History is a description of man’s achievements. The origin and development of human and his civilization is an interesting story. This story of primitive man began with his birth on earth. Scholars believe that the earth was formed about four billion sixty crore years ago and a long process of evolution began with the origin of biological material on earth three billion years ago. Mankind represents the most developed stage of this evolution. This process of evolution never ends. Changes keep happening in nature and species keep vanishing and new ones keep emerging. This is a continuous process. But as soon as mankind set foot on earth, a new situation arose qualitatively.

Man also started interfering in this natural evolution which paved the way for many possibilities. Man is a curious creature. He has been contemplating the mysteries of creation since time immemorial. Man has resorted to his imagination in the initial search for reality. Different human communities have tried to explain this mysterious mystery of creation through their mythological stories, tales, legends and myths. Humans have also tried to solve the mysteries of creation through authentic facts by studying natural signs. On the basis of archaeological and paleontological discoveries, it can be said that the oldest fossil of modern human ‘Homo habilis’ has been found near Lake Turkana in Kenya, which is 40 lakh years old, that is, humans were born 40 lakh years ago in the Pleistocene era. There is no factual evidence of human life at that time, so this period is called the ‘prehistoric era‘.

A large part of the story of the millions of years of history of human civilization’s progress is hidden in the dense fog of the past. It is human nature to move towards progress. Man had to struggle for his livelihood from the very beginning. He invented tools for his livelihood. These tools made by man were of stone, hence this primitive civilization of man is called the Stone Age.

Origin of Human or Man

There are many different types of animals in different parts of the world. The most evolved animal among all of them is human. How did animals come into existence in this world? This is a complex question. In all the religions of the world, there are stories that shed light on the origin of animals and the origin of humans. In all of these, the same belief has been emphasized that God created the world and various animals in different evolved forms and later their lineage continued. It has been told that man is different and superior to all and there has been no change in his physical structure and mental state from his origin till today. But scientific discoveries have proved this belief to be baseless. Charles Darwin propounded the opinion through the Theory of Evolution that various organisms evolved gradually at a gradual pace. In his book ‘The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’ published in 1859, he explained that there is a constant struggle for existence among living beings and as a result of this struggle, only the fittest creatures survive. (The Survival of the Fittest) This proved that human beings also evolved as a result of the process of evolution. Human beings did not appear on this earth in this form but evolved from their previous primitive life forms.

The recently developed molecular biology has confirmed this theory. All scientists today accept this theory. Thus, now human beings are no longer a special creation of God but a long family tree of them has been prepared within the living world. The word Homo is the scientific name of the human genus (category) which also includes the Sapiens species. The definition of human has been given differently in every science and discipline. Benjamin Franklin called human a ‘tool-making creature’ in 1718 AD. Archaeology accepts this definition of human.

Various Development stages of Human

New discoveries in human origin show that humans evolved from African apes about 7 million years ago. Modern humans are the only living member of the hominid family, all other species have become extinct. There are only two authentic genus of Hominids – Australopithecus and Homo. Thus, the closest ancestor of humans is Australopithecus (southern human-like creature), whose remains were found in the Olduvai Valley of Tanzania in the 1950s. Its fossils are found in many other places in Africa.

1. Homonoids
   • About 36 million years ago, a category of mammals called Primate emerged in Asia and Africa.
   • After that, about 24 million years ago, a sub-group emerged in the ‘Primate’ category, which is called Hominoids. This sub-group included ‘Vanar’ i.e. ‘Ape’.
   • Their brain was small and they walked on four legs. But the front part of their body and both the front legs were flexible.
2. Hominids –
   • This class of human species evolved from the hominoid subgroup.
   • Their brain was larger than that of hominoids.
   • They stood upright and walked on the back two legs.
   • Their hands were flexible, which enabled them to make tools and also use them.
   • This class originated in Africa.
   • The oldest hominid fossils, which belong to the Australopithecus family, have been found in East Africa. Their time is believed to be about 56 lakh years ago.
   • In contrast, the hominid fossils found outside Africa are not more than 18 lakh years old.
3. Australopithecus –
   • Many branches of hominid developed further, among which Australopithecus was also one.
   • This word is made from the combination of Latin and Greek language, which means – Southern human equivalent.
   • It was a more developed ape than others without a tail, which can be called ‘chimpanzee‘.
   • Its oldest fossil was discovered by Raymond Dart in 1924 from a lime mine at a place called Tong in South Africa.
4. Homo Habilis –
   • The word Homo Habilis is made up of the Latin words ‘Homo’ and ‘Habilis’, which literally means a tool-making human.
   • In the evolutionary history of humans, it is also known as the first tool-making species.
   • Its brain capacity was 700 cubic cm.
   • The oldest fossils of this species have been found near Lake Turkana in Kenya.
   • Being capable of making tools, it is accepted as the first human species.
5. Homo Erectus –
   • The human species that stood straight and walked on its feet is called Homo Erectus.
   • The oldest fossils of this human species have been found from both the continents of Africa and Asia.
   • Kuvifora, West Turkana, Kenya, Mod Joko, Sangiran and Java are such places from where its fossils have been found.
   • The fossils found in Asia are of a later period than the fossils found in Africa.
   • This species lived till about 4 lakh years ago and its brain capacity was 1000 cubic cm.
   • It is also called ‘Peking Man’ due to the fossils being found from Peking city of China.
   • The forehead of this human species was sloping, the skull was more round and the protruding bone above the eyes was stronger.
6. Homo Heidelbergensis and Homo Neanderthalesis –
   • The fossils found in the German city of Heidelberger are called Homo Heidelbergensis and the fossils found in the Nijander Valley are called Neanderthalesis.
   • The age period of Heidelberg man is considered to be 8 lakh years to 1 lakh years ago, while that of Neanderthal man is 1,30,000 to 35,000 years ago.
   • Neanderthal man lived in Europe, Western and Central Asia.
   • The brain capacity of both these human species was 1450 cubic cm. That is, their brain capacity was equal to that of modern man.
7. Homo Sapiens –
   • In scientific terminology, modern man is called Homo Sapiens, which literally means thinking man, that is, intelligent man.
   • Its forehead was broad and face was longer than before.
   • The brain capacity of this human species was 1450 cubic cm.
   • This species first originated in Africa and then spread to Asia and other continents.
   • Homo sapiens emerged from the Neanderthal group about 40 thousand years ago.
   • After this, there was no development at the level of species or subspecies.

In this way, man learned something from each generation and on the basis of the same stored knowledge, he is continuously progressing on the path of development. The story of human development which started from his birth is continuing.

Form of Human Society on tool making

Human society has taken a long time to fully develop. In the beginning, humans were like apes. The apes living on trees are the ancestors of gorillas, humans and chimpanzees. Some of them came down from the trees and gradually learnt to stand, then learnt to walk on their feet. Perhaps this was an important link in the development of human society. Standing up, they could see far and wide and protect themselves. Living on the ground also brought about physical changes in them. Climbing up and down trees developed their bones and developed the ability to hold objects and stand upright. In the same sequence, fingers and thumbs gradually developed and became flexible. This continuous development gave a new form to the ape-man. His brain developed. This developed brain inspired him to protect himself by making tools. From then on, he started trying to rise above other animals and use his intelligence.

After Origin of Human Society

Each generation of humans inherits knowledge from the previous generation. Each generation adds some new knowledge to it and passes it on to the next generation. Thus this process continues uninterrupted. Cultural consciousness comes to humans only through continuous accumulation and communication of knowledge. This leads them towards cultural progress. The ability to speak is a unique characteristic of humans. This characteristic makes this process of communication more possible and simple. The power to speak is basically dependent on higher intelligence. This is how thoughts for expression are born. Only humans have such higher intelligence. In this evolutionary process of humans, the present human emerged about 40 thousand years ago, which is called ‘Homo sapiens’. ‘Homo sapiens’ is a Latin word, which means ‘intelligent human‘. This intelligent human also learned to speak, use fire, wear clothes made of animal skin and build houses. Thus, the development of human culture began. Human civilization came into existence when the cultures of human communities living in different places developed collectively.

Tools

The work done by man with his fellow humans using the tools he made differentiates him from animals. He used pieces of stone and other objects around him as tools. The use of natural tools inspired man to make things according to his needs. Later he made tools for different works. In this way, early man converted natural objects into tools and made the first attempt to improve his living conditions. It is possible that people made tools of stones, wood and bones for their work. Of these, stone tools still survive today.

1. Use of Tools –
   • Tools were used for cutting fruits, cutting bones and flesh and removing bark of trees and skin of animals.
   • Some tools were used to make weapons like spears and arrows by attaching handles of bones or wood.
   • Some tools were used to cut wood. Wood was used as fuel as well as for making huts and tools.
   • The tools were used to dig up roots that were edible for humans.
   • Some fine and small tools were used to stitch clothes made from animal skins.
   • Stone tools were very important for humans of this period. In search of these tools, humans used to look for such places from where they could get them easily. Such places are called ‘industry sites‘.
2. Tool Making – In the description of the sequence of development given earlier, man had learned to make rough tools of stones. These tools were generally in the shape of pieces of stones which had been shaped like tools by natural processes. The man of this period had learned how to hold the tools and how much blows should be made on which side so that the desired work could be done. The man of the Paleolithic era used only rough tools and collected food from here and there. Stone tools were usually made in two ways, which are as follows –
   • Breaking stone by hitting it against another stone i.e. the stone from which a stone tool was to be made was held in one hand and a stone was used as a hammer in the other hand. In this way flakes were taken out from the stone being hit on another stone until a tool of the required size was made.
   • Pressure flake technique – The second method of making stone tools was the ‘pressure flake technique’ in which the core is placed on a stable surface and a bone or stone is placed on this core and flakes are taken out by hitting it with a hammer-like stone. In this way they got the desired tools.
3. Tools of Pre-Historic Age –
   • In this period mainly three types of tools were used– axes, sickles and flakes.
   • Flakes are also called flake tools. The size of the flakes was a little smaller and thinner than the axe and the sickle but it had a sharp edge.
   • It is assumed that the axe was held in the fist. It was used to cut or crush an object.
   • Probably the sickle was used to cut meat. It was made by making a sharp tip on one side of a heavy stone.
   • The tools of this era have been found from many places in Europe, Africa and Asia, but all are similar in shape and size.
4. Tools of Lower Palaeolithic Age – Tools belonging to the Lower Paleolithic Age are found in different parts of India. These are divided into two major cultures, which are as follows –
   • Chopper-Chopping Pebble Culture – These tools were first found in the Sohan River Valley of Punjab (modern Pakistan). Pebbles are those pieces of stone which become smooth and flat after being rubbed in the flow of water. These are round in shape. Tools made by making a blade by removing a blade from one side of a pebble are called choppers. If both sides of a pebble are peeled and a blade is removed from them, then a chopping tool is made. In 1928, D.N. Wadia was the first to obtain Palaeolithic tools from this region. Such tools have been found from places called Pindiphebe, Malakpur, Chauttara, Kalar and Chowmukh.
   • Hand-axe-culture – Robert Bushfoot first discovered the tools of this tradition from Pallavaram and King from Athirpakkam. Many tools of this tradition have been found from a place called Badamdurai in the Kortalwar river valley. These are made of a stone called quartzite. The tools found here are placed in two categories.
     • The first category includes core tools and heavy and long hand axes. White moss is deposited on them. These tools have been made by removing the flakes.
     • In the tools of the second category, flaking has been done in a systematic manner. The colour of the tools has become red due to contact with the red stone altar. A large number of hand axes, cleavers and flake tools have also been found from Athirpakkam. Hand axes have been made by removing flakes, due to which they have become thin, long and wide. Such tools included stone axes, pestles, discs, axes, spears, lances, spears, flakes etc.
5. Tools of Mesolithic Period –
   • In this period, with the new man and new climate, new types of tools started being made. These are very small in size.
   • They are about half an inch to one inch.
   • Probably they were used by putting them in a wooden or bone handle.
   • Prominent among them are- blunt, curved blades, borers, scrapers, burins, bayaks, lunar, points, triangles, semicircular, trapezoidal and needles etc.
   • Such tools have been found from countries like Spain, France, England, Baltic and Southern Scandinavia etc.
   • Dr. B.B. Lal has found 282 small tools from Veer Bhanpur (Bengal).
   • Arrow heads made of bone have also been found from the archaeological site named Bagor in Rajasthan and Tarasang in Gujarat. All these are flake tools by the method of making.
   • Precious stones like chert, jasper, chalcedony, agate, quartzite etc. have been used to make these. These tools were 5 cm to 12 mm wide. Their shape is triangular and quadrangular which were sharpened by rubbing at that time.
6. Tools of Neolithic Period –
   • Neolithic period refers to a self-sufficient economy, pottery, a group of polished stone tools, culture of people living permanently and the beginning of animal husbandry and agriculture.
   • In this era, there has been a change in the method of making man-made stone weapons or tools. Improvement is visible in this period in the flake, core and blade technology of the Upper Stone Age and Middle Stone Age.
   • In this period, tools were made shiny by rubbing them. Therefore, the tools of this period are called Grinded and Polished Tools.
   • During this period, such tools started being used which were used for sowing seeds, digging the soil and softening it.
   • Hence, the main tools found from the archaeological sites of this period from different regions include axes made on trap stone, chisels with holes, awls, arrowheads and scrapers.
   • Bone tools in large quantities also start being found from this period.
   • Along with these tools, the use of Middle Stone age micro tools also continued during this period, but they were also made very pointed and sharp by rubbing.

On the basis of the above study, it can be clearly said that man initially used tools to protect his life. His initial tools were shapeless and ugly. But gradually they improved and their shape became sharp, smooth and small.