State PCS
The Palaeolithic site of Nevasa, on the banks of the Pravara river, is situated in:
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Answer: Option D — Maharashtra
Detailed Solution
Nevasa is an important prehistoric site on the banks of the Pravara river, a tributary of the Godavari, in the Ahmednagar (Ahilyanagar) district of Maharashtra.
About Nevasa:
- Excavations at Nevasa in the 1950s, carried out by the Deccan College, Pune, revealed a long sequence of human occupation.
- It gave its name to the "Nevasian" industry, a Middle Palaeolithic culture of tools made mostly on flakes.
- Typical Middle Palaeolithic tools include scrapers, points and borers, made by removing flakes from a prepared stone core.
- Nevasa also has Lower Palaeolithic tools (handaxes and cleavers), as well as later Chalcolithic and early historic layers.
- The Chalcolithic layers belong to the Jorwe culture of Maharashtra.
- Important finds include burials of children in urns, and copper objects.
The Palaeolithic Age in India:
- It is usually divided into three stages: Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic.
- Lower Palaeolithic: handaxes and cleavers (the "Acheulian" tradition).
- Middle Palaeolithic: flake tools such as scrapers and points.
- Upper Palaeolithic: blades and burins; this phase saw the emergence of modern humans.
- People of this period were hunter-gatherers and did not know agriculture.
Other prehistoric sites of Maharashtra:
Chirki-Nevasa and Bori (Pune district).
About the Deccan College, Pune:
It is one of the oldest institutions of archaeological research in India, founded in 1821.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Karnataka has its own Palaeolithic sites in the south.
- ✗Madhya Pradesh has the rock shelters of the Vindhyas and the Narmada valley.
- ✗Gujarat has sites in the Sabarmati and Orsang valleys.
Quick tip
Remember: Nevasa = Maharashtra (on the Pravara river, Ahmednagar district); gave its name to the "Nevasian" Middle Palaeolithic flake-tool industry.
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Indus Valley Civilisation — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Indus Valley Civilisation, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
The Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation was one of the world's earliest urban civilisations, flourishing around 2500-1900 BCE. This topic covers its major sites, town planning, drainage, seals, script, trade, crafts, religious beliefs and the theories about its decline. Questions mostly link a site to its feature or its present-day location: the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, the dockyard at Lothal (Gujarat), the ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan) and the water reservoirs at Dholavira. Remember that Harappa was the first site excavated, by Daya Ram Sahni in 1921, and that the Harappan script has still not been deciphered. Practise the Indus Valley Civilisation questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.