RAS question
Bagore in Bhilwara district is significant for providing the earliest evidence of:
Correct answer: (C) Animal domestication in the Indian subcontinent.
Bagor, located on the Kothari River in Bhilwara district, is significant because it provides the earliest evidence of animal domestication in the Indian subcontinent.
Explanation
Bagor, on the Kothari River in Bhilwara district, is a major Mesolithic site and provides key evidence of early animal domestication in the Indian subcontinent. This evidence is dated to around 5000 BCE. Bagor is one of India's largest and best-documented Mesolithic sites, with occupation beginning around 5000-4500 BC. The animal bones found there link the site with early husbandry rather than hunting alone. Bagor is therefore associated with Mesolithic animal domestication, not pottery, copper technology, or rice cultivation.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Wheel-made pottery is not a marker of Bagor because it belongs to the later Chalcolithic context.
- (B) Copper smelting is associated with Ganeshwar, not Bagor.
- (D) Evidence of rice cultivation is associated with eastern India, not Bagor in Bhilwara.
Concept
In Rajasthan history, art and culture, questions often require candidates to match prehistoric sites with their period and distinctive archaeological evidence. Bagor and Ganeshwar recur in RAS questions because this site-period-evidence matching is important. Bagor is specifically linked to Mesolithic animal domestication.