Agriculture The Neolithic period marked the beginning of agriculture and animal domestication. It is an important phase in Indian history. Early evidence of Neolithic culture is found in the Fertile Crescent region of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus region, the Ganges valley of India and also in China. Between , BCE to BCE, agriculture emerged in these regions, which led to several cultural developments.
The introduction of domestication of animals and plants resulted in the production and supply of a large quantity of grains and animal food. The fertile soil deposited by the rivers enhanced the growth of agriculture, generating a surplus of grains. Surplus food production played a major role in the rise of early civilisations. Large villages came to exist and pottery developed.
Permanent residences were built. Hence, the cultural developments of this period are called Neolithic revolution. Early Dentistry in the Neolithic Mehrgarh The human ancestors had knowledge of medicinal herbs and were capable of taking care of health for survival from the pre-historic times. As their ways of life changed, new diseases appeared and they had to find remedies.
From the Neolithic period, people began to eat ground grain and cooked food, which caused dental and other health problems. The earliest evidence for drilling human tooth (of a living person) has been found at Mehrgarh. It is seen as a prelude to dentistry. Mehrgarh Neolithic mud houses XI History - Lesson - - Early India: From the Beginnings to the Indus Civilisation Historic Periods.
In this place, people lived in pit houses (about four metres in depth) in order to escape the cold weather. The houses were oval in shape, wide at the bottom and narrow on the top. Postholes used for constructing a thatched structure were found around the pit houses. The Neolithic period of Kashmir had domestic sheep, goat and cultivated plants.
The Neolithic people of Burzahom traded with the people of the Harappan Civilisation. They used handmade pottery. They used tools such as stone axes, chisels, adzes, pounders, mace- heads, points and picks. Awls were used for stitching skins