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Botany /Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age in Indian Subcontinent
HISTORY of BOTANY in Indian Subcontinent – 5
By: Bhishma Kukreti (Medical Tourism History Researcher)
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Upendra Singh rightly states, “The term Mesolithic is relatively recent”. The historian divided Stone Pre Historic Age into – Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic ages.
Mesolithic age is said to be from 12000 BC to 4000 BC. But mostly, Mesolithic period is discussed around 10000 to 8000 BC in India. Though, the Mesolithic Culture survived till 4000 BC. The characteristics of Mesolithic Era is human using pointed and sharp stone tools and Human started using polished stone tools in Neolithic Era. That means Mesolithic era is the transit period between Palaeolithic and Neolithic Eras.
Sites of Mesolithic Age in India
Following sites are important Mesolithic Sites in India
Langhnaj (Gujrat)
Bagor (Rajsthan)
Sarai Nahar Rai , Chopani Mando, Mahdaha , Damdama (Uttar Pradesh)
Bhimbetka , Adamgarh (Madhya Pradesh)
Keonijhar (Orissa )
Palghat and Malappuram (Kerala)

By that period, men knew the differences of calories between plant diets and animal consumption and hard life for animal killing and digesting. Human changed the tools suiting plants uses than animal diet uses as in Keonjhar sites, the human beings used tools for wood working activities (2) . That shows the human got experiences of plants, tree’s wood quality and its economic uses either for shelter or other uses. The microlith tools invented by human beings show that human being gained knowledge of various plants and their uses. The post Mesolithic men even In India had started domestication of plants with a couple of animals. That shows that in Mesolithic period, men got or gathered know ledge of various plants their growing seasons and use. The Bogor and Adamgarh sites show that Human started cultivating plants for food around 7000 -6000 BC. . But humans experimented cultivation definitely in Mesolithic Age Definitely, Indian Mesolithic men found differences of the labour , and food values between animal hunting and plants uses. Human preferred plant cultivation against animal hunting as humans got knowledge of the economic uses of both.
Humans of Mesolithic Period knew ecology of plants and geographical factors for growing plants.
David Clarke made an observation that the majority of blade tools of Mesolithic Era were made for collecting plant food and tools were used less for animal food. David Clarke concluded that 80% of human food was from plants and was supplemented by 20 % from animals. (3). David Clarke observed by analysing tools of Mesolithic period that “ plant food gathering was 2.4 times more productive than animal hunting” (3).
The above observation and analysis by Clarke offer us direction that human got full knowledge of difference between plant food and animal food .Human beings also knew the labour differences between killing animals and using animal parts for food and using plants as food . Human knew economical difference between plant food and animal food.. Definitely men knew the no danger in using plant food and dangers in killing animals for food.
Definitely Mesolithic Men knew the uses of different plants and their respective parts/components for food uses . It is clear that humans got knowledge of medical uses (more than past) of plants and their respective parts. Humans knew the growing period , geographical conditions for each food plant growth in Mesolithic Era.
Mesolithic Men knew the knowledge of various plants for constructing structure .Definitely the humans also knew making pots for storing plants or plant parts (for food ) . Definitely, social structure was also evolved for distribution and collection of plant food. Slavery might have started from the Mesolithic period (perhaps). Archaeologists stated that humans of Mesolithic era (10000- 4000 BCE) used fruits , nuts of 63 plants (4) Mesolithic Era is nothing but humans preparing for agriculture revolution and agriculture revolution in Neolithic period .
References
1-Singh Upendra, 2008, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From stone Age to 2th Century Pearson Longman page 67-68
2- Mohanty Pradeep, Spring 1993, Mesolithic Hunters –Gatherers of Keonjhar District Orissa, India ,JSTOR (Asian perspective) Vol.32 No.1 Pages 85-104
3- Dhavalikar M.K. ‘Man and Environment in Prehistory’ from Recording the progress of Indian History: Symposia papers of the Indian History Congress 1992-2010 edited by SZH Zafri , page 3 to 26, page 11
4- B.M. Kumar et all ‘South Asian Agroforestry : Traditions, Transformations and prospects ‘ from Advances in Agroforestry 9 :The Future of Global Land Use (edited by Ramchandran Nair et all) Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg NY page 362
Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti, bjkukreti@gmail.com , Mumbai India, June 2019
HISTORY of BOTANY in Indian Subcontinent will be continued in next chapter
Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Andhra Pradesh India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Arunachal Pradesh, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Assam, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Bihar, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Chhattisgarh , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Goa, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Gujarat, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Haryana , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Himachal Pradesh , India, Asia; ; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Jammu Kashmir , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Jharkhand ,India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Karnataka, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Kerala, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Madhya Pradesh India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Maharashtra , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Manipur, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Meghalaya, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Mizoram , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Nagaland, India, Asia; ; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Odisha, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Punjab, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Rajasthan , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Sikkim, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Tamil Nadu, India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Telangana , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Tripura , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Uttarakhand (U.K.) , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Uttar Pradesh , India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of West Bengal ,India, Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of , Indian subcontinent , Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of , Myanmar , Indian subcontinent , Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of , Bangladesh , Indian subcontinent , Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Pakistan , Indian subcontinent , Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Baluchistan , Indian subcontinent , Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Nepal , Indian subcontinent , Asia; Botany/Plant Science Knowledge in Mesolithic Age and History of Botany of Afghanistan, Indian subcontinent , Asia;

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