

Prehistory Period: The Prehistoric Period is the period when human life and its activities had no documented records. It roughly dates from 2 Million years ago to 4,000 BC.
- This period is characterized by rudimentary tools, artifacts, and early human practices. It reflects interaction with the environment.
- Archaeology is the primary source of prehistory knowledge.
- Contributions also come from biology, paleontology, geology, anthropology, linguistics, and genetics.
Proto History: Proto-History lies between Prehistory and History (when writing was developed). In India, the phase of Proto-History encompasses the period roughly spanning from 3000 B.C. to 600 B.C.
- It is characterized by undecipherable written records
- However, the presence of inscriptions, seals, and symbols that indicate communication and organization within society.
Thus, both Pre and Proto-history are archaeological disciplines. Under this, the historians try to (re)construct history by using material culture as a unique historical source of information about past societies, from the first appearance of man to the most recent past.
Under these materials is used for research into the environment, economy, settlement patterns, and social structures of early human populations. It also helps in the study of art, customs, and religion of those times. This further helps us develop an understanding of the present-day world.

Pre-History of Punjab

The Stone Age cultures constitute the earliest phase of human civilization. John Lubbock, in 1865, was the first one to divide the Stone Age into the paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. –

“Palaios”, ‘Neo’, and ‘Lithos’ are Greek words which mean ‘Old’, New and ‘Stone’ respectively. Thus the Old Stone Age is known as the Paleolithic Age and the New Stone Age is known as the Neolithic Age. Later, Hodder Westrop introduced the term Mesolithic Age to describe the Middle Stone Age, technically known as the Mesolithic Age (derived from the Greek word ‘Mesos’ meaning Middle).

Thus Pre-History is generally categorized into three archaeological periods of the Stone Age:

Paleolithic Age
Mesolithic Age
Neolithic Age

Paleolithic Age

It is the ancient cultural stage of human development which is characterized by the use of rudimentary chipped stone tools.
It extends from 2 million BC to 10,000 BC.
The men during this time were nomads, i.e, hunters and food gatherers. They could not produce food and lived in caves or rock shelters.
They started living in groups that provided them security and made the hunting of animals facile. The tools were made by chipping the stones.
The fire was also discovered during this age.

Early Stone Age in Punjab

The Early Stone Age sites are found in the valley of river Sohan, Salt range, Kohli, and Dhokgul in Punjab (Pakistan). A large number of sites related to palcolithic age have been discovered in and around Punjab such as Daulatpur, Dher Majra, Hoshiarpur, Nalagarh, Dhad, Merhanwala, Dholbaha, Pirthan, Bhud, Dhang, Rampura, Sirsa and Khokra-ka-Choa.

Mesolithic Age

The Age between the paleolithic and Neolithic periods was marked by the appearance of microlithic tools and weapons, and by changes in the nature of settlements.
It was during this age that circular houses around a central hearth were built. The people got skilled and started domesticating plants and animals like dogs followed by cattle.
People started using red and white colors predominantly for paintings. The tools were smaller, lighter, and thinner. Bow and Arrow were also invented.
The initial proof of burial can also be found in this period along with remains of ornaments and jewelry near the burial sites. This lays out their belief in life after death.

Mesolithic Age in Punjab

Although no site in Punjab (I) has been discovered for this age, it is important to notice that one Mesolithic site has been discovered in Thal Desert of Punjab, i.e. Mahiwala 1 (MW-1).

Neolithic Age

In the sequence of the Stone Age, Neolithic age is the most crucial. It was during this age that the wide-scale transition of many human cultures from the lifestyle of hunting and gathering to settled life took place due to the discovery of Agriculture.
In this period, people started using harder and polished stones to make tools. The tools were generally sharper and smoother.
The accidental discovery of “Wheel’ also happened in this period. This helped them in revolutionizing their craftsmanship in pottery, weaving, and transportation.
They also manufactured needles and spindles by chipping the bones. They practiced burial as well as cremation to dispose of the dead and often raised tombs over the corpses.

Advent of Agriculture

The advent of agriculture and the rearing of animals led to an unprecedented increase in the supply of food. Thus, they had to store the surplus food and this led to the manufacturing of strong Earthen jars. They started applying clay on the grass baskets, which were stronger and more durable. They also dug pits in the ground to store the food items kept in these baskets or jars.

Hence, as finding food was not a problem anymore, permanent settlements came into being which further led to the development of the community.

Cultural advancement

The Neolithic Man started building ‘houses’ of logs, canes, straw, and clay and manufactured” cloth’ with the fiber of plants and the hair of animals. These cultural and technological advancements led to the development of the next stage of community life and consequently, created the blueprint for the future, i.e. the village. It consisted of a few closely built houses surrounded by a common fence.

This made the concept of settled families possible. A group of families or families living in one village would be called a ‘Tribe’. They would have a head of the tribe and the whole tribe would perform its daily activities together. This, however, opened up a new battlefront against mankind’s most enduring enemy, i.e. disease. Most of diseases like TB, Bubonic Plague, Smallpox, Encephalitis, etc. originated due to our living in close proximity to animals.

Also, owning lands gave birth to a new enemy. The neighbouring villages would attack each other to acquire food and land. However, it is believed that there existed no inequalities among men and women during this time.

Neolithic Age in Punjab

It is quite evident that no Neolithic Site was found in the Punjab region until 1963. Some polished stones were discovered in Ror and Dibbar in Beas – Banganga Valley in that year. Relics and human skulls have been found dating back to 5000 BCE in the Pothohar Plateau in north of Punjab that indicate the region was home to Neolithic peoples who settled on the banks of the Swaan River, and who later developed small communities in the region around 3000 BCE.

Proto-History of Punjab

Proto-history is a transition period from prehistory to history. As far as India is concerned, the civilisation of the Vedic period is the proto-historic period. If history, as distinct from archaeology, is the study of the human past from written sources, then Indian history begins with the Aryans. But it cannot be denied that the Vedic period is not really within the historic period of India as it is only the matter of religion. We just have indirect and vague references about other matters or events. Thus the Vedic Age of Indian history has to be regarded as the period immediately preceding the historical period; hence it belongs to the proto-historic period of India, a period in which writing was present but not developed and it has not been considerably deciphered.