Prehistoric Sites of India

43 sites coloured by period (Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic), each with its one exam fact and the UPSC years it was asked.

On this map (43)

Bhimbetka rock shelters — near Bhopal · Madhya Pradesh — Palaeolithic + Mesolithic · rock art. Rock paintings run from the Palaeolithic through the Mesolithic — not a single-age site
Hathnora — Narmada valley · Madhya Pradesh — Palaeolithic · human skull. Archaic Homo sapiens skull cap from the Narmada valley — the earliest human fossil found in India
Attirampakkam — near Chennai · Tamil Nadu — Palaeolithic · Acheulian to Middle Palaeolithic. Kortallayar river valley; hand-axes and cleavers of the Lower Palaeolithic
Pallavaram — Chennai · Tamil Nadu — Palaeolithic · first tool found (1863). Foote was a geologist, not a historian, working for the Geological Survey
Gudiyam cave — Tiruvallur · Tamil Nadu — Palaeolithic · cave. Listed with Nevasa, Isampur and Didwana in the site → state lists that get asked
Hunsgi–Isampur — Yadgir · Karnataka — Palaeolithic · Acheulian factory sites. Hunsgi valley (Yadgir) has dozens of Acheulian workshops with limestone tools
Kurnool caves — Billa Surgam · Andhra Pradesh — Palaeolithic · cave tools. Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) caves gave stone tools and animal bones of the Palaeolithic
Belan valley — Mirzapur / Prayagraj · Uttar Pradesh — Palaeolithic → Mesolithic → Neolithic. Northern spurs of the Vindhyas: Palaeolithic → Mesolithic → Neolithic, one after another
Didwana — Nagaur · Rajasthan — Palaeolithic · lake-side site. Site → state: Didwana is in Rajasthan (with Nagaur)
Nevasa — Ahmednagar · Maharashtra — Palaeolithic · Pravara valley. On the Pravara river; Palaeolithic tools plus a rich later Chalcolithic settlement
Soan valley — Pakistan · Pakistan — Palaeolithic · Soanian culture. Chopper–chopping tools of the Soanian culture
Bagor — Bhilwara · Rajasthan — Mesolithic · largest site. On the Kothari river; evidence of domesticated sheep and goat
Tilwara — Barmer · Rajasthan — Mesolithic. Listed with Bagor for the earliest domestication (about 5000 BC)
Adamgarh — Hoshangabad · Madhya Pradesh — Mesolithic · rock shelters. Rock shelters with microliths and bones of cattle, sheep and goat
Langhnaj — Mehsana · Gujarat — Mesolithic · burials. Microliths, animal bones and extended burials from an old sand-dune site
Mahadaha — Pratapgarh · Uttar Pradesh — Mesolithic · burials + bone ornaments. Mesolithic burial sites: Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha, Damdama (all Pratapgarh, UP)
Sarai Nahar Rai — Pratapgarh · Uttar Pradesh — Mesolithic · earliest burials. Human skeletons buried with microliths
Lekhahia — Mirzapur · Uttar Pradesh — Mesolithic · rock shelters. Vindhyan rock shelters of Mirzapur with a large number of burials
Birbhanpur — Damodar valley · West Bengal — Mesolithic · microliths. Microliths on the Damodar river bank, in West Bengal
Burzahom — Srinagar · Jammu & Kashmir — Neolithic · dwelling pits. North-western Neolithic zone: dwelling pits, lakeside living, no microliths at all
Gufkral — Tral · Jammu & Kashmir — Neolithic · “cave of the potter”. Name means “cave of the potter”
Koldihwa — Belan valley · Uttar Pradesh — Neolithic · earliest rice. Belan valley sequence: Chopani Mando → Mahagara → Koldihwa
Lahuradewa — Sant Kabir Nagar · Uttar Pradesh — Neolithic · oldest paddy of the Ganga valley. Rice remains dated far earlier than the Harappan cities
Chirand — Saran · Bihar — Neolithic → Chalcolithic. On the Ghaghra–Ganga confluence area in Bihar
Daojali Hading — Dima Hasao · Assam — Neolithic · north-east zone. North-eastern Neolithic zone: the axe type is different from the north-west and the south
Napchik — Manipur · Manipur — Neolithic · north-east zone. One of the three north-eastern Neolithic locations
Maski — Raichur · Karnataka — Neolithic → Chalcolithic. Ash mounds, burnt dung and pottery from the southern Neolithic (about 2500 BC)
Piklihal — Raichur · Karnataka — Neolithic · cattle herders. Southern Neolithic people were cattle herders, not just farmers
Sanganakallu — Ballari · Karnataka — Neolithic · ash mounds. Ragi and horse gram (kulathi) were the crops of the southern Neolithic
Brahmagiri — Chitradurga · Karnataka — Neolithic → megalithic. Sequence excavated by Mortimer Wheeler (1947)
Utnur — Mahbubnagar · Telangana — Neolithic · ash mounds. Part of the southern cluster: Maski · Sanganakallu · Utnur · Piklihal
T. Narsipur — Kaveri · Karnataka — Neolithic. Southern Neolithic cluster
Ahar — Udaipur · Rajasthan — Chalcolithic · Ahar-Banas culture. Also called Tamravati, “the city of copper”
Gilund — Rajsamand · Rajasthan — Chalcolithic · Ahar-Banas culture. Ahar and Gilund are the two major mounds of this culture on the Banas river
Ganeshwar — Sikar · Rajasthan — Chalcolithic · copper supplier. Ganeshwar–Jodhpura culture in the Khetri copper belt, north-east Rajasthan
Kayatha — Ujjain · Madhya Pradesh — Chalcolithic · Kayatha culture. On the Chhoti Kali Sindh river
Navdatoli — Maheshwar · Madhya Pradesh — Chalcolithic · Malwa culture. Malwa ware; opposite Maheshwar on the Narmada
Eran — Sagar · Madhya Pradesh — Chalcolithic → Gupta period. Fortified Chalcolithic settlement on the Bina river
Jorwe — Ahmednagar · Maharashtra — Chalcolithic · Jorwe culture. Sites: Nevasa, Daimabad, Chandoli, Inamgaon on the Pravara, Godavari, Bhima, Tapi basins
Inamgaon — Pune, Ghod river · Maharashtra — Chalcolithic · village township. Excavated by H. D. Sankalia’s team; irrigation canal and granary found
Daimabad — Ahmednagar · Maharashtra — Chalcolithic + Harappan (southernmost). Famous bronze hoard: chariot, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo
Pandu Rajar Dhibi — Bardhaman · West Bengal — Chalcolithic · Ajay valley. Eastern Chalcolithic sites: Pandu Rajar Dhibi, Mahisdal (Mahishadal)
Mahisdal — Purba Medinipur · West Bengal — Chalcolithic. Second west Bengal Chalcolithic site on the exam list

Asked in exams

UPSC 2021Burzahom = rock-cut shrines ✗ — it is a Neolithic pit-dwelling site (only pairs 2 and 3 were correct)
UPSC 1997The edict that mentions Ashoka’s personal name → Maski
UPSC 2021Ganeshwar(-Jodhpura) = copper artefacts ✓
UPSC 2024Inamgaon – Maharashtra – Chalcolithic site ✓ (with Mangadu – Kerala – megalithic ✓; Chandraketugarh is in West Bengal, not Odisha)

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