Context:

  • Recently, the floods in the Mulugu district of Telangana has led to a fresh discovery of quartzite tools which belong to Palaeolithic age.
  • The tools and hand axes were found in the sand bed of a stream which dried up after the flood.
  • The new discovery of the tools add to understanding about human habitations in Telangana and around central India.
  • The districts like Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally in the north­eastern parts of Telangana were flooded in July, 2023 which led to large­scale destruction.
  • The hand axes were found in the streams between Gurrevula and Bhupatipuram areas in Mulugu district.
  • The stone axe measured around 15.5cm in length, 11cm in width and 5.5cm in thickness.
  • According to some palaeontologists the stone axe belongs to the Lower Palaeolithic period and is nearly about 30 lakh years ago.
  • Palaeolithic Age is also came to be known as or Old Stone Age or Early Stone Age.
  • It dates back to nearly 33 lakh years BC. It lasted for about 10,000 years.
  • The period is identified based on the tools, chipping style, the material and the size of tools.
  • Palaeolithic hunter gatherers mostly used heavy quartzite and large tools.
  • Similar to them other hand axes have been discovered worldwide.
  • The tools were mostly used for cutting wood and also killing animals for food.
  • It is to be noted that In 1863, the East India Company’s Geological Survey team found a palaeolithic site at Attirampakkam near Madras with bifacial hand­axes made of stone by early human beings. The tools are nearly 15 lakh years old.
  • Palaeolithic culture has been famously labelled as Madras Hand­Axe Industry or Madrasian Culture.

About Palaeolithic Age:

  • It is also called as the Old Stone Ageand is a period in human prehistory which is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and that represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology.
  • The Palaeolithic period mostly overlaps with the Pleistocene epoch of geologic time.
  • Both of them ended 12,000 years ago although the Pleistocene started 2.6 million years ago.
  • The population density around the period was very low, only about 0.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (1/sq mi).
  • This was most likely to the fact that low body fat, infanticide, high levels of physical activity among women, late weaning of infants, and a nomadic lifestyle.