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Palaeolithic Culture — 2015 Paper I
Question · 2015 · Paper I · 10 Marks
Palaeolithic culture.
Model Answer
VAID ICSApproach
- Demand of Question: Explain the principal technological, subsistence and cultural characteristics of the Palaeolithic stage.
- Structuring the Response: Define the period, distinguish Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic traditions, and indicate major behavioural developments.
- Key Dimensions to Cover: Stone tools, hunting-gathering, Acheulian, flake tools, blade technology, fire, art, burials and Indian sites.
Model Answer
Introduction: The Palaeolithic or Old Stone Age represents the earliest and longest phase of human cultural development, characterized primarily by chipped-stone technology and hunting-gathering subsistence.
It is conventionally divided into:
- Lower Palaeolithic
Characterized by:
- handaxes;
- cleavers;
- choppers;
- large cutting tools.
The Acheulian tradition is closely associated with Homo erectus and later archaic humans.
Indian sites include Attirampakkam, Isampur and Hunsgi-Baichbal.
- Middle Palaeolithic
Marked by greater use of:
- flakes;
- points;
- scrapers;
- prepared-core techniques.
Toolkits became more specialized and efficient.
- Upper Palaeolithic
Characterized by:
- blades;
- burins;
- bone and antler implements in many regions;
- ornaments;
- cave art;
- increasing symbolic behaviour.
Subsistence was primarily:
Hunting + Gathering + Fishing where locally available
Control of fire, organized hunting, shelters and increasing cooperation greatly expanded human adaptability.
Later Palaeolithic contexts also provide evidence of burials and symbolic expression.
Conclusion: Palaeolithic culture records the gradual transition from simple stone-tool dependence to increasingly sophisticated technology, cooperation and symbolic behaviour, laying the foundations of later human cultural development.
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