Tools of the pre – historic human beings were made of stone. So we call these human beings as stone – age – man. The time when stone tools and instruments were used is 19 known as ‘Stone Age’. The stone age can be divided into three parts on the basis of the excavated stone Tools.
1. Paleolithic Age – The stone Tools belonging to Paleolithic age were made by man two million years’ ago. They were big and thick in shape and were not well – cut. This age has been divided into three periods.
1. Lower
2. Middle
3. Upper
(2) Mesolithic Age – During the Mesolithic Age, the shape of the stone became smaller, they were called micro-lithic tools. The excavations done in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orrisa and Kerala tell us that those tools are twelve thousand years old.
The man belonging to this age had learnt hunting and storing of food for future and started cattle rearing. Man started living in round huts made of straw and dried grass on the banks of the rivers and the lakes. He began to use clay – pots and had started baking and cooking food.
3. Neolithic Age – The man of Neolithic age started cattle-rearing and agriculture. In this age, man began to make tools which were found useful in agriculture and cattle rearing. the axe, basolla, boring wheel, the hammer, silloces, okhali etc. were the main instruments of this age.
These tools were made of hard stone like basalt which were smoothened by grinding. Agriculture forced man to settle at one place. Side by side with this, a new age of economic and cultural development came into existance.
