The South Asian Stone Age spans the prehistoric age from the earliest use of stone tools in the Paleolithic period to the rise of agriculture, domestication, and pottery in the Neolithic period across present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. The traditional divisions into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods do not carry precise chronological boundaries; instead, they describe broad phases of technological and cultural development, reflecting assumptions about ways of life based on the tools and artifacts found at various archaeological sites.
The Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) in South Asia began as early as 2.6 million years ago (Ma) based on the earliest known sites with early human activity, namely the Siwalik Hills of northern Pakistan and northwestern India. The Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) is defined as a transitional phase following the end of the Last Glacial Period, beginning around 10000 BCE. The Neolithic (New Stone Age), starting around 7000 BCE, is associated with the emergence of agriculture and other hallmarks of settled life or sedentism. The earliest South Asian neolithic sites include Mehrgarh in present-day Pakistan dated to 6500 BCE [1] and Koldihwa, in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India, where domesticated rice has been radiocarbon dated to around 7000–6000 BCE [2]
^Coningham, Robin (2015). The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c. 6500 BCE–200 CE. Cambridge University Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN978-0-521-84697-4.
^Singh, Purushottam (2008). Srivastava, Vinod Chandra (ed.). History of Agriculture in India, up to c. 1200 AD. Concept Publishing. p. 6. ISBN9788180695216.
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