Stone Age and Ancient Remains
Stone Age and Ancient Remains
The Chotanagpur plateau carries a continuous prehistoric record — palaeolithic tools in the Damodar and Subarnarekha valleys, rock shelters with paintings in the Hazaribagh hills, neolithic settlements in Singhbhum, and one of eastern India's largest megalithic burial grounds.
Key sites — Barudih (Singhbhum), Isko and Barkagaon (Hazaribagh), Chokahatu (Ranchi belt)
Prehistoric sequence in the plateau
- Palaeolithic — core tools, hand axes and cleavers found along the Damodar and Subarnarekha valleys
- Mesolithic — microliths and rock shelters, best known from the Hazaribagh hills
- Neolithic — polished stone celts and early settled life, reported from Singhbhum and adjoining tracts
- Chalcolithic and copper hoard — the Singhbhum copper belt places the region inside the eastern copper hoard zone
- Megalithic — standing stones and burial grounds that are still living tradition among some tribes
Sites you should be able to name
| Site | District belt | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Barudih | West Singhbhum | Neolithic tools and megalithic remains |
| Isko | Hazaribagh (Barkagaon) | Rock shelter with prehistoric paintings |
| Chokahatu | Ranchi belt (Tamar side) | Very large megalithic burial ground |
| Damodar valley | North Chotanagpur | Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages |
| Singhbhum copper belt | East and West Singhbhum | Early metal use and copper working |
Why megaliths matter in Jharkhand
- Megaliths here are not only archaeology — several tribes still raise memorial stones
- Munda tradition of sasandiri (burial stones) links the living village to the ancestral clan
- Chokahatu is described as one of the largest megalithic burial sites of eastern India
- The practice ties the tribal claim on land to ancestry rather than to paper title
- This continuity is why Jharkhand megaliths appear in heritage and conservation debates
Rock art of the Hazaribagh belt
- Rock shelters in the Barkagaon and Isko area carry painted figures of animals, hunts and dance
- The paintings are usually in red ochre and white pigments
- These sites sit close to modern coal mining zones, which is why conservation is a live issue
- The same tract carries the living Khovar and Sohrai wall painting tradition, giving an unbroken visual line from prehistory to today
Ancient references to the region
- Early texts describe the eastern forest tracts as the home of atavika or forest peoples
- Samudragupta's Prayag Prashasti mentions forest kingdoms (atavika rajya) brought under control
- The name Jharkhand appears in medieval copper plates and records, not in the earliest texts
- The region was never the core of a great ancient empire — it was a resource and frontier zone
- No Ashokan edict has been found inside present Jharkhand, a favourite negative fact in papers
मेगालिथ (Megalith) का अर्थ है बड़े पत्थरों से बनी स्मृति या समाधि संरचना। मुंडा परंपरा में इन्हें ससनदिरी (Sasandiri) कहते हैं और यह प्रथा आज भी जीवित है।
Memory hook — Teen naam yaad rakho — BIC: Barudih (neolithic, Singhbhum), Isko (rock art, Hazaribagh), Chokahatu (megalith, Ranchi belt). Teenon alag kaal aur alag zila — isi tarah question banta hai.
Yahan confuse hote hain — Rock art aur megalith alag cheezein hain.
✗ Chokahatu is famous for rock paintings | ✓ Chokahatu is a megalithic burial ground; Isko is the rock art site
✗ Ashoka ka abhilekh Jharkhand me mila hai | ✓ Jharkhand ke bhitar koi Ashokan edict nahi mila hai
Exam pointer — JPSC Prelims me is topic se site-to-district matching aata hai aur Mains me tribal continuity ke angle se. JSSC CGL aur JKCE me sirf naam poochha jaata hai — kaun-si jagah kis cheez ke liye prasiddh hai. Zyada gehrai me mat jao, naam aur zila pakka kar lo.
Ek nazar me
- Palaeolithic tools — Damodar and Subarnarekha valleys
- Mesolithic rock shelters — Hazaribagh hills
- Neolithic and megalith — Barudih, West Singhbhum
- Rock art — Isko, Barkagaon, Hazaribagh
- Megalithic burial ground — Chokahatu
- Munda memorial stones — sasandiri
- Copper belt — Singhbhum
- Forest kingdoms in Samudragupta's Prayag Prashasti
- No Ashokan edict found in Jharkhand
- Rock art belt overlaps the modern coal mining zone