RAS question
The microliths found at Tilwara in Barmer district indicate it was a site of which period?
Correct answer: (A) Mesolithic.
The microliths found at Tilwara in Barmer district indicate that it was a Mesolithic site.
Explanation
Tilwara in Barmer district belongs to Rajasthan's Mesolithic phase because excavations there yielded very fine geometric microliths, the small stone tools associated with this period. Live History India places Tilwara under the Mesolithic section and locates it in Pachpadra Tehsil of Barmer district, on the banks of the Luni River. Tilwara is important because its microliths, along with evidence linked to animal domestication, help explain the shift in western Rajasthan from a hunting-gathering way of life towards pastoral life. For the MCQ, the key diagnostic clue is therefore not Barmer alone, but the presence of microliths at Tilwara.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Iron Age is not the period indicated by microliths, because the contrast is with metal-tool use rather than tiny stone tools.
- (C) Neolithic does not fit the clue because it is characterised in the question material by polished tools and farming, not by microliths as the main marker.
- (D) Palaeolithic is wrong because its tools are described as larger, while Tilwara is identified through tiny microlithic stone tools.
Concept
This tests prehistoric Rajasthan, especially how stone-tool types identify cultural periods. It recurs in RAS because sites such as Tilwara connect regional archaeology with broader themes like hunter-gatherer life, pastoral transition and early settlement patterns.