Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

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ARCHAEOLOGY

Fig : 4 - Upper Palaeolithic tools from Soharpur Doab. 1 -3, blades with straight edge; 4-5, blades

with transverse edge; 6, blade with lateral-cum-transverse edge; 7, notched blade; 8, lateral-cum-

notched blade; 9, transverse-cum-notched blade; 10-12, backed blades; 13, nosed edged tool.

namely, flake-blade, blade-tool and blade-and-burin. The backed

blades, points, burins, scrapers etc of the blade-tool group are

found at Bariyari and on the Belan (Dt. Allahabad) in Uttar

Pradesh, at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, at Nevasa and

Inamgaon in Maharashtra, at Salvadgi in Karnataka, near Budh

Pushkar lake (Dt. Ajmer) in Rajasthan and Betamcharla (Dt.

Kurnool) in Andhra Pradesh. At Mucchila in Chintamani Gavi near

Betmacherla bone tools and a stone blade were found in excava-

tion. Bone blanks made of elongated strips of long bone of animal

were finished into tools by chipping or flaking.

Palaeoclimate

It is necessary to know what the climate was like when the

Upper Palaeolithic industry flourished. The sediment analysis of

Belan river deposit shows that the climate was not as arid as in the

later Holocene Period. At Patne in Maharashtra also the sedi-

ments indicate a wetter climate. The faunal deposits of Kurnool

comprise mammalian species such as the

Rhinoceros Karnutiensis

Beselaphus tragocameleus

(nilgai),

Gazella gazella

(chinkara),

Antelope Carvicapra

(black buck),

Cervus unicolar

(sambar),

Axis

axis

(chital),

Traguhus of meminna

(mouse deer) etc The faunal

remains associated with the incipient blade industry of the Ghod

valley at Inamgaon yielded

Equus namadicus

(horse),

Bos sp

(ox),

Hexaprotodon

palaeindicus

(Hippopotamus),

Bubalus

(Buffalo)

and

cervus sp

(sambar). This fauna suggested a forested environ-

ment with swamps and pools. The Upper Palaeolithic succeeded

the Middle Palaeolithic and preceded the Mesolithic. The Middle

Palaeolithic is assigned to the Middle

Pleistocene and

the Mesolithic to the Early Holocene period.

Date

The alluvial deposits of the Belan river containing

burins, scrapers and backed blades and the deposits

of the Scoti in Mirzapur District also bearing Upper

Palaeolithic tools are dated 19715 ± 340 B.P. by 14C

method. Factory sites and rock shelters of the Kaimur

Range yield Upper Palaeolithic tools. Bhanse on the

Kan in Tapti valley, Salvadgi in Karnataka and Khan-

divli near Bombay are noted for the blade-burin indus-

try.

Mesolithic Culture

The microlith-using culture unassociated with

pottery and preceding the farming-based villages is

designated as Mesolithic culture in India. The physi-

cal remains of man and animals of this period are

better preserved than in the earlier periods as the

landscape has not been disturbed. Tilwara (Dt.

Banner),

*Bagor

(Dt.

Bhilwara)

Rajasthan,

Langhnaj (Dt. Mehasana) in Gujarat, Lekhania (Dt.

Mirzapur) in Uttar Pradesh, Bhimbhetka (Dt. Raisen)

in Madhya Pradesh, Birbhanpur (Dt. Burdwan) in

West Bengal, and Sanganakallu (Dt. Bellary) in Kar-

nataka are some of the Mesolithic sites excavated in

India. The artistic achievements of the Mesolithic folk

are better preserved in the rock-shelters of the

Vindhya, Satpura and Kainur Hills of Central India.

For instance the rOck paintings of Bhimbhetka and Itar

Pahar throw light on the pre-occupation of Mesolithic people with

hunting. During the wet phase between 10,000 and 5,000 years

B.P. the fresh water lakes of Sambhar and Didwana attracted them.

In semi-arid conditions the occupation of the sand dunes of

Langhnaj might have been seasonal. The small lakes around dunes

supplied water. The Mesolithic people occupied the river banks of

Damodar, Krishna and Tungabhadra as well as the sea coast of

Tinnevelly in the South. Some lived in the rock-shelters of Hulim-

avu near Bangalore.

That the Mesolithic man used plant foods is suggested by the

stone querns and rubbers used for grinding corn. Rudimentary

agricultural operation is also indicated by the discoid stones of

Bagor and Bhimbhetaka which served as weights of wooden dig-

ging sticks. The main subsistence of the Mesolithic man was the

animal. Evidence of hunting, food gathering and stock breeding

comes from Tilwara, Bagor and Adamgarh. The elephant was killed

at Sarai Nahar Rai and porcupine was hunted in Adamgarh. Though

the Mesolithic camps were seasonal, the thick habitational depos-

its in Bagor and Bhimbhetaka suggest frequent occupation. Occa-

sionally the potholes at the four corners of the floor of burnt clay

nodules in Sarai Nahar suggest rudimentary structures, while the

alignment of stones in the rock-shelters of Bhimbhetaka indicates

a circular hut. As regards the disposal of the dead extended burial

in east-west orientation is reported from Sarai Nahar. In

Bhimbhetaka the grave offerings included pieces of antler, bone

ornaments and ochre. Offering of food to the dead is suggested by

the presence of clay pots in the later phase burials at Bagor.