RAS question
The Paleolithic Age in India is also known as:
Correct answer: (D) Old Stone Age.
The Paleolithic Age in India is also known as the Old Stone Age.
Explanation
The Paleolithic Age is called the Old Stone Age because it marks the earliest stone-tool phase of human life. The NIOS lesson names it directly as "The Old Stone Age - Paleolithic Age" and gives its broad span as 500,000 B.C. to 10,000 B.C. Early humans were hunter-gatherers who used stone tools, with the period divided into Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic phases. Sites such as Bhimbetka, Sohan Valley, Nevasa, Pushkar, Hunsgi, Isampur and Attirampakkam are linked to this stone-tool culture. Agriculture and pottery belong to the later Neolithic stage, not to the Paleolithic.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) New Stone Age refers to the Neolithic Age, which NIOS treats separately as the later stage associated with agriculture, pottery and settled life.
- (B) Iron Age is not the Paleolithic phase; the question asks for the stone-age label, and NIOS identifies Paleolithic specifically as the Old Stone Age.
- (C) Bronze Age is a metal-age label, whereas the Paleolithic was a hunter-gatherer, stone-tool phase.
Concept
This tests the basic chronology and terminology of prehistoric India. RAS often asks such direct equivalence questions because later facts on tools, sites and subsistence depend on placing Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic correctly.