Question : Explain the contribution of tribal cultures to Indian civilization.
(2018)
Answer : India has traditionally been the home of different cultures and people. Unity in diversity is one of the most prominent features in the people of India. Among the diversified population a significant portion is comprised of the tribal people, the original inhabitants of the land.
The tribal culture of India and their traditions and practices pervade almost all of the aspects of Indian culture and civilization.
Question : Describe the salient features of Sivapithecus.
(2018)
Answer : Sivapithecus was an erect, omnivorous, ape of the upper Miocene period which became extinct from all its major habitats by the end of Miocene because of decreasing temperature and water resources.
Fossils of Sivapithecus are mainly found from the Shivalik Hills of India and Pakistan with dates around 8-10 million years ago.
Question : Ethno-archaeology as a research strategy.
(2018)
Answer : Ethno-archaeology has been recently introduced as a separate branch of archaeology as well as a sub-branch in anthropology. It is the knowledge of a contemporary ethnic group for understanding past culture. Coined by Jesse Fewkes in 1900, the term ‘ethno-archaeology’ is formed out of ‘ethnography’ and ‘archaeology’. Ethnoarchaeology is a research technique that involves using information from living cultures—in the form of ethnology, ethnography, ethnohistory, and experimental archaeology—to understand patterns found at an archaeological site. ....
Question : Examine the regional variations of Mesolithic cultures of India.
(2018)
Answer : The Mesolithic epoch, or the “middle stone age,” nowadays is interpreted as a Holocene stage of hunter-gatherer society development. Two opposing interpretations of historical status of the Mesolithic epoch have competed in archaeological science during the past century. Many researchers regard the Mesolithic as an important phase of human history and as a specific archaeological epoch characterized by a set of features in tool production, livelihood, economy, social organization, art, ideology, and so forth. Another ....
Question : Neolithic cultures of South India.
(2017)
Answer : The Neolithic period was originally defined by the occurrence of polished stone tools and pottery. The term ‘Neolithic’ came to be used to describe the technological progress of man in the areas of manufacturing polished stone tools and pottery. Literally, Neolithic means new stone tools as opposed to Palaeolithic.
The Neolithic culture is largely associated with the characteristic tool-kit comprising polished stone tools including axes, adzes, arrowheads and also microlithic artefacts. These typical artefacts of the ....
Question : Describe the salient features of chalcolithic cultures of the Deccan.
(2017)
Answer : With the end of the Neolithic Age, several cultures started using metal, mostly copper and low grade bronze. The culture based on the use of copper and stone was termed as Chalcolithic meaning stone-copper phase. In India, it spanned around 2000 BC to 700 BC. This culture was mainly seen in Pre-Harappan phase, but at many places it extended to Post-Harappan phase too. The people were mostly rural and lived near hills and rivers. The ....
Question : Describe various aspects of trade and religion of Harappan civilization.
(2017)
Answer : Harappan civilization or Indus Valley Civilization is considered among the first civilizations in the world to have a systematic and organized socio-cultural life and the first cosmopolitan of world. The Harappan civilization flourished roughly between 3500 BC and 2000 BC, with its antecedents dating as far back as 7000 -6000 BC during the Neolithic period. It extended from modern-day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.
The Indus Valley Civilization was essentially an urban civilization, characterized ....
Question : Ethno-archaeology.
(2017)
Answer : Ethno-archaeology is the ethnographic study of peoples for archaeological reasons, usually through the study of the material remains of a society. Ethno-archaeology aids archaeologists in reconstructing ancient life ways by studying the material and non-material traditions of modern societies. Ethno-archaeology is defined as the study of contemporary cultures, with a view to understand the behavioural relationships which underlie the production of material culture. It involves gathering of ethnographic data on human behaviour and correlate it ....
Question : Discuss the relevance of art and craft traditions in the understanding of Indian archaeology.
(2017)
Answer : Traditional art and craft, practiced by various craft-guilds in the country are the evidence of Indian cultural heritage. Though the narratives depicted in the form of painted façade or scroll-paintings are the genesis of traditional Indian visual language, the scarcity of public awareness and seclusion from the mass is becoming a threat to economic sustainability of those craft-guilds as well as cultural sustainability of our heritage. Art and craft include the artifacts for decorative or ....
Question : Delineate the salient characteristics of ‘Narmada Man’ and examine its phylogenetic significance.
(2016)
Answer : The first broken skull of homo erectus of its kind in India was discovered by Dr. Arun Sonakia on 5th December 1982 in middle of Narmada valley in Hathnora Madhya Pradesh, and the study revealed that Narmada Man was a homo erectus i.e., archaic man. It is most ancient human remnant so far discovered in Indian subcontinent. Narmada Man represented earliest
form of Homo sapiens according to Dr. Anek Ram Sankyan. The discovery changed the face ....
Question : Ethno-archaeological evidences for the survival of hunting- gathering traditions in India.
(2016)
Answer : Civilization flourished in India as early as 3000 BCE. With a history of advanced agricultural production going back more than five thousand years, it would seem unlikely that hunter-gatherers would have escaped displacement by farming or integration into the new way of life. However, new findings suggests that of the 5.2 million present-day and recent hunter-gatherers worldwide, fully 1.3 million live in mainland India, in addition to 600 Andaman islanders. This would account for 25% ....
Question : Significance of Mesolithic findings from Belan Valley.
(2016)
Answer : In about 10000 B. C. began an intermediate stage in Stone Age culture, which is called the Mesolithic Age. It is considered as a transitional phase between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic. The Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing and food gathering. At a later stage they also domesticated animals. The characteristic tools of the Mesolithic Age are microliths.
The Mesolithic sites are found in good numbers in Rajasthan, Southern Uttar Pradesh, Central and Eastern India ....
Question : Give a detailed appraisal of skeletal remains from chalcolithic culture of undivided Punjab.
(2016)
Answer : Sivalik region covering the whole Indus valley has remained the main centre of human interactions. From the times of Ramapithecus to Soan valley, all developed here. Undivided Punjab, because of its fertility and plain features, developed among the most vibrant Chalcolithic Culture regions, which soon turned into the hotbed of the most flourished ancient civilization of the world, Indus Valley Civilization.
Chalcolithic is the intermediate phase of transition from stone culture to bronze culture, i.e., from ....
Question : South Indian Paleoliths.
(2015)
Answer : Palaeolithic Period or Old Stone Age is the earliest period of human development, lasted until approx 8000 BC. During the Palaeolithic period the man was a hunter and food gatherer. The human being used simple chipped and chopped type stone tools for hunting and other purposes. The people were not aware of agriculture or home construction hence the life was not properly settled. It has been traced that people survived by consuming roots of trees ....
Question : Prehistoric rock-art of central India.
(2015)
Answer : The distant past when there was no paper or language or the written word, and hence no books or written document, is called as the Prehistoric period. It was difficult to understand how Prehistoric people lived until scholars began excavations in Prehistoric sites. Piecing together of information deduced from old tools, habitat, bones of both animals and human beings and drawings on the cave walls scholars have constructed fairly accurate knowledge about what happened and ....
Question : Discuss the significance of Harappan Civilization sites from India.
(2015)
Answer : Harappan civilization or Indus Valley Civilization is considered among the first civilizations in the world to have a systematic and organized socio-cultural life and the first cosmopolitan of World. It existed from 2500 BC to 1800 BC and counted among the Bronze Age civilizations.
Harappan civilization is the first known civilization of Indian subcontinent and the most urbanized civilizations than its contemporaries. It was spread over 2.2 million sq-km with many important sites in modernday India.
Question : Describe the Paleoanthropological fossil finds from Siwalik Hills. Examine the contribution of Siwalik fossils to paleoanthropological knowledge.
(2015)
Answer : Siwalik is world famous for its mammalian fossils. Vertebrate fossils of Siwalik are of Coenozoic era and serve great importance in the field of palaeontology, biostratigraphy, palaeo-environment, palaeo-climate and evolution of Himalaya. The Siwalik Hills, below the Himalayas, are strewn with impressive Plio-Pleistocene vertebrate fossils. It suggests that the region was seen as the historical stage for the legendary battle as described in the Indian epic Mahabharata, during which hundreds of mighty, and sometimes gigantic, ....
Question : Neolithic cultures of N-E India.
(2014)
Answer : The word ‘neolithic’ was first coined by Sir John Lubbock in 1865. The Neolithic Age, which means New Stone Age, was the last and third part of the Stone Age. In India, it spanned from around 7,000 B.C. to 1,000 B.C. The Neolithic Age is mainly characterized by the development of settled agriculture and the use of tools and weapons made of polished stones.
The major crops grown during this period were ragi, ....
Question : Describe what is known of Harappan Religion. Have some of its elements are continued into later Hinduism? Discuss.
(2014)
Answer : On the basis of information gathered from Harappan seals, seal impressions, terracotta and metal figures, cemeteries, etc. we can come to the conclusion that worship of the Mother Goddesses was very much prevalent in the society. It is very much to the point to underline the fact that worship of Mother Goddesses came into vogue in Hinduism one thousand years after the decline of Harappan culture. Other traits of later Hinduism such as worship of ....
Question : Describe the evolutionary significance of the fossil finds of the Narmada Basin.
(2014)
Answer : The Narmada Valley is probably one of the most researched and talked about river valleys in India because of its anthropological, archaeological, geological, historical paleontological, and religious significance.
This basin has attracted the attention of numerous scholars from India and abroad for various reasons for the last 150 years or more, e.g., Princep (1832, 1833, 1834), Spillsbury (1833, 1837, 1841), followed by De Terra and Paterson (1939), and subsequently by several Indian scholars. ....
Question : Discuss the importance of the ethno-archaeological approach to the study of indigenous craft in India.
(2014)
Answer : Ethno-archaeology has been recently introduced as a separate branch of archaeology as well as a sub-branch in Anthropology. It is the knowledge of a contemporary ethnic group for understanding past culture. Coined by Jesse Fewkes in 1900, the term ‘ethno-archaeology’ is formed out of ‘ethnography’ and ‘archaeology’. Since long back, the archaeologists were involved in collection, identification. Classification and establishment of chronology of antiquities and were giving a little attention to the ....
Question : Discuss the significance of study of religious centres to the understanding of Indian civilization.
(2013)
Answer : Religion has always been one of the most significant factors influencing the lives of people in India since time immemorial. Morality and ethics have their foundation rooted in religion. Religion, in fact, has never been isolated from other institutions. It has significantly influenced economic, political, family patterns, technology, and other important aspects of life.
Religion is part of culture and can be defined as a set of beliefs about the purpose and nature of the universe ....
Question : Examine the debates related to Ramapithecus.
(2013)
Answer : Ramapithecus, an extinct group of primates that lived from about 12 to 14 million years ago, is many a times regarded as a possible ancestor of Australopithecus and, therefore, of modern humans. Lewis (1934) first recognized and named Ramapithecus brevirostris, the Rama’s ‘short-faced ape’ and placed it in the Hominidae, the family to which all bipedal Australopithecines and we humans belong. Fossils of Ramapithecus were discovered in North India (Siwaliks) and in East Africa, beginning ....
