Well before the anatomically modern human beings, referred to in science as the Homo Sapiens Sapiens, emerged on our planet, the early human species, referred to as hominids, were roaming around Ancient Pakistan.
Evidence of existence of these homonids is provided by certain types of stones, which have been recovered in large numbers from various sites. Scientists believe that these stones, which were intentionally chipped several times in more than one direction, were used by the homonids as weapons and tools for defence, and for hunting animals and scraping their hides and bones.
Sites belonging to different periods in various regions of Pakistan reveal a continuous improvement in the techniques used for making stone tools and implements. These sites also provide useful sociological information pertaining to developing lifestyles of the hominids, their ability to make use of hides and bones of animals and wood to build shelters and clothing for themselves.
Rewat is located near the basin of the Soan River, which has its source in the Murree Hills and flows past the outskirts of Rawalpindi and Pindigheb before joining the Indus River near the town of Kalabagh. From times immemorial the region around Rewat offered a congenial environment for food resources for the hunters and gatherers in the shape of wild life, berries and food grains. Over a period of two million years, the less resistant materials used by the early humans would have been destroyed. However, the quartzite tools devised by them to eke out a living, have survived to tell the story of these early human species.
The selection of quartzite, a hard and compact rock for making stone implements, indicates that the human species who devised them, had reached a stage of intellectual development, which enabled them to recognize the qualities required in the basic material for making tools. These human species probably belonged to the group of early hominids known as Homo habilis or handy men – men, who used hand tools to meet their everyday requirements.
Stone Axes from Jhelum Basin
The Jhelum River Basin has provided evidence of improved quality stone tools used by hominids belonging to a later period. Stone hand axes and other stone implements found from Dina and Jalalpur near the modern town of Jhelum, indicate progress in the art of tool making in the period 2 million years BP (Before Present) to 100,000 years BP. Like the tools from Rewat, the stone hand axes found from the Dina and Jalalpur are also made from quartzite. They were formed from the core remaining after the flakes have been removed from the surface of quartzite, and were provided edges similar to modern metallic axes, which would have enabled the early human species to fell trees and kill and dismember animals more effectively. They are Acheulian in character, which means that they are similar to hand axes found about a million years ago in Saint Acheul in Southern France.
Further south, stone-age sites have been discovered in the Pabbi Hills, in the region around Kharian and Sarai Alamgir. Detailed archaeological surveys carried out in this region have revealed fossil remains of sheep, goat and cattle, which date back to about 700,000 years BP. Thousands of fossil remains and large quantities of stone tools and implements have been found strewn over a wide area, which indicates that this area must have been one of the favorite hunting grounds for wild animals in the Middle Stone Age.
Rohri Hills Tools Complex
The progress made by early human beings is closely linked with the development of more and more refined stone, which could be put into a variety of domestic and industrial uses. An archaeological site, which provides evidence of continuous improvement in the manufacture of stone tools, is located near the town of Rohri in northern Sindh. Vast quantities of pieces of flint spread over a group of flat-topped limestone hills near Rohri tell the story of an age extending from about 100,000 years BP to sometime around 1500 BC.
The area is rich in chert, a variety of compact granular quartz, which has been found to be particularly suitable for making a large variety of stone tools for different applications. The chert tools and implements found from different locations on the surface of the hills have been studied and analyzed by experts. This study shows that the tools and implements from different locations were produced in different periods. In the Late Stone Age refined tool and implements were being produced around Rohri, such as sickles for harvesting, scrapers, borers and polishers for working on hides, wood and other such material, which served the more sophisticated needs of a farming community engaged in agriculture and animal breeding.
Other Important Stone Tool Sites
A number of sites, where stone tools were manufactured in the Middle Stone and late Stone Ages are located in Lower Sindh. These include Jherruck, Malir and Tharro Hill.
At Mehrgarh in the Kacchi Plains, sophisticated stone tools and implements were produced in large numbers in the Late Stone Age, while in the NWFP important centers for manufacture of stone tools and implements were located in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan.
Contribution of Early Stone Tool Industry towards social reconstruction
In the Early and Middle Stone Age Periods the human species lived in great deal of isolation, in small groups of less than twenty people. There was hardly any interaction and exchange of information between these groups. When stone tool manufacture assumed industrial dimensions, the supply and demand of these important products promoted contacts and interaction between these widely dispersed communities. This resulted in breakdown in barriers, which had prolonged the development process in Early and Middle Stone Age periods, and led to the rapid emergence of farming communities in the early fourth millennium BC.
Evidence of existence of these homonids is provided by certain types of stones, which have been recovered in large numbers from various sites. Scientists believe that these stones, which were intentionally chipped several times in more than one direction, were used by the homonids as weapons and tools for defence, and for hunting animals and scraping their hides and bones.
Sites belonging to different periods in various regions of Pakistan reveal a continuous improvement in the techniques used for making stone tools and implements. These sites also provide useful sociological information pertaining to developing lifestyles of the hominids, their ability to make use of hides and bones of animals and wood to build shelters and clothing for themselves.
Earliest Stone tools from Rewat
In the outskirts of Rewat, deep down on a water-borne ravine scientists have found 23 pieces of hard limestone called quartzite, which had been deliberately struck to achieve sharp and pointed ends. Scientific investigations have revealed that these stones belong to a period more than two million years before present, and they were probably used by our ancestors for chopping and scraping activities.Rewat is located near the basin of the Soan River, which has its source in the Murree Hills and flows past the outskirts of Rawalpindi and Pindigheb before joining the Indus River near the town of Kalabagh. From times immemorial the region around Rewat offered a congenial environment for food resources for the hunters and gatherers in the shape of wild life, berries and food grains. Over a period of two million years, the less resistant materials used by the early humans would have been destroyed. However, the quartzite tools devised by them to eke out a living, have survived to tell the story of these early human species.
The selection of quartzite, a hard and compact rock for making stone implements, indicates that the human species who devised them, had reached a stage of intellectual development, which enabled them to recognize the qualities required in the basic material for making tools. These human species probably belonged to the group of early hominids known as Homo habilis or handy men – men, who used hand tools to meet their everyday requirements.
Stone Axes from Jhelum Basin
The Jhelum River Basin has provided evidence of improved quality stone tools used by hominids belonging to a later period. Stone hand axes and other stone implements found from Dina and Jalalpur near the modern town of Jhelum, indicate progress in the art of tool making in the period 2 million years BP (Before Present) to 100,000 years BP. Like the tools from Rewat, the stone hand axes found from the Dina and Jalalpur are also made from quartzite. They were formed from the core remaining after the flakes have been removed from the surface of quartzite, and were provided edges similar to modern metallic axes, which would have enabled the early human species to fell trees and kill and dismember animals more effectively. They are Acheulian in character, which means that they are similar to hand axes found about a million years ago in Saint Acheul in Southern France.
Further south, stone-age sites have been discovered in the Pabbi Hills, in the region around Kharian and Sarai Alamgir. Detailed archaeological surveys carried out in this region have revealed fossil remains of sheep, goat and cattle, which date back to about 700,000 years BP. Thousands of fossil remains and large quantities of stone tools and implements have been found strewn over a wide area, which indicates that this area must have been one of the favorite hunting grounds for wild animals in the Middle Stone Age.
Rohri Hills Tools Complex
The progress made by early human beings is closely linked with the development of more and more refined stone, which could be put into a variety of domestic and industrial uses. An archaeological site, which provides evidence of continuous improvement in the manufacture of stone tools, is located near the town of Rohri in northern Sindh. Vast quantities of pieces of flint spread over a group of flat-topped limestone hills near Rohri tell the story of an age extending from about 100,000 years BP to sometime around 1500 BC.
The area is rich in chert, a variety of compact granular quartz, which has been found to be particularly suitable for making a large variety of stone tools for different applications. The chert tools and implements found from different locations on the surface of the hills have been studied and analyzed by experts. This study shows that the tools and implements from different locations were produced in different periods. In the Late Stone Age refined tool and implements were being produced around Rohri, such as sickles for harvesting, scrapers, borers and polishers for working on hides, wood and other such material, which served the more sophisticated needs of a farming community engaged in agriculture and animal breeding.
Other Important Stone Tool Sites
A number of sites, where stone tools were manufactured in the Middle Stone and late Stone Ages are located in Lower Sindh. These include Jherruck, Malir and Tharro Hill.
At Mehrgarh in the Kacchi Plains, sophisticated stone tools and implements were produced in large numbers in the Late Stone Age, while in the NWFP important centers for manufacture of stone tools and implements were located in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan.
Contribution of Early Stone Tool Industry towards social reconstruction
In the Early and Middle Stone Age Periods the human species lived in great deal of isolation, in small groups of less than twenty people. There was hardly any interaction and exchange of information between these groups. When stone tool manufacture assumed industrial dimensions, the supply and demand of these important products promoted contacts and interaction between these widely dispersed communities. This resulted in breakdown in barriers, which had prolonged the development process in Early and Middle Stone Age periods, and led to the rapid emergence of farming communities in the early fourth millennium BC.
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