Prehistoric Antiquities of India

Most of the prehistoric antiquities of Indian Museum at Calcutta, which are described in this book, were collected by Archaeological Survey of India from different parts of the country and it has made the under-standing of the development of Indian culture easier. The arrangement which the author has adopted is primarily chronological and secondarily geographical. The collection is divided into four groups which are universally recognized as important stages of culture in the early development of the human race. The groups are:
• The Paleolithic or Rude Stone Age. The Neolithic or the Polished Stone Age.
• The Copper Age Antiquities.
• The Early Iron Age Antiquities.

Indian paleolithic are massive rock fragments resembling the early stone age implements of Africa, Central America and Europe. The Neolithic antiquities are distributed over a large part of Southern India, besides being found in the Gagentic region. Many finds of prehistoric pottery in these areas are tentatively considered to be Neolithic. Passing over to Copper Age, this is historically correct to say that India is the only civilization in which an Iron culture was preceded by one of the Copper or Bronze Age. The Copper Age antiquities are found in abundance in the Northern part of the country and we find a large list of these in the book.

The prehistoric finds of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Copper and early Iron Age antiquities are described by the author area wise which makes it easy to understand. Besides the development of these Ages, the impact and transition of these periods in other countries is also discussed for a proper perspective. The book has many plates to illustrate the development of prehistoric industry.