Syllabus: Paper I > 5. Religion > Anthropological approaches to the study of religion
Neolithic Cultures of India — 2016 Paper I
Question · 2016 · Paper I · 10 Marks
Neolithic Cultures of India
Model Answer
VAID ICSApproach
- Demand of Question: Summarise Indian Neolithic cultures as regionally diverse trajectories to food production, not a single chronological package.
- Structuring the Response: Define Neolithic traits -> regional sequences: Kashmir, Ganga-Vindhya, Northeast, South India (plus wider South Asian context where useful) -> conclude with ecological plurality.
- Key Dimensions to Cover: Domestication; polished celts; pottery; sedentism; Burzahom/Gufkral; Koldihwa/Mahagara/Lahuradewa/Chirand; Daojali Hading; Utnur/Piklihal/Tekkalakota/Sanganakallu; ash mounds.
Model Answer
Introduction
The Neolithic in India represents several regional transitions from mobile food collection toward food production, sedentism and new technologies; it was not a single uniform “revolution.”
Body
Characteristic traits include domesticated plants and animals, polished stone axes or celts, grinding equipment, pottery in many regions, permanent or semi-permanent settlements, storage and new burial practices. Regional sequences differ markedly.
In the northwestern subcontinent, Mehrgarh provides early evidence of farming and herding from the seventh millennium BCE. Kashmir sites such as Burzahom and Gufkral show pit dwellings, polished tools and distinctive burials. In the middle Ganga-Vindhyan zone, Koldihwa, Mahagara, Lahuradewa and later Chirand indicate rice-related economies and village life. Northeast India is represented by shouldered celts and cord-marked pottery at sites such as Daojali Hading. South Indian Neolithic sites—Utnur, Piklihal, Tekkalakota and Sanganakallu—are associated with cattle pastoralism, millet cultivation, polished axes and characteristic ash mounds.
Conclusion
Thus, Indian Neolithic cultures illustrate multiple ecological pathways to farming. Their significance lies in regionally specific combinations of cultivation, herding, technology and settlement rather than a single chronological package.
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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2016 — Paper I
28 questionsSyllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Anthropology in designing of defence and other equipments
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Structuralism > Levi-Strauss
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.4 Human Evolution and emergence of Man > Biological and cultural factors in human evolution
1(b) Cultural Relativism
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.1 The Nature of Culture > Ethnocentrism vis-a-vis Cultural Relativism
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.5 Kinship > Descent theory and alliance theory
1(a) Differences between Social Anthropology and Sociology
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.2 Relationships with other disciplines > Social Anthropology and Sociology
Syllabus: Paper I > 8.1 Research Methods > Fieldwork tradition in Anthropology
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Factors affecting growth and development
5(d) Fertility and Fecundity
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 11.3 Biological and socio-ecological factors influencing fecundity, fertility, natality and mortality
5(e) Forensic Anthropology
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Forensic Anthropology
1(e) Functionalism
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Functionalism
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Interpretive Anthropology > Geertz
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.7 Concepts and methods of Ecological Anthropology > Bio-cultural adaptations: genetic and non-genetic factors
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.5 Race and racism > Racial traits in relation to heredity and environment
1(c) Lineage and Clan
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.5 Kinship > Descent groups > Lineage and clan
7(a) Critically discuss the Mendelian principles and their application to human populations.
15 Marks
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.2 Mendelian genetics in man > Family study and inheritance
5(c) Neolithic Cultures of India
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Neolithic
4(a) Discuss the principles governing production, distribution and exchange in simple societies.
20 Marks
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Principles governing production, distribution and exchange
5(a) Rh-Blood Group
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.6 Population variation as genetic marker > ABO and Rh blood groups
5(b) Rhodesian Man
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution > Rhodesian Man
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Chalcolithic
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.8 Epidemiological Anthropology > Infectious and non-infectious diseases
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.4(d) Genetic screening and genetic counselling
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.5 Characteristics of Primates > Skeletal changes due to erect posture and its implications
Syllabus: Paper I > 4. Political Organization and Social Control > Social control in simple societies
1(d) Totemism
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 5. Religion > Forms of religion > Totemism
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.4 Family > Changing patterns of the family