Floods in Telangana Reveal Paleolithic Tools | 10 Jan 2024

The recent floods in the Mulugu district of Telangana has led to a fresh discovery of paleolithic quartzite tools. The tools or hand axes were found in the sand bed of a stream that dried up after the flood.

• The hand axes were found in the stream between Gurrevula and Bhupatipuram villages in Mulugu district.
  • According to paleontologists, the stone axe belongs to the Lower Paleolithic period and is about 30 lakh years old.
• The Paleolithic Age dates back to approximately 33 lakh years BC, spanning 10,000 years. Paleolithic hunter gatherers used heavy quartzite and large tools for woodcutting and hunting animals for sustenance.
• Also, in 1863, East India Company’s Geological Survey team discovered a paleolithic site at Attirampakkam near Madras (present-day Chennai).
  • Since then, Paleolithic culture has been labeled as Madras Hand-Axe Industry or Madrasian Culture.