Match the List-I with List-II
| List-I (Age / Era) | List-II (Years) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (A) | Mesolithic | (I) | 12000 B.C. - 10000 B.C. |
| (B) | Chalcolithic | (II) | 10000 B.C. - 8000 B.C. |
| (C) | Palaeolithic | (III) | 8000 B.C. - 4000 B.C. |
| (D) | Neolithic | (IV) | 4000 B.C. - 1500 B.C. |
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A-II, B-IV, C-I, D-III
The four ages follow one another in the order Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) → Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) → Neolithic (New Stone Age) → Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone Age), so the four ranges of years, from the oldest to the latest, go to them in that order.
(A) Mesolithic — this matches (II) 10000 B.C. - 8000 B.C. After the Ice Age ended, people still hunted and gathered but used microliths, tiny stone blades fixed on handles of wood or bone.
(B) Chalcolithic — this matches (IV) 4000 B.C. - 1500 B.C. It is the latest of the four, when copper came into use alongside stone tools.
(C) Palaeolithic — this matches (I) 12000 B.C. - 10000 B.C., by elimination, as the oldest age takes the earliest range. The range covers only the closing part of the Palaeolithic, which began about two million years ago.
(D) Neolithic — this matches (III) 8000 B.C. - 4000 B.C. In this age people began farming, herding animals and living in settled villages, and used polished stone tools.
Note: It seems that there is a mistake in the original NTA paper, which gives the Palaeolithic the range 12000 B.C. - 10000 B.C. The Palaeolithic Age began about two million years ago and ended around 10000 B.C., so the printed range is only its closing part. It still goes to the Palaeolithic, the oldest of the four ages, and Option (3) is the only option that fits. Two million years of the Old Stone Age have been squeezed into just two thousand in NTA’s paper.