18 Southern Neolithic of India

Ravi Korisettar

1. Objectives

Understanding the characteristics of the southern Indian Neolithic culture and independent nature of agricultural way of life during the third and second millennium BC, in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

2. Introduction

Neolithic sites in the southern states of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have received considerable attention of the archaeologists and has a long history of research. As result our knowledge of the Southern Neolithic culture is relatively more than the other regions of the subcontinent.

Robert Foote made the first systematic attempt to understand the lithic technology of the Southern Neolithic. He developed a typology of stone artefacts that included celts, corn-crushers, chisels (ranging in size), worked scrapers, cores, core flakes, chisels, and identified the source of raw material as the dolerite dykes that traversed some of the granite hills of the region. On the basis of the dolerite artefacts and flakes he recovered, Foote was able to outline four stages of celt fabrication: chipping, picking (pecking), grinding and polishing. He suggested that knapping was carried out by means of stone hammer in the first stage, pecking by means of sharp pointed striker leading to the third stage of achieving a sharp and even cutting edge by grinding and then polishing; the last two stages were executed by rubbing the pecked stones back and forth on the granite boulders which consequently developed into shallow troughs called grinding grooves. He attempted a quantitative estimate of stone artefacts in terms of their relative abundance and placed them in the following order – strickers, corn-crushers, mealing stones, celts and chisels (being rare). Cores and flakes also rare. Separated rocks and minerals exotic to the site – agate, chert, jasper (nearest source is the Krishna gravels, lydian stone (the nearest source is the Cuddapah formation) and the locally occurring quartz. These came to Kupgal as raw material and were modified at the site. Foote also reported items of adorment, such as carnelian beads of “good workmanship,” steatite beads, and haematite that might have been for purposes of skin decoration. Foote further surmised that the houses were made of perishable material comparable to present-day huts that he observed in the villages around the site.

Such is the type of information preserved in the Neolithic settlements of southern India and this was based on surface observation of cultural material scattered on Hiregudda of the Sanganakallu-Kupgal (Kappagallu) complex. Excavations at a number of these sites by later workers beginning from the 1940s has established chronology of food producing cultures. With the application of radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating methods a firm absolute chronological framework for the Neolithic cultural succession has been obtained. Multidisciplinary investigations at a number of sites excavated in the past and in recent years has facilitated a holistic reconstruction of the life ways of the Neolithic communities. This module reveals these findings based on recent research at Sanganakallu complex of sites.

3. Excavated Neolithic Sites

Excavations at Brahmagiri by REM Wheeler in the 1940s laid the foundation for placing the Southern Neolithic in its broader geographical and chronological context. The Brahmagiri excavations revealed a continuous occupation from the Upper Neolithic to the Early Historic, through the Iron Age. The upper levels designated as the Andhra Culture included Rouletted Ware in association with red pottery decorated with criss -cross yellow paintings. Below this was the Megalithic phase characterised by cist-burials, well-polished Red and Black Ware and Red Slipped Ware. Beneath the Megalithic phase was the deep stratified deposit of stone axes, burials in crude handmade urns, microliths of quartz, agate, and occasional copper and bronze objects. He also observed an “overlap” between Megalithic and Early Historic phases. In addition there was overlap between Neolithic pottery types and “megalithic” pottery types. This excavation provided a relative chronological sequence of “cultures,” although Wheeler had to rely on guesswork for assigning absolute dates. Distinguishing aspect of Southern Neolithic is the Ashmound Tradition.

In the 1950s two British archaeologists, Raymond Allchin and F. E. Zeuner made contributions to Neolithic archaeology of southern India. Both scholars took an interest in understanding the origins and make-up of the Deccan ashmounds, and carried out complementary research.

Zeuner visited a number of ashmounds and sampled the ash for chemical and microscopic study. Allchin, on the other hand, undertook a survey in the Raichur Doab and excavation of both habitation site and an ashmound. Zeuner was able to establish beyond reasonble doubt that the ashmound originated from dung, presumably of cattle, as they were similar in their chemical composition as well as including large amounts of silicified grass cells (which would today be called phytoliths), as one expects to find in the dung of grazing animals. Allchin’s excavation evidence from Utnur indiatced that the ashmound there was associated with a rectangular, post-hole defined enclosure, interpreted as a cattle pen. In addition, it became apparent that the accumulations of cattle dung been episodically burnt, perhaps as part of a regular cycle, which may well have had symbolic or ritual significance.

Exploration and a number of excavations have been undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India and the state departments of archaeology. First among them was Maski, a series of excavations were conducted at Nagarjunakonda in the Lower Krishna valley. Short reports of excavations at Kesarapalle near Ganavaram in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh; Piayampalli, in the North Arcot district, Tamil Nadu; Budhitittu in Mysore District in the Kaveri valley and Singanapalle in the Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh are importanat contributions. Other sites included, T. Narsipur; Hemmige; Tekkalakota; Hallur; Sanganakallu; Kupgal (Kappagallu), Jami; Paradesipalem; Elchuru; and Banahalli; Terdal and Veerapuram. In the highlights of some of the sites is given.

Brahmagiri: Pottery was all handmade, crude, coarse fabric with a thin slip of clay. It was grouped into two broad wares 1A and 1B. The 1B ware was confined to burial urns – dull mottled grey colour, with a coarse texture a conspicuous miraculous inclusions. In ware 1A there are two categories, (a) painted pottery and (b) incised pottery. The painted pottery had either a red or buff slip. The red slipped pottery was burnished and salt-glazed. The painted decoration, when present, was applied after firing with ochre. The incised pottery bears designs of a herring-bone or criss-cross patterns. The painted pottery has two varieties (a) red burnished slipped ware with purple painted designs and (b) red, burnished slipped ware with purple paint and unburnished buff slipped ware. Although Wheeler argued strongly that the Neolithic represented a distinct people from the subsequent “megalithic people”, the ceramic sequence at Brahmagiri in fact shows the indistinctness of his “Megalithic” horizon, since the earliest levels with Megalithic also contain his Neolithic types and the later megalithic levels incorporate “Early Historic” types, thus suggesting an evolutionary sequence of ceramic technology and style.

Sanganakallu, Sanarachamma Hill: The Neolithic was here considered Phase II, with a preceding dolerite flake industry. Within the Neolithic two subperiods were recognised: Subperiod 1 is ‘True Neolithic’ characterised by coarse brown and black pottery with a dominance of pale grey ware. Subperiod 2 pottery is represented by pale gery ware along with the dominant brown and black wares. A few sherds with violet and purple paintings on a dull background were also found. In general the Neolithic pottery is crude and coarse in fabric all of which is handmade, some show burnished types. More on this site is given in other sections.

Piklihal: pottery is broadly divided into A ware and AB ware, with subtypes within them based on distinctive fabric types. As at Brahmagiri all Piklihal pottery is either handmade or built on a slow turn-table. The A ware in all its manifestations is typical of the Neolithic. The Neolithic is subdivided into Lower Neolithic (represented by A1, A2 and A3 wares) and Upper Neolithic (A4 and A5 pottery). The Lower Neolithic ceramics show low firing temperatures. The AB ware appears at the end of the Upper Neolithic and on the surface. On the basis of surface treatment of pottery the A wares are calssified into A1 (unburnished and incised decoration), A2 (burnished and unslipped), A3 (burnished and dressed) and A4-A5 (burnished and slipped) varieties and each of these occur in different shades of colour. Among the A3 wares a distinctive burnished black-on-red painted variety attracted the attention of scholars owing to its occurrence in the early levels at a number of excavated sites. At Piklihal this A3 painted pottery occurs in the Lower Neolithic levels and is different from the other painted (unburnished AB ware, comparable to the Jorwe ware of the northern Deccan) pottery occurring mostly on the surface in the levels at the end of the Upper Neolithic. The A3 red variety is unique to Piklihal. The A3 painted variety distinguished itself from other A3 plain varieties as it bears brown ochre to raw sienna dressing. This ware disappears in the Upper Neolithic.

Maski: the large portion of the pottery is reported to be wheelmade (!). Two broad categories

(a)  dull grey ware and (b) pinkish buff ware, the fabric is similar to Brahmagiri pottery of 1A. Besides these two wares a small collection of black or chocolate painted over a red slipped surface was made at Maski. Interestingly this pottery is also restricted to the lower levels but without a wide spread occurrence. While the painted black on red ware as noted at Brahmagiri and Piklihal was handmade the Maski variety was wheel made. This variety was also found at Kallur.

Nagarjunakonda : Neolithic pottery was represented by thick, coarse, handmade and occasionally burnished greyish or brownish wares. Grey ware was generally burnished. Black and cream slipped wares were also found.

Hallur: the Neolithic pottery is generally handmade with both burnished and unburnished varieties in the later levels (of Phase II) wheelmade pottery appears. The earliest phase at Hallur is pale grey ware and burnihsed grey ware, both with post-firing ochre painted decoration. In Phase II the latter contiues with the disappearance of pale grey ware, as well as the appearance of black and red ware of Jorwe fabric. Noteworthy is the occurrence of a few sherds of painted pottery in early levels of Phase I, similar to Brahmagiri 1A and Piklihal A3 wares.

T. Narasipur : The pottery is dominantly represented by grey ware, burnished with a thin slip. Fine-grained non-micaceous variety of fabric is common. The majority are handmade with occasional examples of anvil-and-dabber, and turn-table techniques, and finished under high temperatures but differentially heated.

Hemmige: in the only sites among the among the excavated ones where the pale grey ware has not been documented. All the collection is represented by handmade red ware with medium to coarse fabric and slight burnishing. It is observed that owing to uneven firing temperatures the surface bears a range colours like brown, buff or grey. The painted black on red pottery absent.

Ija (also Ieej) is a habitation site about 6 km east of Utnur ash mound in the Mahbubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. The settlement is located on a Nala draining into the Tungabhadra. The ceramic varieties included pale grey ware, brown ware, polished black ware and dull red ware, either handmade or use of slow wheel. Painted black-on-red ware (A3) absent.

Hulikallu: Excavations at this ashmound near Kalyandurg in Anantapur District also yielded unburnished grey or black ware, burnished grey, black, buff, pink, perforated and incised wares. The evidence of ocher painted black-on-red ware akin to A3 ware is noteworthy; this group of sites is north of the Brahmagiri complex. Two urn burials, one of them of coarse red ware, was covered by a huge stone boulder anticipating the rise of megalithism. Similar examples of stone covered burials are reported from Watgal in the Raichur Doab.

Watgal: On the basis of these excavations the Neolithic has been divided into four occupational periods. Period II to Period IV represent the continuous development of the Neolithic occupational sequence at Watgal, ranging between 2700 BC and post- 1500 BC. The Period II has two sub-phases and mark the clear evidence of Neolithic occupation at Watgal. In II A coarse red/grey plain ware and its sub-types such red slipped, burnished red/grey types are common. Burnished red/grey thin, brown slipped, burnished red/grey with post-fired red ochre paint decorations and black slipped ware represent a minor ceramic population. Until the excavation at Watgal in the heartland of Deccan, it was believed that incised and perforated potteries was generally found from early 2nd millennium BC , but the evidence from Watgal dates these types back 2700 BC.

Survey of Cuddappah, Kurnool and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh brought to light similar series of pottery, such as red ware and grey ware typical of the Bellary and Raichur regions. Palavoy ash mound excavation has also yielded black-on-red painted ware.

On the basis of these excavations and other cultural studies the Neolithic development is seen in three phases, characterized in part by changes in technology, especially in pottery production, as well as increases in plausible long-distance imports. The role of trade in the development of Neolithic social complexity and how this was related to or impacted other aspects of society, such as agriculture, craft production, and animal husbandry has not really been explored. Although cooper and bronze objects are present in low frequencies in Neolithic phases II and III, it is not evidence for the production of copper locally. Although there are hints that gold mines in the Shorapur Doab were exploited, hard evidence is lacking in terms of the ceramics recovered near these mines; the only gold recovered from a Neolithic sites was Tekkalakota.

4. Ashmounds Tradition

Among the excavated sites, there is a distinct category of sites called ashmounds. These represent large heaped accumulations of coattle dung that were burnt often at high temperatures. Several scholars have worked on the nature, origin, purpose and significance of these mounds. The excavated ashmounds include Utnoor, Piklihal, Palavoy, Sanganakallu (Kupgal), Kodekal, Budihal, Hulikallu, etc. both explored and excavated ashmound sites have provided data that attet to their direct association with the Neolithic agro-pastoral communities of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. However, there are a couple of archaeologist who associate them with Iron Age communities. There is a likelihood that some may have survived into the early Iron Age. It appears that they were of symbolic importance to the Neolithic communities and they cover the entire time span of the Neolithic in the southern Deccan region. Recent findings have suggested that ashmounds at a number of sites predate the establishment of regular village at the ashmound sites. The ashmounds were not uniform deposits, but accumulated through several processes the most important of which was the accumulation and burning of the catle dung. The presence of intervening soil layers, powdery ash layers with cultural materials at a number places indicates multiple episodes of burning. For details on the problem of ashmounds readers are advised to consult the references given separately.

5. Burials

The excavation reports appearing from the 1950s were more elaborate in including the evidence of skeletal and bioarchaeological material wherever they were encountered. Skeletal features and buial practices as evidence of extraneous origins of the people fusing with the local populations. Cultural interpretation of burial data revolved around mode of disposal of the dead, the significance of the funerary goods as well as the evidence of headrests from Tekkalakota, T. Narsipur, and Buditittu (the latter two in the upper Kaveri valley). Human skeletal remains were analysed for osteography, racial affinities, gender and age of death. Evidence for skeletal remains chiefly comes from burials, both pit and urn burials (single and double urn burials in case of infants and multiple urn burials in case of adults) which are typical of this culture anywhere in the Southern Neolithic province. At Brahmagiri 21 burials (18 urn burials of children), Piklihal 3 burials, Utnur 1 burial, 6 from Nagarjunakonda (one urn burial of a child), Tekkalakota 18 burials (6 child burials), at Hallur 2 burials, 1 at T. Narsipur another 2 were encountered, majority of them from Tekkalakota were fractional burials imposing restrictions on a detailed study. Skulls from Piklihal are mesocephalic and slightly prognathus. Wheraas the evidence from Nagarjunakonda reveals dolicocephalus variety, with a long head, robust and wide-nosed betraying similarity with the skeletal series from Langhnaj, Nevasa and Tekkalakota.

The higher frequency of child burials is indicative of high infant mortality obviously reflecting on the low immunity in that age group. There are several pastoral communities such as Lamanis, Kurubas and Gollas in the region, practising transhumance on the one hand and on the other at various stages of acculturation. The Lamani Tandas are conspicuous by their presence in the proximity or contiguity with the Neolithic sites in the Gulbarga-Bijapur-Raichur-Bellary-Anantapur region. It would be interesting to explore the similarities between the skeletal features from the Neolithic burials and the pastoral communities for plausible direct ethnographic analogies.

While pit burials remained unmarked in the habitation areas, there are instances of marked burials such as a stone layerd burial at Piklihal, needs to be taken into account in conjunction with the adult urn burials from Tekkalakota and numerous child urn burials from all the excavated sites witht the exception of Sanganakal and Maski (excavated areas did not produce burials) to trace the beginning of marked burials and the eventual trend towards megalithism….(agreeing with Watgal evidence), a strong pointer to assess the ideas of culural intrusion, overlap, transitions, replacement versus continuity and fusion of culture traditions.

Cranio-morphometry and non-metric traits of the Southern Neolithic skeltal series are found to possess uniform features over the larger Deccan peninsula, the region south of the Narmada, and represent a homogeneous population. The skeletal series needs to be subject to rigorous palaeodemogrphic studies, similar to those carried out on the Harapp an and Ganga Valley Mesolithic populations. In the given cultural continuum of the Southern Neolithic with the developing mixed economies a detailed analysis of the skeletal series from the point of view of physical and pathological adaptations is a desideratum to be able to compare with the Harappans, who were their contemporaries though spatially removed from ech other. In genreal the burials remains represent sub-adults, the reasons for this need to be answered.

6.    Neolithic Archaeo-zooology: the Study of Domesticated and Hunted Animal Remains

The  study  of  animal  remains    by  zoologists/veternary  scientists     became  an  important constituent of excavations  and reconstruction of the faunal background of the Neolithic culture The archaeological study of collected bones greatly helped in inferring the  inclusion  of meat  component   in  human  diet  and other  secondary  products  from the  domesticated animals, the significance of bone tools (such as arrowheads, scrapers, awls, needles, points, harpoons, chisels) in the absence of metal technology, etc. Cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, the ass, the horse and dogs constitute the domestic animals in that order of abundance. Though horse is reported its place in the Southern Neolithic is as yet uncertain, but appears to be associated with the late Neolithic. Rats and squirrels are rare but present at sites like Tekkalakota. Cattle bones are dominant in both the habitation and ash mound sites. Not much information on the provanane of the breed of cattle domesticated is available, two breeds of cattle have been identified (a) longhorned (acutifrons), slender bodied and humped (the zebu) and (b) massive and reltively short. The first veriety is perfectly depicted in the rock bruisings at Velpumadugu, 20 km southeast of Bellary in Anantapur district. Because of overriding dominance of cattle bones at the sites we feel that there has been complete bias in inferring cattle-pastoralism as the chief component of the Neolithic economy. The role sheep-goat has relegated to the secondary postion, reanalysis of the bones and the contribution of sheep and goat in shaping the structure of pastoralism is of paramount impotance. Bos, Bubalus, Capra and Ovis invariably occur at almost all the Chaloclithic sites between central India and the southern Deccan in the time period from 2500 BC onwards. Cattle, Bubalis and pig were possibly native to south India. Definitely goat and sheep are from the Near East, sheep maybe also from Baluchistan. Chicken Gangetic region, were introduced into the Southern Neolithic

7.  Archaeobotany: the Study of Neolithic Plant Remains

The first observation of plant remains was by Foote who observed and commented on the impression of straw preserved in the cinder slags at Budikanama ash mound near Kudatini in Bellary District. This he identified with of “the great millet (Holcus sorghum)”, i.e. Sorghum bicolor, although it not clear how he came to this conclusion since the stalks of grassers are more or less indistinguishable. This report must therefore be disregarded since more recent, systematic studies have failed top provide evidence of Sorghum.

The clearest aspect of the available evidence is the importance of pulses, especially those of tropical origin which are usually grown in the summer (monsoon) season (kharif). Most of these species are of South Asian origin, and some can be attributed, with more or less certainty, to more restricted regions of probable domestication on the peninsula. The most widespread pulse on Southern Neolithic sites is horsegram/ kulthi (Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc., synonym Dolichos uniflorum Lam.. Although this species has been generally referred to as Dolichos biflorus, this is in fact an invalid name for this crop as the Linnean type was a form of cowpea, for the taxonomy see Verdcourt 1970; Smartt 1990; synopsis in Fuller et al., n.d.). This pulse occurs from the earliest samples, such as the lowest level at Sanganakallu. It has also been recovered from the all regions of the Neolithic thus far sampled. The green gram/ mung (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek, syn. Phaeseolus radiatus L.) is also widespread in through the at least the middle and later periods of the southern Neolithic. The closely related black gram/ urid (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) is less widely represented in Neolithic samples, although it has been found from late(?) Neolithic of Hallur and from the Iron Age (First Millennium BC) at Veerapuram, Kurnool District.. All of these species are of South Asian origin. As for horsegram no populations of possible wild progenitors have been found, and it is therefore difficult to pinpoint its precise region of origin; perhaps, if the species was native to the plains of India the wild populations are extinct. In the past the wild progenitors of green and black gram were considered the same species, Phaeseolus sub lobatus.

Two other pulses that were probably later additions have been recoverd from Southern Neolithic sites, one of which may have originated in Africa. Pigeon pea/ Tuvar/Arhar (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) was derived from the wild Cajanus cajanifolia (formerly considered a separte genus, Atylosia) which is restricted to southern Orissa and Bastar. Archaeobotanical finds are few but suggest that the domesticate was diffusing on the peninsula in the mid-second millennium BC, i.e. Late Neolithic/Early Jorwe, including Sanganakallu, Peddamudiyam, and Tuljapur Garhi, Maharashtra. Another pulse widely recovered from Second Millennium BC sites on the peninsula is hyacinth bean/sem (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet).

The staple cereals of the Southern Neolithic were millets: dominated by a foxtail millet (Setaria sp.), in some cases to be idenfied with the bristly foxtial (S. verticillata), although the yellow foxtail may also be present. It is also possible that sawa millet (Echinochloa colona), another grass that is a natural constituent of the peninsular grasslands is present. Present in the Iron Age, and perhaps coming into cultivation during the later second millenium BC, was kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum), which has been found further north from Jorwe period Daimabad and from the Iron Age site of Veerapuram in Kurnool district. The ubiquity and quantity of millets from recently studies sites strongly argues for their use as staple grains, especially Setaria sp., akthough it remains ambiguous as to whether these were actually domesticated or exetnsively gathered in the wild. The high level of purity of the samples, with relatively few other grasses present argues for cultivation.

In addition to the staple food stuffs outlined above, Neolithic folk would have utilized gathered fruits, nuts vegetables and other produce. Unfortunately there is less evidence for these kinds of food, and generally less opportunity for their use to be preserved archaeologically. Nevertheless fruit pits, and nut shell fragments are often charred, and numerous small, unidentifiable fragments of these types of structures are present. In addition, one fruit which is widely preserved and recovered archaeological is Ziziphus sp. (probably Z. jujuba) the jujube fruit.

8. Lithic Production: the Sanganakallu Evidence

The site complex reveals two distinctive lithic artefact manufacturing areas, one relating to the production of microliths and another to stone axe or ground stone tools.

Quartz Microliths Manufacture (Struck Lithics)

A small trench in the vicinity of Birappa rockshelter was excavated during 2003-4, it revealed two distinctive layers, the lower one with quartz microliths and the upper one with chert microliths are easily discernible. The quartz industry is flake based although few bladelets and lunates are noticed. The presence of cores in the deposits suggests that the flakes and bladelets were manufactured at the site. Chalcedony, milky quartz and rock crystal are the other crypto-crystalline silica present. The presence of cores and nodules suggest that the raw material was roughed out at the source and the later production of microliths was carried out at the site. The source of chert can be traced to the Sandur greenstone belt about 8-10 km away . The use of antlers and horns of domesticated animals are suggested to have been used for striking the raw material in the process of production of these microliths. Similar mircolithic production is also documented at Sannarachammagudda (see below).

Ground Stone Axe Manufacture

Good documentation of the processing sequence of ground stone axes comes from Hiregudda. Hammer stones and axe blanks found in the pit-fills indicate ancient dolerite quarrying and the preliminary working of dolerite blanks. Fine-grained intrusive dyke rock was quarried from Areas B and J by the Neolithic axe-makers. The petrographic analysis of the quarried dyke and the much larger outcrop running parallel to the former suggest the preference of the former over the latter by the prehistoric axe-makers. The larger outcrop is made up of coarse-grained hard gabbro. The thin-section studies of archaeological samples and also the dyke material show that the quarried dyke is a micro crystalline gabbro. This microcrystalline structure results in conchoidal fracture necessary for flaking. The gabbro is of fine- to medium- grained texture.

The lithic studies reveal two major and distinct components of tool production – the struck lithics and the flaked and ground dolerite industry. There is a spatial predominance of these two methods. While in the deposits of Sannarachammagudda there is the evidence of the struck lithics production, in the deposits of Hiregudda, the flaked and ground method of producing dolerite axes is predominant.

The struck lithic industry is similar to the microlithic technology involving the production of bladelets and the modification of those into geometric tools like lunates and backed blades. The continuance and differences of the Mesolithic tradition in the Neolithic context is evident by the use of such a technique as the struck lithic production.

Three reduction strategies have been identified in the lithic assemblage of the site which include dolerite in the form of large, sub-rectangular blocks and thick slabs, thin flat cortical slabs and flake blanks and non-flake debitage. These initial preforms were worked upon bifacially along the perimeter and the thickness was reduced to facilitate pecking and further grinding. The lithic assemblage displayed a range of knapping procedures and skills hinting at the presence of axe-workers of varying skills and techniques in the site. About 25-30% of the lithic artefacts from the site show signs of pecking. Grinding and polishing constitute the final stages of production.

Stone Working at Feature I

The Feature 1 of Hiregudda Area A (described above) is associated with the later stages of tool production. The presence of a very large number of lithic artefacts in the upper deposits of the feature confirms the structure being a manufacturing workshop of axes and chisels of dolerite. The presence of long, narrow almost cylindrical preforms of chisels are found in abundance suggesting Feature A to be a workshop of highly skilled knappers.

The spatial distribution of artefacts over different levels in Feature I point out to different activities in different areas of the structure. While axe working was predominant in the western portion of the structure cooking activities took place in the north-eastern part. This is clear from the intensity of lithic and pottery assemblages and also the presence of ash respectively in the archaeological deposits. The other ‘domestic’ settlements at Hiregudda participated in the tool manufacturing processes more specialized and skilled functions were performed in and around the ‘workshop’ Feature 1.

Grinding Groves and Hallows

Long and narrow grinding grooves, shallow concavities on boulders which were used to grind and polish dolerite axes are found scattered in the Sanganakallu-Kapgallu plains. They are also present in Area A of Hiregudda mentioned above. The presence of a large number of axe-grinding hollows on Choudammagudda suggests an intensive axe-grinding activity. There are also a number of such features to the south–east of Sannarachammagudda in the plains close to the modern village of Sanganakallu. These grinding grooves are much longer than those near Feature 1 of Hiregudda but have the same characteristic V shape. There are also a number of such features to the south–east of Sannarachammagudda in the plains close to the modern village of Sanganakallu. These grinding grooves are much longer than those near Feature 1 of Hiregudda but have the same characteristic V shape.

Due to the labour intensive nature of grinding, most artefacts display only partial grinding and a large number have only their edges polished. This suggests the significance of utilitarian aspects over aesthetic appeal. The grinding or polishing grooves and hollows on the granitic surfaces which are seen all over the site and also at the foot of the hills have been associated with this activity.

These features have been studied in detail, and the mesoscopic analysis (5-20X) has helped in distinguishing two different uses these features have been put to. The smaller oval hollows or ‘slicks’ show evidence of more intensive abrasions and were possible used in grinding stone artefacts. However the larger round depressions show signs of grain processing. Experiments in grinding of lithic artefacts support the above conclusion. The less frequent narrow grinding grooves that occur in the site were employed in the grinding or polishing of the lateral edges of the stone tools. The deep striations and scratch marks on the surface are evidences of intensive abrasions resulting from grinding stones.

9. Ceramic Production

Although it has been long known that the Neolithic pottery was handmade, the fabric analysis of the ceramics, has provided new insights on technology and typology of Neolithic pottery. The Neolithic pottery was built using the coiling method and the irregularities occurring on the surface thereby were erased by rubbing it using edge ground potsherds identified as potter’s tool.

The fabric analysis and the study of apparent porosity yielded results which suggest that the pottery firing did not attain very high temperature. The morphology of the Southern Neolithic pottery varied slightly. The morphology of the pots suggests the cooking process to be largely boiling in nature and this agrees with the Neolithic crop package which mainly consisted of millets.

The change in the ceramic forms observed in the Southern Neolithic suggests the adoption of new varieties of foods, their preparation and social practices of consumption. F.R. Allchin has provided an exhaustive list of forms of pottery during the Neolithic and later phases based on his work in Piklihal. Like all other important Neolithic sites in the Southern Neolithic complex, the ceramic assemblage from Sanganakallu show a large number of everted rim jars and flared bowls. The restricted orifice and a rounded body is a predominant shape among the technological groups identified as cooking pots. This suggests the predominance of boiling in Neolithic culinary process. Boiling is the most common way of cooking millets which represent a staple among the Neolithic folk. In the later phases, two new phases make their appearance, one being the perforated strainer and the spouted jar and a channel-spouted form. The spouted jars and channel spouted forms enter the repertoire in the second (2000-1800 BC) or third (1800-1200 B.C) phase. Similar forms are found from the Malwa phase of western Maharashtra, from c.1700 BC at Inamgaon and further north from the later Jorwe Phase (c. 1500 BC) e.g. at Navdatoli. They are also found in the Patapadu Ware of the Kunderu valley, which is considered to be equivalent to the Malwa/Jorwe horizon.

The other important addition to the Southern Neolithic ceramic repertoire is the perforated pottery which occurs in the later phases of the Neolithic occupation at Sanganakallu. This perforated pottery has been attributed with a variety of functions like incense braziers, strainers, steam cooking, covers for boiling milk etc., by many scholars. According to F.R. Allchin, there are three possible uses of these perforated pottery – (a) braziers for incense burning; (b) lid for milk boiling; and (c) steam cooking of cereal products. K. Paddayya has suggested these perforated pottery could have been possibly used in the preparation of cereal and milk delicacies. Specimens from Watgal, Balijapalle (Cuddappah district, Andhra Pradesh) and Sannarachamma which exhibit spouted lips are noteworthy. Fuller is of the opinion that these could have been used as curd strainers. These forms appear in the northern Deccan in the Late Jorwe period c. 1200 BC. The occurrence of these forms in the Southern Neolithic at earlier phases suggests that they could have evolved in the southern Neolithic and dispersed northwards.

Edge ground potsherds ranging from circular to oblong shape have been noticed by researchers in Sannarachamma, Budihal, Kannekolur and Kodekal. They have been described as sharpeners and toys and are distinguished from spindle whorls which have perforations in the centre. While describing pottery from Piklihal, Allchin mentions the scraping marks on a few potsherds. Suspecting the edge ground potsherds to be employed in smoothening the walls of the pottery, experiments were conducted on clay in leather hard state. The experiments yielded expected results confirming the use of these edge ground potsherds to be potter’s tool. Based on ethnographic study of modern potters at Sanganakallu the following flow chart describes the processing involved in the production of ceramics

10. Chronology

In the Allchins synthesis the three phases of the Southern Neolithic were bracketed between 2500 and 1000 BC: Phase 1 (2500-2000 BC); Phase 2 (2000-1600 BC) and; Phase 3 (1600-1000 BC). The available dates from a variety of sites Both ash mounds and habitation sites and manu of them on anima bones, which did not take into account fractionation. There is need for a series of accurate dates to be able to reconstruct the developments of this culturla phenomenon and its relationship with other developments in the Subcontinent, especially the immediate nothern an southern regional cultural groups, and the apparent continuity of cultural development during the three millennia BC. Future datings by the AMS radiocarbon dating might hold new surprises. The suite of radiocarbon dates from Watgal emphasises the need for secure dates from a large number of sites to be able to either propose a working hypothesis or to test a working hypothesis on cultural transform processes operating in the Southern Neolithic complex. The radiocarbon determinations from Watgal have considerably helped in extending the beginnings of the Southern Neolithic culture by about 500 years.

Chronology Based on the Sanganakallu Evidence

The ashmounds at Sanganakallu were the first cultural feature that received scientific explanation from Robert Bruce Foote, who in view of the current grotesque theories trying to explain their formations, integrated them as part of Neolithic pastoral settlement and economy. Now archaeologists are increasingly inclined to assign them an important place in the ritual practices among the Neolithic folk and attempt a better understanding of the cognitive and symbolic aspects of the Neolithic and Megalithic settlers.

There is considerable variability in the nature and location of ashmounds not only at Sanganakallu but elsewhere in the Deccan. While some are located at the base of the hills, some are within the saddle of the hill or on top. Some of the hilltop ashmounds now lay buried under the later deposits, as at Hiregudda Area A and Sannarachammagudda. Some of the ashmounds show repeated burning of cattle dung and some periodic episodes of burning. Some of these ashmounds sit on artificially prepared platforms. It is of interest to note the rock art site on the dykes overlooks the ashmounds at the southern foot of Hiregudda.

One ashmound on Sannarachammagudda and another on Hiregudda both sealed within the archaeological sequence were excavated. This provided an opportunity to obtain AMS radiocarbon date for the deposits as well as the life history of the settlement. The available AMS dates and the stratigraphic evidence indicate a fairly short period, perhaps less than 200 years, for the formation of the ash deposits, between 1950 and 1750 BC. After the formation of the ash ceased intensive village activity over a period of 500-700 years covered the ashmound surface. At Hiregudda Area A the buried ashmound (secondary) dates to pre-1700 BC. The similarity of the sequence both at Sannarachamma and Hiregudda suggests that ashmound represents the initial stage of formation of the Neolithic site. Therefore it is possible to date the Neolithic period at Sanganakallu between 1950 and 1350 BC, with the ashomund activities coming to end around 1750 BC. The end of the Neolithic period is marked by intensification of craft production activities that is also associated with a new phase of megalith-building and ultimately abandonment of hilltop settlements. The beginning of Neolithic settlement is not earlier than 2000 BC.

Web links

• www.tutorialspoint.com /ancient_indian_history/ancient…
• The Bellary District Archaeological Project
• en.w ikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_ashmounds

Bibliography

• Agrawal, D. P. 1984. Archaeology of India. New Delhi: Select Book Service Syndicate.
• Settar and Ravi Korisettar (Eds.) 2002. Indian Archaeology in Retrospect: Prehistory. ICHR and Manohar
•  Sankalia, H.D. 1974.  Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan: Pune: Deccan College