17 Northwestern, Northern and Northeastern Neolithic of the Indian Subcontinent

Objectives

Neolithic cultures of India have been divided into several provinces by various scholars, and no two scholars agree on one classification. During the post Independence period regional surveys were continued in each of the states of India and Pakistan. This has resulted in the discovery and excavation of a large number sites. Multidisciplinary investigations have helped in developing regional models of Neolithic developments and comparative studies to be able to provide a historical account of the Neolithic cultures across the subcontinent as well as the distinctiveness of the Neolithic cultures.

In the following a region wise account is given.

2. Introduction

The first Neolithic celt was found as early as 1842 in the Lingsugur area of Raichur District in Karnataka and subsequently in 1860 by H.P. Le Mesurier in the East Tons River in Uttar Pradesh. In the region of our study the first jadeite Neolithic tool of this culture was collected by Sir John Lubbock in 1867 in the Brahmaputra Valley of upper Assam and Captain Beeching collected Neolithic tools from Singhbhum (Bihar) in the subsequent year. Since then several scholars collected Neolithic artefacts from various parts of the country but no habitation site could be excavated. Almost immediately after independence significant progress was made in this sphere and the Neolithic levels were identified at Kili Ghul Muhammad near Quetta city in 1950. Since then typological and geographical classification of Neolithic cultures were made, the first attempt being that of A.H. Dani in 1960. The sixties and seventies witnessed a spurt of research activities. In the northwest, the discoveries made at Kili Ghul Muhammad were followed by excavations at Sarai Khola in the Potwar plateau, and Ghaligai and Leobanr in the Swat Valley . The Neolithic site of Burzahom was excavated during 1960-71 followed by field investigations at Gufkral. Chirand was excavated in 1963 and again during 1969-73. Field researches were carried out in the Belan Valley during 1967-78 when Chopani Mando, Koldihwa and Mahagara were excavated. In Assam work at Deojali Hading and Selbalgiri which was followed at Sarutaru and Marakdola. Kuchai near Baripada in Orissa was excavated in 1961-62. A renewed interest in the Neolithic problem was generated with excavations at Taradih in 1981-84 and at Senuwar on the northern slope of Kaimur hills during 1986-87 and 1989-90. However, it was only at Senuwar that a substantial quantity of archaeobotanical data was retrieved during the course of excavations.

3. Northwestern India

The transformation from the terminal hunter – forager stage to the farming economy and the adaptation to the post-Pleistocene environmental changes in this part of the country has not been fully understood but this picture has come in sharp focus by investigations carried out at Mehrgarh and Kili Ghul Muhammad in Baluchistan , Gufkral and Burzahom in Kashmir Valley, Sarai Khola in the Potwar plateau and Ghaligai, Loebanr and Kalako-deray in the Swat valley. Details regarding each site are given below:

Mehrgarh is located on the Bolan river in the Kachi plain about 150 km southeast of Quetta. The French Archaeological Mission to Pakistan is credited with the discovery and further investigations at this site. Although the site was disocovered in the 1970s the team has been working in this region since 1968 and a chronological frame-work from the early seventh millennium BC has been worked out. Excavation carried out at this site between 1974 to 1983 have brought out remains of a pre-ceramic Neolithic culture with a suggested date of 8000 – 5000 BC. The north Kachi plain is a semiarid region with natural xerophytic vegetation. Here three environmental zones ( hills, plains and perennial rivers) come together and the region was well suited to the early development of farming economy.

The prehistoric settlement covers an area of more than 200 hectares (ha) making it one of the largest settlements of Neolithic culture between the Indus and the Mediterranean. Of this, about 700 sq m area was excavated in six field seasons. The nine meter thick cultural deposit has been divided into seven periods, beginning from aceramic (pre pottery) Neolithic down to the third millennium BC.

The first occupants of the aceramic Neolithic stage lived in rectangular rooms of smaller size. One room of a house complex measured 2 m x 1.80 m. Mud bricks were used to construct multiroomed houses and storage units. They ate goat meat but meat from hunting of ungulates was most preferred. Towards  the  end  of  the aceramic  stage,  by  about 6000  BC  sheep,  goat  and  cattle domesticated. Cattle breeding  replaced  hunting as  the  dominant  form  of  animal exploitation. At this stage barley was being cultivated and rows of large compartmented storage buildings were built in well – defined areas. The settlement had now grown to more than 10 ha in size but the socio – economic pattern remained unchanged during the course of 6th and 5th millennium BC. However, towards the end of the 5th millennium , there was a marked change in the settlement pattern and by this date six medium sized settlements sprang up in this area. At Mehrgarh itself, the settlement shifted to the south where clusters of houses with private courtyards , domestic installations and storage jars have been exposed. Cultivation of wheats, which previously had been very limited, becomes important.

It has been postulated that during the Late Pleistocene, hunter – gatherers fed themselves by collecting wild grasses and fruits in the foot hills and by hunting animals on the open slopes and on the plain near watering points but by the early seventh millennium BC cereal cultivation in flooded fields played an important role in the subsistence economy in this area. A study of thirty bricks or large fragments found in the excavation produced 5956 identifiable impressions. The proportions of the various taxa are: 91% six-row barley, 4% einkorn/emmer; 2.5% wild barley/two row barley; 1.8% hulled six-row barley and 0.7% durum bread wheat. From this break up it is clear that at first cereal cultivation was almost entirely limited to naked six-row barley which was perhaps not completely domesticated. Other cereals grown include much smaller amounts of wild barley, einkorn and emmer and durum bread wheat; the latter are significant because wild wheats are not known from this part of the world today. Thus the most important point in this context is the preponderance of barley; particularly six-row barley, in the aceramic Mehrgarh and of the limited presence of wheat in this level. Among the fruits mention may be made of zizyphus fruit, grapes and date palm. Besides, cotton seeds (Gossypium sp.) were also found from a building of Period I.

The Kashmir-Swat Neolithic

In Kashmir Valley Neolithic settlements have been located on the elevated part of the Karewas of which Burzahom, Semthan and Gufkral have been excavated. Of these, Burzahom is known for the pit-dwelling and a developed bone tool industry. Gufkral has given a still earlier phase not noticed at the former site. Gufkral has an aceramic Neolithic at the base, followed by a ceramic Neolithic phase. Semthen and Gufkral ha ve yielded botanical remains. Here, the first settlers subsisted to some extent on cereal farming and stock raising supplemented by hunting. Grains of domesticated wheat, barley, lentils and pea have been identified and bones of domesticated sheep and go at suggesting herd management are indicated in sub-period IA. Among the hunted animals, bones of ibex, bear, wild sheep/goats, wild cattle, wolf and Kashmir stag have been identified.

Burzahom is located about two km. from the Dal Lake and 16 km northeast of Srinagar. This has been surrounded by hills covered over with forest and with lakes and swampy areas. This geographical setting provides an ideal place for fishing, fowling and hunting

The habitational remains of this site comprised subterranean dwelling pits cut into the loessic soil. A series of flat bottomed, circular and oval pits were excavated containing ashy deposits. The largest was bell shaped, measuring 4.57 m in diameter and 3.96 m in depth. Plastered with clay, a number of these pits also contained stone hearths. The presence of post holes on the periphery suggested the existence of a birch cover supported on wooden posts as protection against the inclemencies of weather. Dwelling pits are not common on sites in the Indo Pak subcontinent but such evidence comes from western Asiatic Neolithic sites of Jordon and Iran. Semi-subterranean houses made of dry stones have been noticed at Beidha in Jordan and a 10 m. wide basin, believed to be a semi-subterranean domestic structure was excavated by Braidwood at Tepe Asiab near Kermanshah in Iran. Another site, Tepe Sarab , very near to the former site, provides evidence that the people lived in pit-like depressions similar to those found at Asiab. However, the pits at Sarab are comparatively small in size and there is no trace of post-holes or other evidence to give any clue for roofing. At Burzahom pit-dwelling gives place to mud or mud-brick architecture in Period II.

Among the lithic components at Burzahom mention may be made of stone axes but their exact number and typology is not known. Other stone implements comprise chisels, adzes, pounders, mace heads and pins . The rectangular harvester with crude cutting edge and two or more holes on either side makes its appearance in Period II at Burzahom. However, the microlithic component seems to be absent at this site. Besides, a developed bone tool industry is a diagnostic trait of Burzahom Neolithic. These bone tools comprise harpoons, needles with or without eyes and awls, spear-points, arrowheads and daggers for hunting game and scrapers.

The absence of seeds in the earliest levels at Burzahom leads us to believe that there is no positive evidence of cultivation of cereals. But the presence of a stone quern in one of the pit chambers indicates the processing of grains. Animal bones from the kitchen middens suggest that hunting and fishing was practised. Remains of pig, wagner (Kashmir stag) Nilgai and domestic sheep have been found from Period I. Period III has yielded bones of dog, sheep-goats, humped cattle and even buffalo – all of the domesticated variety. The wild animals include wolf and the Kashmir stag. Such evidence has been obtained from Suberde, a site between Hacilar and Catal Huyuk in south western Anatolia. This site has yielded an exceptionally rich collection of animal bones showing that a permanent settlement of early man flourished basically on hunting and fishing. A similar situation may have obtained in Period I at Burzahom.

The problem of dwelling pits of the Kashmir and the Swat valley has been reviewed recently by Conningham and Sutherland who believe that these pits were used for storing grains which inter alia suggests that it was a transhumant or semi-sedentary culture instead of a fully sedentary one in which case these pits could have been used for habitation throughout the year, including the very cold winters. Mention may also be made here of the discovery of dwelling pits in the Loebanr III levels and also at Kalako-deray. Here as many as 45 excavated pit chambers are located in the centre of the site. The Neolithic site of Kalako-deray is situated at a height of 1130 m AMSL. The earliest occupation at this site ascribed to period IV in the Ghaligai sequence and dated to 1800-1500 BC consists of pit structure. A large number of pits circular all over were dug into the natural soil. The other concomitants of this culture comprise a gritty -brown pottery together with Black -Grey Burnished Ware. The common shapes are jars with rippled rim and the burnished high – necked vessels of bottles, and large bowls with flaring sides. The stone artefacts comprise a rectangular holed sickle with double perforation, polished stone axes and hammer axe – both made of granite and grinding slabs of schist and mortars. The double holed sickle reminds of similar items from Kashmir and it was recovered in Swat for the first time at this site. Humped bulls of fired clay, shaped in a roughly ritualistic style, are reminiscent of similar figurines from Loebanr III.

4. North-Eastern Region

North-eastern India comprising of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram is one of the least explored regions of India mainly because of unfavourable climatic conditions with its torrential rain and impenetrable jungles. That this region is implementiferous was already known since later part of the 19th century by the large collection of ground and polished stone tools made by European scholars like John Lubbock, Godwin Austen, J.N. Hutton, J.P.Mills, G.D.Walker, C.R.Pawsey and J.H.Grace. The northeastern Neolithic culture zone comprises of Assam including Cachar hills, Garo Hills and Naga hills. Neolithic implements were picked up from these regions from time to time for well over a century, the earliest record being that of Lubbock (1867) from upper Assam and Captain Beeching (1868) from Singhbhum. Many details have been filled in this sketchy picture during subsequent years but most of the data still comes mainly from surface explorations, although a few sites have been excavated in recent years. The excavated sites comprise Daojali Hading and Salbalgiri (Garo Hills) in the north Cachar hills of Assam and Sarutaru and Marakdola on the Shillong plateau. However, keeping in view the geographical vastness of this area, the data is admittedly too inadequate. Further, even these excavations were mostly of vertical nature and we still do not have either a detailed picture of the life-style and economic background or a firm chronological base of most of these cultures. The artefact type and the corded pottery- seemingly associated with some of these cultures, find parallels with similar finds from eastern and southeastern Asia like the Neolithic cultures of Yangshao and Langshanoid of China and Hoabinhian of Thailand but the chronological gap between the cultures of eastern India and those further east prevent a firm linkage and make possible interaction extremely difficult in the present stage of research. An attempt has been made in the following pages to present a synoptic view of the data.

In the mid-fifties attempts were made to locate these artefacts in their original stratified context notably by M.C. Goswami in Assam and by T.C. Sharma in the Rongram and Sinasang River Valley of the Garo Hills. Among several sites of this locality Selbalgiri, located on the terrace of Rongram River was briefly excavated by T.C. Sharma. This excavation yielded ground and polished stone axes and pottery in the upper 60 cm deposits , below which only microliths were found to occur till natural soil was reached. The stone assemblage comprised of a flake and blade industry, a microlithic industry, a chipped stone axe industry, and polished stone industry occurring in association with a crude handmade pottery.

Among other excavated sites of Assam , mention may be made of Sarutaru, a small hamlet situated 25 km southeast of Guwahati on top of a small hillock in the Kamrup District. Three trenches measuring 3 m each were excavated during 1967-73 to a depth of 65 cm which resulted in the discovery of nine ground stone celts made on slate and sandstone and handmade pottery having cord and basket impressions. This pottery is closely similar to that of Deojali Hading in North Cachar hills. The Neolithic celts are of two types: shouldered celts and round butted axes.

Not very far from Sarutaru is the low mound of Marakdola. A small-scale excavation conducted at this site revealed a single cultural stratum of about one meter thickness from which were recovered wheel turned pottery of fine kaolin clay. This pottery was found at Ambari in the Guhawati area which is assigned to a time bracket of 7th century A.D. to 12th century A.D. The suspected date for the Neolithic Sarutaru is regarded to be the beginning of the Christian era.

The Neolithic culture seems to have penetrated in the hilly tract in the Himalayan foothills and Neolithic stone implements have not only been reported from Assam but from north Sikkim as well as neighbouring Nepal. Explorations conducted along the Tista River and its tributaries in Djangu area of north Sikkim have brought to light no less than eleven sites i.e. Lingthen, Lingdon, Barpak, Saukalan, Lingden, Gytong, Sangdeng, Guon, Torang, Gor-Taranol and Linkyong. The tool typology as well as the material are different, presumably in order to fulfil the local needs. The former comprise harvester, knife, axes, adzes and single and double perforated celts mostly made of schist shale, and basalt. Some of these types like the double perforated celts are typical of this region and have affinities with south Asian Neolithic assemblage. The adzes, Honan knife, perforated celts and harvesters are typical of the South Chinese Neolithic assemblage.

A similar assemblage has also been reported from Nepal by the Institute of Archaeology of Leningrad. Coupled with the discoveries from Assam and other north eastern sites, the evidence definitely demonstrates cultural links with Southwest China and Southeast Asia. Pottery is totally absent.

The survey of the Neolithic cultures of eastern India presented above indicates that Assam was the focal region of Eastern Indian Neolithic while Bengal, Bihar and eastern part of Uttar Pradesh seem to have been at the receiving end. As regards the basic tool types, there are two main traditions : the triangular axe with blunt butt end and the shouldered axe. While the shouldered axe tradition defused along the coast into Orissa and northeastern Andhra, the triangular axe with blunt butt-end tradition diffused eastwards into Bihar and Uttar Pradesh .

It is generally believed that the ecological condition in eastern India, particularly Assam, was not very different some three thousand years ago. Consequently the life-style of the people was essentially similar to that of the present-day tribal groups. The prohibitive natural conditions of the Brahmaputra Valley and the adjoining region have proved to be an area of relative isolation mainly because of the numerous hill ranges covered with thick evergreen forest. The rainfall is heavy and the land available for cultivation is naturally very small. Slash-and-burn method of cultivation is practised even today. Food is also supplemented by collecting a variety of tubers from the forest. A similar life -style has been envisaged for this Neolithic predecessors as well. As regards the genesis of this culture, it is supposed to have derived its inspiration from south China and Southeast Asia. Recent discoveries made in Sikkim further demonstrate cultural links with southwest China and Southeast Asia. The adzes, Honan knife, perforated celts and harvesters are typical of south Chinese Neolithic assemblage. Similar assemblage has also been reported from southeast Asia.

5.  Neolithic Culture of the Ganga Valley and Vindhya Region

North Central India

A well documented Neolithic culture is present on the northern slope of the Vindhyas. This culture was documented after the excavation of a number of sites like – Koldihwa, Mahagara, Pachoh, Indari and Chopani-Mando followed by exploration of more than 40 Neolithic sites identified in surface explorations in the valleys of Belan, Adwa, Son, Rihand , Ganga, Lapari and Paisuni rivers. These field investigations have provided a continuous sequence of transition from the stage of intensified food gathering and selective hunting (Epipalaeolithic ) through incipient food producing (Advanced Mesolithic or Protoneolithic) to settled village farming.

The principal Neolithic sites of the Vindhyan plateau are Koldihwa and Mahagara, situated on the opposite banks of the Belan river at a distance of 3 km from Chopani Mando and about 85 km southeast of Allahabad . Excavations at the former site have revealed a threefold culture sequence covering Neolithic, Chalcolithic and the Iron Age. The Neolithic culture is distinguished by the occurrence of ground stone tools including celts , microliths and handmade pottery represented by cord-impressed rusticated and burnished wares.

Mahagara has yielded remains of the Neolithic culture and later deposits are not present. As many as 20 huts represented by floors and post- holes were exposed at this site . The presence of burnt fragment of daub bearing impressions of reed or bamboo suggest that the sides of the huts were retained by wattle and daub screens. On the hut floors were found Neolithic blades and microliths , pottery , querns, mullers, sling balls, celts, bone arrowheads, terracotta beads and animal bones. The discovery of a cattle pen is a noteworthy feature of Mahagara excavations. It was irregular rectangular on plan , measuring 12.5 x 7.5 m with the longer axis oriented north -south. The cattle pen seems to have been fenced by 20 post- holes with spaces left for the openings, of which three can be made out. Within the fenced area no pottery or other finds was found . Instead ,a large number of hoof impressions of cattle belonging to different age groups, occurring in clusters ,were recorded. From the number of hoof marks it is suggested that the cattle pen would accommodate about 40 to 60 animals. Outside the pen near the hut clusters were found hoof marks of sheep or goats, situated almost in a straight line, suggesting the moving stage of the animal.

The Neolithic people lived in thatched hutments having a covered area of about 15 sq m with well laid out floors. Remains of as many as 20 huts have been excavated from Mahagara. The cattle -pen exposed at Mahagara with a cluster of hoof imprints of cattle of different age groups gives an idea of the herding of animals by the Neolithic folk .The animals comprise cattle, sheep, goat, horse, deer and wild boar of which the first four seem to have been domesticated. The archaeobotanical remains comprising of rice husk used in the paste of the pottery indicate that rice was widely cultivated in the area and rice husk was used as degressant. The wild rice (Oryza nivera) from Koldihwa, Mahagara, and Indari and bone fragments of deer, antelope, bear and bird suggest that hunting and collecting of wild food was as important as domestication and cultivation. The rice husk discovered here belongs to cultivated variety which on the basis of radiocarbon dates obtained from the Neolithic deposits (7th -5th millennium BC), provides the earliest evidence of rice cultivation in the sub-continent (. However, doubts are being raised regarding the stratigraphic position of the three charcoal samples giving high dates (6570 BC, 5440 BC, 4530 BC) and it has been suggested that the charcoal comes from a fire -pit belonging to the pre-Neolithic strata. The other concomitants of Neolithic culture are ground stone tools (including celts), microliths and handmade pottery.

Besides the well known excavated sites listed above, mention may be made of the Neolithic celts found in Banda, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar of Bundelkhand region in surface explorations. These comprise polished stone axe with pointed butt, made of basalt, epidiorite and dolerite . The pointed butt axe with triangular plan is the most common tool type in the south Indian Neolithic culture. This tool type, so commonly found in the Bundelkhand region can be typologically associated with the south Indian Neolithic complex.

The Kaimur Hills

Another cluster of Neolithic settlement comes from within a radius of 25-30 km on the Kaimur foothill in the Rohtas District. Exploration conducted during 1985-87 brought to light a number of Neolithic and Neolithic-Chalcolithic sites. Of these, the habitation site of Senuwar, situated on the right bank of Kudra River was excavated for two field seasons which resulted in the discovery of Neolithic culture (Sub-period IA ) which comprised cord-impressed pottery, Rusticated Ware and Burnished Red and Grey wares along with microlithic tools. The microliths include bladelets, blades and flakes of chert, chalcedony and quartzite. The other stone artefacts comprise triangular celts of basalt, pestles, saddle querns, rubber stones and sling balls of various sizes. Recovery of carbonised grains shows that these early farming communities cultivated two crops a year which include rice, barley, field pea and lentils. The inhabitants lived in huts made of reeds provided with well rammed floors.

In the succeeding phase at Senuwar copper makes its appearance in the form of fish-hooks, wire and needles. Its chemical analysis shows that the metal was brought from the neighbouring Rakha mines. There is a marked improvement in the art of pottery making, particularly in its surface treatment. Post-firing ochre colour paintings present in the Burnished Grey Ware vessels remind of similar discovery from Chirand.

The lower levels of upper Subphase (IB) has been dated between 1770 and 1400 BC by radiocarbon method and hence the beginning of the earlier half (i.e. Sub-period IA) will go to the later half of the third millennium BC.

6.  The Middle Ganga Valley and Beyond

Uttar Pradesh

During the last five decades archaeological investigations in the middle Ganga valley has helped in documenting the presence of distinctive Neolithic levels of occupation at a number of excavated multi-culture sites. Among the excavated sites the following are important. Jhusi, Hetapatti, Bhunadih, Waina, Sohgaura, Imlidih Khurd, Lahuradewa in Uttar Pradesh are important excavated sites which have yielded material culture as well as organic remains helping in characterisation of the Ganga valley Neolithic culture. These sites are situated along the rivers and lake shores (oxbow lakes). Owing to the limited nature of excavations details of micro settlement patterns are lacking. Yet some of the salient features have been described.

Houses were either circular or oval on plan with wattle and daub structures, a common feature of the Neolithic huts. Other structural features include hearths, pit silos, etc. Agro-pastoral economy is evident. A variety of cereals and pulses including rice, barley, wheat, fieldpea, lentil, green gram, etc. have been documented from the Neolithic levels. Domesticated animals included cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pigs.

The ceramic industry of the Neolithic is represented by both handmade and slow wheel turned pottery. Pottery assemblage included red ware, lustrous red ware, corded ware, burnished ware, etc. Different types included bowls, vases, basins, miniature jars, s pouted vessels, etc. Occurrence of painted pottery have been noted from Lahuradewa. Lithic assemblage known from several of these sites include microliths, bladelets, scrapers, etc. Made from a variety of crypto-crystalline silica. Evidence from Lahuradewa have now received greater attention owing to recent excavation and dating of rice remains from the lower levels.

Bihar

Chechar Kutubpur, Taradih, Senuwar and Chirand in Bihar are important excavated sites. Neolithic remains in Bihar come mostly from three geographical zones- the riverine plains to the north of the Ganga, (mainly Chirand and Chechar-Kutubpur), the foothills of the northern flanks of the Kaimur range, (Senuwar, Sasaram and Taradih districts, Gaya District) and hilly regions of south Bihar. In the last-named area Neolithic sites seem to be confined to high plateaus or terraces much above the flood plains of the river. They comprise chisels, rounded butt-axes and bar chisels made by chipping, picking, grinding and polishing techniques.

Chirand is a small village on the left bank of the Ganga in north Bihar. This site was under excavation between 1963 and 1970 but it was only during 1969-70 that in the lowest deposit of two trenches (CRD-XI and CRD -XII) located on the eastern and western parts of the mound a pre-metal Neolithic culture-complex was exposed. One of these trenches (CRD-XI) contains seven layers (12-18) which contain Neolithic deposits. The importance of Chirand lies in the fact that this site is located in low-lying plains with monsoon climate having alluvial soil all round brought by the rivers Ghaghara and Ganga. It seems that hunting and fishing were major occupations while rudimentary cultivation was also practised. The inhabitants cultivated rice, wheat, barley and lentils such as moong, masur and pea. Most of the animals were domesticated which comprise humped cattle, Indian buffalo, sheep, goats and pig. Among the wild animals rhinoceros, swamp deer and chital seem to have been hunted. A number of fish bones and teeth and snail or mollusc shells suggest that fishing was popular. The tools comprise stone axes triangular on plan with a rounded butt and convex cutting edge (very limited in number), pestles, querns, hammers and rectangular milling stones. The microliths comprise blades, bladelets, points and arrowheads but the most outstanding artefactual inventory contains a highly sophisticated bone tool industry, comprising the pick, burnisher, chisel, hammer, digger, weeder, bar-celt, shaft-straightener, side-scraper, end-scraper, needle, bodkin, toothpick, awl and arrowhead. Traces of post-holes exposed in the excavations indicate that the inhabitants lived in houses made of reed and mud which were circular on plan. They were conversant with the art of pottery making. Hand made vessels comprising bowls (lipped, perforated, footed, knobbed, etc.) and spoons, ladle and miniature pots of Black-and-Red Ware have been reported. The pottery was decorated with appliqué design, incised design, post-firing scratching and post-firing ochre painting. Black-and- Red Ware was produced in abundance in the succeeding Chalcolithic level of this site but the forms of the vessels were now different. Eight radio-carbon dates coming from the various Neolithic strata of this site fall between 1750 ± 155 (TF 1032) and 1270 ± 105 (TF 1035) on the Libby half-life value of the carbon.

Besides, Neolithic celts have also been reported from Manjhi, Chechar, Sonpur and Barudih. Among these, Chechar is located in Vaisali District, to the north of river Ganga in the alluvial plain. Excavation conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India at this site brought to light polished stone tools alongw ith tools of bone and antler.

Some noteworthy features of all the Neolithic sites taken together are discussed below. As far as ceramics are concerned, the earliest pottery is generally handmade. A few specimens produced on turn-table have been recovered from Chirand and Taradih while at Senuwar wheel made potteries are more common than the handmade one. Generally the clay is not well levigated and the pots were ill-fired and of coarse and medium fabric, while Plain Red Ware and cord impressed pottery are generally found on all the four sites noted above, Burnished Red Ware and Burnished Grey Ware are confined to sites of south Bihar only (i.e. Taradih and Senuwar). The now famous Black-and-Red Ware has been reported only from Chirand where a large number of shapes have been noted but it is significantly absent at the other three sites. With the onset of the Neolithic stage prehistoric man settled at one place, the archaeological proof of which is manifest in the structural remains. There is evidence of floor prepared below the ground at Chirand which suggest the existence of some sort of pit dwellings. In the later phase (IB) they started living in houses with mud plastered reed walls on the ground floor. A circular paved floor about 4 m in diameter was exposed in the second phase. A semi-circular hut with several oblong ovens, probably used for community cooking purpose was also found. Outside this platform post-holes were located at regular intervals. A fairly large number of chunks of clay with reed and bamboo impressions found in these strata suggest that the houses perished in some conflagration.

The remaining three excavated sites noted above, have provided only indirect evidence of building activities which comprises burnt clay lumps with reed marks and floor made of rammed earth suggesting the existence of wattle-and-daub houses as excavated at Chirand. Evidence of hearths is found only from Chirand and Taradih. The discovery of several oblong hearths in semi-circular hut at Chirand has been noted above . An interesting feature of these hearths is that the soil around the hearths had become almost white in colour indicating the presence of carbonates, calcium sulphates, salt or bone ash (calcium phosphate). From the white colour and the shape of ovens, it has been inferred that they were used for roasting animal flesh. A few hearths of different shapes and dimensions were also reported from Taradih but details are not available. An insight into the technology of Neolithic people of Bihar can be had from their ground stone tools, blade and microlithic industry and implements of bone and antler. The stone celts are exceedingly small in number and comparatively diminutive in size as well. Only 4 celts made of basalt come from Chirand. The triangular celts at Senuwar also made of basalt, generally of small variety, are ground and polished all over the body. However, this inadequacy was more than made up by the discovery of a large number of ground stone objects presumably used for food processing (such as querns, pestles and rubbers), tool fabricators (hammerstones), fowling implements (sling balls) and other miscellaneous objects (discs). The use of microliths continued side by side which falls in the category of ‘Neolithic blade and microlithic industry’. At Chirand these tools comprise microblades, notched blades, arrowheads, points, lunates, borers and scrapers. In addition a few geometric microliths were also recovered from this site. All these tools are made of chalcedony, chert, agate and jasper which were manufactured from nodules probably collected from the bed of Son River which flows not very far from the site and meets the Ganga at Haldi-Chapra, a few km south-east of Chirand. The lithic industry of Taradih comprises points, blades and cores and at Senuwar this industry includes blades, bladelets flakes and cores. At the last-named site these tools were also made of quartz and quartzite along with those of chert, chalcedony and agate.

An interesting feature of Bihar Neolithic is the occurrence of bone tools which have been recovered from all the four sites. Bone implements from Chechar-Kutubpur, Taradih and Senuwar generally comprise points and arrowheads but at Chirand which has yielded about 200 artefacts of this class, they have been grouped in thirty varieties. They are made either from antlers or from long bones of cattle or deer. Some of the types comprise wedge,chisel, bar celts, weeding tool, hammer, knife, hide cutting tool, needle, spearhead, bodkin, tanged arrowhead, drill and shaft-smoother.

The personal ornaments recovered from excavations are beads made of semi-precious stones like chalcedony, agate, jasper, marble and steatite. The discovery of a number of unfinished beads from Chirand and Taradih indicates that they were locally manufactured. Other ornaments include pendants, ear-rings and bangles made of bone (from Chirand). Chirand has also yielded a number of terracotta objects like human and animal figurines, bird figurines and other miscellaneous objects. However, it is in the field of agriculture and other economic pursuits where neolithians of Bihar had made significant advancement over their fellow brethren from West Bengal. While rice was the main cereal content in the diet of Neolithic man in Bengal, at about the same time and even earlier agriculture based on two crops and even rotation of the crop had already been introduced in Bihar. Paddy husk impressions were noticed on some burnt clay pieces at Chirand but apart from these wheat, barley, lentil (Moong, Masoor), field pea (Pisum arvense) have also been found. It is interesting to note that wheat, barley and field pea (Pisum arvense) belong to the same specimens as recognised from the Harappan and the Chalcolithic sites in western India. Some leguminous weeds and wild fruits like ber also have been found. This data from Chirand has been supplemented by that coming from Senuwar. It comprises rice (Oryza sativa), barley (Hordeum vulgare), field pea (Pisum sativum Vararvense) lentils (Lens culanaris) and millets. In addition to this, the Neolithic deposit at Senuwar has also yielded dwarf wheat (Triticum sphaerococcum), grass pea (Lathyrus sativus), Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) and seeds of vetch (Vicis sativa) which grows as a weed in the winter crop fields. Thus the variety of crops at Chirand and Senuwar suggests that agriculture was the main source of the subsistence economy and both kharif and rabi crops were raised by rotation. Food was also supplemented by hunting, fishing and fowling. Animal remains have been found at Chirand, Taradih and Senuwar. At Chirand a large number of b one remains of sheep/goats, cattle, bufallo, deer, pig, elephant, rhinoceros, dog, bird, tortoise,fish and shell have been found. A large number of charred animal bones with hewn marks were collected from the Taradih and Senuwar but their zoological identification is not yet known.

The chronology of Neolithic culture in Bihar is not clearly defined but some radiocarbon dates from Chirand and Senuwar give a fairly good idea about their chronology.There are ten radiocarbon dates from Chirand of which the earliest date (TF 1032) goes to 1760±155 BC which after calibration falls between 2195 and 1750 BC. There are six other dates which are progressively later than TF 1032; the latest in the series being TF 1035 which comes to 1270±103 B C; which after calibration falls between 1575 and 1280 BC. The remaining three dates (TF 1036, TF 1126 and TF 1034) are later than 800 B.C. and thus obviously out of context. On the above showing, it is fair to suggest that Neolithic Chirand survived from circa 1800 BC to 1200 BC with a margin of 100 years on both sides (Agrawal and Kusumgar,1974:71). There is no 14 C date from Senuwar from the pure Neolithic phase (Period IA). Three 1 4 C dates 1770±120 BC, 1660±120 BC and 1500±110 BC have come from the early phase of chalcolithic (Period IB) at this site. On the basis of these three dates, the beginning of Period IB i.e. Chalcolithic phase, has been dated to 1800 BC and hence the date of Period IA (pure Neolithic) will be definitely pre-1800 BC and its beginnings may as well go to the later half of the third millennium BC.

Bengal

In northern Bengal polished stone axes in small numbers have been reported from the Dungrabusti and Sindibong as also at Bagridibhi in Midnapore District; in the area of Susunia hill (Bankura District) and from several sites in Purulia. Ground stone tools have also been reported from numerous sites in Ajay, Kunoor and other river valleys of Burdwan and Birbhum districts and in the deltaic region of the Ajay and Bhagirathi. In addition to triangular axes noted above, the main tool types of Bengal are ring-stone and shouldered celts. In the excavations of Pandu-Rajar-Dhibi located on the Ajay, some polished stone axes were reported from the earliest levels but an independent Neolithic horizon at this site remains to be established. Similar tools were discovered in the excavation at Bharatpur in Burdwan District. A small- scale excavation was conducted at this site during 1971-72. Here a Neolithic-Chalcolithic culture comprising of plain and painted pottery, bone tools, Neolithic celts, microliths and beads of semi-precious stones was found in the lowest level. The inhabitants lived in houses made of reeds and bamboo.

Odisha

The only excavated site in Orissa is Kuchai, situated about 8 km to the north of Baripada along the national highway to Keonjhar. A small-scale excavation was conducted by B.K. Thapar. The upper clayey deposit of 40-45 cm yielded polished triangular axes with rounded butt, faceted hoes, chisels, maceheads, pounders and grinding stones. These artefacts were associated with a coarse grit-tempered Red Ware sometimes also slipped and occasionally bearing incised or finger-tip decoration. The forms include bowls, and the kunda. It is interesting to note that in the adjacent territory of Andhra Pradesh 15 sites yielding ground stone tools, along with microliths and pottery have been reported in the coastal districts of Visakhapatnam and East and West Godavari. Besides, evidence of domesticated rice was obtained from Baidyapur, a Neolithic site in Mayurbhanj District. From the underlying deposit, composed of gravel mixed with greyish earth and loose laterite, microliths of essentially non-geometric industry was obtained. No pottery was found with these tools. In this context it may be recalled that recent field work in northeastern Andhra Pradesh by Thimma Reddy comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts calls for a new definition of the Eastern Neolithic complex.

Web links

• http://www.indiana.edu/~geol105/images/gaia_chapter_4/milankovitch.htm
• http://www.britannica.com/science/Quaternary
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadial
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interglacial
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunhes%E2%80%93Matuyama_reversal
• http://australianmuseum.net.au/the-geological-time-scale
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/Geologictimeperiods.shtml)

Bibliography

• Barbara A. Maher and Roy Thompson Ed. 1999 Quaternary Climates, Environments and Magnetism. Cambridge University Press, UK
• Clive Gamble 1999 The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe (Cambridge World Archaeology) Second Edition
• Eric Delson, Ian Tattersall, John A. Van Couvering Ed. 2000 Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory, Second Edition. Garland Publishing, New York
• John Lowe and Mike Walker 2014 Reconstructing Quaternary Environments Third Edition. Routledge Upinder Singh 2009. A history of Ancient and Early Medieval India. Pearson, India