Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

ARCHAEOLOGY

culture survived as late as the 3rd millennium B.C., for example at

Langhnaj. Some of them had started producing food also. The

Mesolithic culture was succeeded by the New Stone Age (Neo-

lithic) culture, when food production took deeper roots during this

period and habitation shifted from natural rock shelters to open

fields.

Neolithic culture was followed by copper-stone using (Chal-

colithic) cultures in most parts of the country. The most spectacu-

lar is the rise of the Indus civilisation by 2500 B.C., which is

bracketed under Bronze Age Cultures. The manifold changes that

took place within a short period have posed several problems

regarding urbanisation, invention of writing, and spurt in maritime

activity and conceptual thinking. This highly advanced civilisation

predates almost all chalcolithic cultures of Central, Eastern and

Southern India. It is only in the later phases of the Indus civilisation

(1900-1500 B.C.) that contacts with the chalcolithic cultures of

central India and the Deccan came to be established. Although two

subdivisions of the later phases namely Late Harappa (1900-1700

B.C.) and Devolutionary Phase (1700-1600 B.C.) are made in

Lothal, Ghosh has taken both as one phase and designated it as

Late Harappa Culture, a term which is retained here.

The Ochre Coloured Ware of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab has

close resemblance in typology and fabric to the Late Harappa

(LHP) ware at Bhagwanpura and Hastinapura which provides the

link with the Painted Grey Ware (PGW) which was till recently

considered as the diagnostic pottery of the

Mahabharata

sites in

the Ganga- Yamuna Doab. The PGW is essentially an Iron Age

culture ware with a pre-iron Age antecedent in a few sites. The

earliest date of iron in India is 1500 B.C. in Kashmir. The Mega-

lithic (large stone) culture of Southern and Eastern India is noted

for the abundant use of iron artefacts besides the Black and Red

Ware in the burial stone chambers or pits enclosed by circles of

large boulders or covered by a capstone. Some megaliths of the

Vindhyan range are chalcolithic as they contain copper and stone

artefacts. The Southern megaliths range in date from 600 B.C. to

300 A.D.

The Early Historical Period begins with the 4th century B.C.

when foreign writers mention the kingdoms of north India. The

inscriptions of Asoka (3rd century B.C.) throw more light on the

political, economic, social and religious conditions of the Indian

subcontinent and even beyond.

Palaeolithic Cultures

The first palaeolith was discovered by Robert Bruce Foote at

Pallavaram near Madras in 1863. Thereafter a systematic survey

of Kashmir-Potwar region was undertaken by the Yale-Cambridge

team under De Terra and T.T. Paterson in the thirties of this

century. Earlier M.C. Burkitt and L.A. Cammiade had surveyed

palaeolithic sites in Andhra. In 1948-50 F.E. Zeuner and members

of the Gujarat Pre-historic Expedition Party including among oth-

ers H.D. Sankalia and S.R.Rao surveyed the Sabarmati, Mahi,

Narmada and Orsang valleys. Since then the Archaeological Sur-

vey of India and some of the universities have done commendable

work in establishing the chronological sequence of palaeolithic cul-

tures. The earlier date 50,000 years B.P., given to the Lower

Palaeolithic Culture needs to be revised to 175 million years B.P.,

according to S.N. Rajguru. Some of the earliest tools are those from

the fluvio-glacial deposits in Liddar Valley near Pahalgam in Ka-

shmir overlain by the second glacial phase of the middle-Pleisto-

cene. The Lower Palaeolithic tools of the Hiran Valley in Saurash-

tra are found in the fluvial gravels underlying the Middle Pleisto-

cene miliolite of the fluvio-marine origins. These tools are in the

horizon assignable to 120,000 years B.P. by 14C, Thorium and Ura-

nium dates of marine transgression of the last Interglacial. Even so

the Indian Palaeolithic industry is younger than the African indus-

try dated between 1.75 to 3.25 million years B.P. The early man in

India recognised by the early Palaeolithic tools had penetrated into

regions of diverse physiography, vegetation and animal life.

Lower Palaeolithic Industry

Two main types of stone tools of Palaeolithic cultures are

handaxes used for digging up roots and cutting trees and cleavers

for removing bone marrow. Other types include choppers, scrapers,

borers, points and worked flakes. The material used is quartzite

and sandstone found in the sedimentary Vindhyan and Cuddapah

formations. Occasionally basaltic rock such as Dolerite or Deccan

Trap is also used. The handaxes of India compare well with those

of Africa and Europe. Cleavers are abundant in India and Africa but

not in Europe. Choppers made on rock blocks and pebbles

may be unifacial or bifacial As they were first found in the Sohan

Valley the industry is designated as Sohan Industry while the

handaxes are known as Madras Handaxe Industry. There is no

reliable stratigraphic evidence to say that the pebble tool industry

preceded the handaxe industry except at Mahadeo Piparia on the

Narmada. The handaxe to cleaver ratio is 1:2 in most of the regions

except in the early Acheulian stage when handaxes outnumbered

cleavers. Cultural evolution from the Lower to the Middle Palaeo-

lithic Industry is traceable on the basis of stratigraphy from the ex-

cavation in the rockshelters of Bhimbhetka and Adamgarh in

Madhya Pradesh. Major regions yielding Lower Palaeolithic tools

are : Banganga and Nalagarh valley (Madhya Pradesh), Singrauli

basin (Uttar Pradesh), Hiran valley (Saurashtra), Narmada, Go-

davari, Krishna and Pravara valleys, Bhimbhetka (Madhya

Pradesh), Garo Hills (Meghalaya), Attirampakkam near Madras,

Sabarmati and Mahi valleys (Gujarat), Kandivli (Bombay),

Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), and Tekkalkota in Karnataka.

At most of these sites Middle Palaeolithic tools are also found. The

Middle Palaeolithic tools made of quartzite in the Narmada basin

consist of side scrapers. Occasionally tools made of fine-grained

silicious stones are also noticed. The Chotanagpur region, Ja-

malpur (Bihar), Mayurbhanj (Orissa), Kurnool and Nalgonda

(Andhra Pradesh) and Kangsbati valley are other areas where

Middle Palaeolithic tools occur.

Upper Palaeolithic Culture

The Upper Palaeolithic Culture of Europe datable to 40,000

years B.P. is noted for its technological advancement and artistic

talent. Parallel-sided blades snapped from prismatic cores of sil-

icious materials such as chert, jasper, agate and chalcedony form

the main tool types of this industry. These blades were further

finished into various types namely backed blades, knives and

points, awls and scrapers by retouching the edge or end. The

technique of producing a large number of blades from a single

prepared core consisted of striking from different directions the

edge of a core to produce a crested ridge and then blades were

struck off with a soft hammer. The blade industry has three types,