The Mesolithic site of Bagor is one of the most well-documented sites. It is located in :
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Bagor (Mesolithic site) → Rajasthan
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Prehistory & Stone Age: 22 previous year questions
UPSC has asked 22 questions on Prehistory & Stone Age between 1980 and 2026: CDS 13 · CSE 5 · CAPF 2 · EPFO (APFC) 2. 16 of them came after 2015, so this is a live topic examiners keep returning to. 5 were set in Civil Services Prelims; the rest come from UPSC's other papers, which draw on the same question bank.
Tap an option to check yourself. Answers follow the official UPSC key; where the key was dropped or disputed the question is not shown.
Extensive pit-dwellings have been identified at the two Neolithic sites of:
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Extensive Neolithic pit-dwellings → Burzahom and Gufkral (Kashmir Valley)
The Chalcolithic Ahar Culture has been identified in which of the following river systems?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Chalcolithic Ahar (Banas) culture → Banas and Berach river systems (south-eastern Rajasthan)
Which one of the following is a Neolithic site?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Utnur → Neolithic site (of: Bhimbetka, Utnur, Adamgarh, Birbhanpur)
Consider the following statements about the Jorwe culture of the Deccan : 1. It covers, practically, the whole of modern Maharashtra except the coastal Konkan district. 2. The Pravara-Godavari valleys seem to have been the nuclear zone. 3. The large sites of this culture yield evidence of shifting agriculture. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Jorwe culture → practically the whole of modern Maharashtra except coastal Konkan | Pravara–Godavari valleys → nuclear zone | Large Jorwe sites → permanent agricultural villages, not shifting agriculture
With reference to the Mesolithic art in India, consider the following statements : 1. Alexander Bums discovered the first rock paintings in India at Sohagighat in Uttar Pradesh. 2. Bhimbetka rock paintings were discovered when archaeologist V.S. Wakankar noticed the rocks out of a train window while travelling from Bhopal to Itarsi and got off at the nearest railway station to explore the site. 3. The paintings and engravings do not exist in the same shelter in the rock art of Orissa. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Bhimbetka rock paintings → discovered by V.S. Wakankar, who spotted the rocks from a train (Bhopal–Itarsi) | First rock paintings in India → found by A.C.L. Carlleyle in 1867–68 at Sohagighat, Kaimur Hills (UP) | NOT: paintings and engravings never share a shelter in Orissa rock art
Consider the following information : Archaeological Site State Description 1. Chandraketugarh Odisha Trading Port town 2. Inamgaon Maharashtra Chalcolithic site 3. Mangadu Kerala Megalithic site 4. Salihundam Andhra Pradesh Rock-cut cave shrines In which of the above rows is the given information correctly matched ?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Inamgaon → Maharashtra, Chalcolithic site | Mangadu → Kerala, Megalithic site | Chandraketugarh → West Bengal, not Odisha | Salihundam → known for Buddhist stupas and a monastery, not rock-cut cave shrines
Which one among the following statements with reference to the ‘Neolithic Period’ is not correct?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)NOT: Neolithic features appeared almost at the same time in all parts of the subcontinent
Which one of the following is not a pottery type?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)CCE → not a pottery type (of: OCP, CCE, NBP, BRW)
Where is the Vikramkhol Cave located ?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Vikramkhol Cave → Odisha
Consider the following statements regarding the „Levallois Technique‟: 1. It refers to making perforated Harappa pottery. 2. It refers to making prehistoric flake tools. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Levallois technique → making prehistoric flake tools | NOT: making perforated Harappan pottery
Consider the following statements with reference to Paleolithic tools : 1. Isampur was a well-known center of stone tool manufacture located in Gulbarga district of Karnataka and was situated along a small seasonal stream known as Kamta Halla. 2. A Paleolithic blade is a flake tool, the length of which is more than twice its width. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Isampur → stone-tool manufacturing centre, Gulbarga district (Karnataka), on the seasonal stream Kamta Halla | Palaeolithic blade → flake tool more than twice as long as it is wide
Which one of the following statements about ancient Indian pottery is correct?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) → pottery from Indian sites dating back to 600 BCE (c. 600–200 BCE)
Recently, archaeological studies at which one among the following revealed that by 1200 BCE there was a flourishing agrarian civilization and the cultivation of rice was well-established at this place ?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Thamirabarani (Porunai) river, Sivakalai (Thoothukudi) → flourishing agrarian civilisation with established rice cultivation by 1200 BCE
Consider the following pairs: Historical place Well-known for 1. Burzahom Rock-cut shrines 2. Chandraketugarh Terracotta art 3. Ganeshwar Copper artefacts Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)Chandraketugarh → terracotta art | Ganeshwar → copper artefacts | NOT: Burzahom → rock-cut shrines
Consider the following statements about Stone Age in India : 1. Different periods are identified on the basis of the type and technology of stone tools. 2. There are no regional variations in the type and technology of tools in different periods. 3. Stone Age cultures of different periods evolved uniformly in a neat unilinear fashion all over the subcontinent. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Stone Age periods → identified by the type and technology of stone tools | Tool type and technology varied regionally within periods | Stone Age cultures did not evolve uniformly in a unilinear fashion across the subcontinent
Which one among the following statements regarding Jorwe Culture is not correct?
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Answer D (official UPSC key)NOT: practically all Jorwe settlements in the Northern Deccan were suddenly deserted (most Jorwe sites were abandoned around 1000 BCE; the rest declined until about 700 BCE)
Who among the following cultures were the first to paint their pottery?
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Answer B (official UPSC key)First to paint their pottery → Chalcolithic people
Archaeological studies suggest the theory that:
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Answer C (official UPSC key)Earliest humans evolved in the Rift Valley, East Africa
The Stone Age people had the first domestic
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Answer B (official UPSC key)First animal domesticated by Stone Age people → dog
Man passed from the food gathering stage to the food producing stage in the
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Answer A (official UPSC key)Food-gathering → food-producing stage → Neolithic Age
Neolithic period of age is not characterised by
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Answer B (official UPSC key)Neolithic period → NOT characterised by use of copper (copper became common in the Chalcolithic period)
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