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Stone Age Main article: South Asian Stone Age Further information: Peopling of India, Mehrgarh, Bhimbetka rock shelters, and Edakkal Cave Bhimbetka rock painting, Madhya Pradesh, India (c. 30,000 years old) Stone age (5000 BCE) writings of Edakkal Caves in Kerala, India. Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley in central India indicate that India might have been inhabited since at least the Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago.[9][10] Tools crafted by proto-humans that have been dated back two million years have been discovered in the northwestern part of the subcontinent.[11][12] The ancient history of the region includes some of South Asia's oldest settlements[13] and some of its major civilisations.[14][15] The earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the palaeolithic hominid site in the Soan River valley.[16] Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region across what are now India, Pakistan, and Nepal.[17] The Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent was followed by the Neolithic period, when more extensive settlement of the subcontinent occurred after the end of the last Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed semipermanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern Madhya Pradesh, India. Early Neolithic culture in South Asia is represented by the Bhirrana findings (7500 BCE) in Haryana, India & Mehrgarh findings (7000 BCE onwards) in Balochistan, Pakistan.[18][19] Traces of a Neolithic culture have been alleged to be submerged in the Gulf of Khambat in India, radiocarbon dated to 7500 BCE.[20] However, the one dredged piece of wood in question was found in an area of strong ocean currents. Neolithic agriculture cultures sprang up in the Indus Valley region around 5000 BCE, in the lower Gangetic valley around 3000 BCE, and in later South India, spreading southwards and also northwards into Malwa around 1800 BCE. The first urban civilisation of the region began with the Indus Valley Civilisation.[21] Bronze Age Main article: Indus Valley Civilisation "Priest King" of Indus Valley Civilisation The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BCE with the early Indus Valley Civilisation. It was centred on the Indus River and its tributaries which extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley,[14] the Ganges-Yamuna Doab,[22] Gujarat,[23] and southeastern Afghanistan.[24] The civilisation is primarily located in modern-day India (Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan provinces) and Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan provinces). Historically part of Ancient India, it is one of the world's earliest urban civilisations, along with Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.[25] Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The Mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilisation on the subcontinent. The civilisation included urban centres such as Dholavira, Kalibangan, Ropar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India, and Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan. The civilisation is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried houses. |
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