Notes

Northwest Frontier and KashmirThis region falls into at least three major areas: the stretch between Peshawarand Taxila comprising the Peshawar valley and the Potwar plateau; the areabetween Swat and Chitral; and finally, the valley of Kashmir.The Neolithic levels of Saraikhola in the Potwar plateau gave way to aKot Diji related horizon, and in some way this region as a whole was withinthe trading network of the contemporary Indus plains.In the Swat-Chitral region the large number of sites that have beenexcavated show the use of different metals, stone and other objects amongwhich are shell, coral and ivory which must have reached this region from theIndus plains. The rock shelter site of Ghaligai, which perhaps goes back to3000 BC, provides the baseline in Swat-Chitral.The ‘proto-historic graveyards’ of the region are dated between thesecond quarter of the second millennium BC and the late centuries BC. Theevidence of such graveyards and associated settlements has been categorisedas the ‘Gandhara Grave Culture’. These Copper Age graves are marked byintlexed burials and urn burials after cremation.Grave sites and associated settlements have been investigated at a largenumber of sites including Loebanr, Aligrama, Birkot Ghundai, Kherari,Lalbatai, Timargarha, Balambat, Kalako-Deray and Zarif Karuna located inthe valleys of Chitral. Swat, Dir, Buner, etc.In Kashmir more than thirty Neolithic sites have been found scattered butmost of them are in the Baramulla, Anantnag and Srinagar regions. Thisdistribution points out that this was not a culture isolated from the plains.Archaeologically, of course, this fact is well understood because theoccurrence of a spiral-headed copper ‘hairpin’ at Gufkral and a Kot Diji-type‘homed deity design’ on a globular pot at Burzahom underline, among otherthings, the interaction of Kashmir with the Indus plains during this period.The aceramic phase at Gufkral showed large and small dwelling pits.Shallow and large pits are said to be more common in its earlier phase. Thereare examples of pits with two chambers in the later phase.Handmade grey pottery with a mat-impressed base is a distinguishingfeature of the ceramic phase of the Kashmir Neolithic at both its excavatedsites—Gufkral and Burzahom. The Neolithic phase in Kashmir merged into aMegalithic phase around the middle of the second millennium BC.Ladakh and AlmoraThe data from both Ladakh and Almorah are uncertain, mainly because thedates are both limited in number and inconsistent. However, they cannot beignored altogether and apparently suggest a movement on both sides of theKarakoram and the Himalayas in protohistory, rather similar to the links wehave seen in the context of the Northwestern Frontier and Kashmir.The handmade red pottery excavated at Kiari in Ladakh has beencompared with similar pottery of the Burzahom Neolithic Period II. Fourhearths occur in three successive phases and there are domestic cattle, sheepand goat. Its date is 1000 BC. Giak, a similar site at a distance of less than 10km and located in the same geographical situation, yielded a singleradiocarbon date which goes back to the sixth millennium BC.In the UP Himalayas, near Almora, megalithic burials (dolmenoids,cairns, menhirs and cist-burials) have been noticed and the upper filling of acist yielded a date of third millennium BC. The cist-burials of this area show‘horse burials’ and red, grey and black pots. Uleri, an iron-smelting site nearAlmora shows a date range of 1022-826 BC.Northeast RajasthanIt was Jodhpura, a large mound on the bank of the non-perennial Sabi orSahibi River, which first yielded evidence of Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culturebelonging to the fourth and third millennia BC. Subsequently, the diagnosticpottery—wheel made, orange to deep-red color, decorated with inciseddesigns and possessing shapes including dish-on-stand—was found atGaneshwar in a small Aravalli valley on the Delhi–Jaipur railway line.Attention was focused on this culture after a large number of copperartefacts, including a distinct type of arrowhead, were found in theGaneshwar excavations. Ganeshwar has been re-excavated and a largenumber of sites of this type (totally 83) have been located in various parts ofnortheast Rajasthan, especially in Sikar, Jaipur and Churu districts.The significance of northeast Rajasthan as a copper mining and workingarea should be obvious. Ganeshwar, which is not more than 3 or 4 acres, hasalready yielded about 2000 copper objects. When one remembers that thereare more than eighty such sites, the possible scale of this copper mining andworking strikes us forcefully.Southeast RajasthanOf the Chacolithic group in southeast Rajasthan, a plain drained by theBanas, Berach and their tributaries, only three sites (Ahar, Gilund andBalathal) have been properly excavated so far. Sites that belong to the Aharor Banas culture, which now number more than ninety, occur in the districtsof Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Jaipur and Tonk in Rajasthan andMandasore in Madhya Pradesh.The general movement of the culture was from southwest to northeast upthe course of the Berach and the Banas. The Ahar sites were located alongrivers, ranged in size from a couple of acres to over 10 acres and werefrequently sited within five to ten miles of each other.Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Ahar culture is its effectiveknowledge of copper metallurgy. The occurrence of etched carnelian beads, asingle bead of lapis lazuli and the Rangpur-type lustrous red ware in Ahar allunderline an element of connection with the Harappans in Gujarat. On theother hand, this culture expanded towards Malwa with some links as far southas the Deccan (e.g. the Jorwe ware of Maharashtra at Ahar).The two sites of Ahar and Gilund were excavated much earlier (Ahar in1953–54 and Gilund in 1959–60), but it is the recent work at Balathal (1994–98) that has provided more convincing evidence. The early historic period atthe site followed its protomstoric habitation after a long gap. Theprotohistoric chronology of Balathal has added a new, if not revolutionary,dimension to our understanding of the Ahar culture. There should not be anydoubt about the beginning of protohistoric occupation at Balathal towards theclosing centuries of the fourth millennium BC.Metallurgically, and from the point of view of its contribution to craftspecialisation as a major factor leading to the growth of the mature Induscivilisation, the growth in northeastern Rajasthan has a very distinct characterof its own. It also highlights the role played by the Aravalli region as a wholein protohistoric India.MalwaThe protohistoric archaeology of Madhya Pradesh is dominated by that of theMalwa region which is a large fertile plateau drained by the Chambal, KaliSindh, Narmada, Sipra, Betwa and other rivers and has some trunk routesfrom the north to the Deccan and west India passing through it. The area isdotted with Chalcolithic sites but there is no comprehensive study of theirlocation and distribution. Out of many sites excavated, full reports areavailable only on Nagda, Kayatha and Navdatoli.Among them Navdatoli provides the index. There are more than 100Chalcolithic sites in Malwa. The evidence suggests that Navdatoli was anucleated settlement. A somewhat different picture of the settlement comesfrom Eran. Surrounded on three sides by the river Bina, Eran was defendedon the fourth side by a rampart and a ditch. Constructed in the ‘middle’ of theChalcolithic phase, the rampart had two phases. No evidence of a rampart hasbeen obtained at any other Malwa Chalcolithic site.The dominant pottery type was a Black-on-red Ware associated withother types like the Black-and-red Ware. The implements used wereprimarily Microlithic blades. Evidence of copper is limited, althoughNavdatoli possesses copper flat axes. Beads occur profusely and were madeof diverse material. A number of crops were grown at Navdatoli. The Malwaculture, as dated at Navdatoli, falls broadly in the first half of the secondmillennium BC.Malwa was closely linked with Rajasthan on the one hand and the Deccanon the other. But what is equally, if not more, interesting is the presence ofthe late Harappans in Malwa. Among the more interesting developments inthe study of the Chalcolithic cultures in Malwa is the evidence of fire-altarsand perhaps temples at Dangwada, which has also yielded evidence of bullworship and phallus worship in its Chalcolithic stage.MaharashtraThe first excavations in the Maharashtra Chalcolithic region took place atJorwe (near Nasik), which were followed by work at Nevasa. But the recentreports are invaluable for their comprehensive study of Daimabad andInamgaon. The initial settlement zone, as represented by the distribution ofthe Savalda culture sites, is between the Tapti and the Godavari in northMaharashtra. It could be dated around the end of the third and the beginningof the second millennia BC.On the basis of work at Kaothe, the Savalda culture has been interpretedas being that of a semi-nomadic community. This interpretation is partiallybased on the similarity between the excavated house types at the site andthose of the local semi-nomadic Dhangar community.At Daimabad the area occupied by the Savalda culture measured about 3ha, but the impression of semi-nomadism, as deduced at Kaothe, is offsethere by the presence of rectangular mud houses, copper, a microlithic bladeindustry, miscellaneous bone and stone objects, a limited number of beadsand a large variety of grains.The basic locale of the late Harappans in Maharashtra was in the regionoccupied by the Savalda culture. The presence of the Indus script (twoterracotta button-shaped seals and four pot-shards, all with the Indus script) atDaimabad has clinched the issue of its identification.At Daimabad evidence appears in the second phase of the site andoccupies an area as large as 20 ha. A grave made of mud-bricks conformingto the standard Harappan ratio of 4:2:1 was found within the habitation area.A rich chert blade industry, extensive use of copper, beads, miscellaneousstone objects, etc. were among the other major components of this culturallevel at Daimabad.An outstanding find of this period at Daimabad is a hoard of four heavysolid-cast copper objects (weighing 60 kg in all) showing a man driving achariot, a buffalo on a four-legged platform attached to four solid wheels, anelephant on a similar platform but with its axles and wheels missing, andfinally, a rhino shown standing on the axles of four solid wheels.The third period at Daimabad is represented by the ‘Daimabad culture’,which covered an area of about 20 ha and had, as its diagnostic trait, ill fired,Black-painted Red Ware. The Malwa cultural phase constitutes the fourthperiod of the Daimabad sequence. There is extensive structural evidencebelonging to this phase. A number of structures have been identified asreligious, mainly on the basis of the occurrence of fire-altars in them. This isalso the general period when one notes the beginning of Chalcolithicsettlements in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The settlement data of thesucceeding Jorwe phase in Maharashtra have been closely studied. AtDaimabad the settlement size increased to 30 ha. Among the 200-oddreported Jorwe settlements, a vast majority were villages ranging from I to 3ha.What is singularly interesting is that in the early Jorwe phase at Inamgaonthere is evidence of an irrigation channel and an embankment to the west ofthe main habitation area. Both hand ploughs and seed drills were used inagriculture. Pottery kilns, gold ornaments, copper, crucibles, terracottafigurines, some signs of animal and fire worship etc. complete the picture ofChalcolithic village life we have in the Jorwe phase in Maharashtra. Thisphase is supposed to have come to an end around 1000 BC or later. By theJorwe period, however, Maharashtra became more southward oriented withJorwe ceramic elements found as far as Andhra Pradesh and southernMysore.South IndiaThis area is broadly known as the ‘Southern Neolithic Culture’, withgeographical variations in each of the three component ‘states’. It consists ofthe Karnataka plateau, the plateau region of north-western part of TamilNadu, and the tract of Telengana and Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh. Thefocus here is on ‘South Indian Neolithic Culture’, which has a long researchhistory and is dominated by the issue of Neolithic ash-mounds and thelocation of Neolithic settlements on the flat-topped hills of the region.A major component of this region from the present point of view is thetwo Doabs: the Raichur Doab between the Krishna and the Tungabhadni andthe Shorapur Doab between the Bhima and the Krishna. Sites occur to theeast of the Tungabhadra too.Neolithic sites abound in the region; around Tekkalakota alone there arenineteen of them. The flat-topped granitic hills of the region and the riverbanks seem to have provided a suitable occupation ground for the neolithicsettlers. Their principal excavated sites now include Brahmagiri, Maski,Piklihal, Utnur, Kupgal, Hallur, Nagarjunakonda, Veerapuram, Ramapuram,Hemmige, Sanganakallu, Pallavoy, Paiyampalli, Tekkalakota, Kodekal andBanahalli.For a more recently studied sequence of the southern Neolithic one mayperhaps turn to Watgal, not far from the classic excavated sites of Piklihaland Maski in the Raichur Doab. If Watgal has provided a recent sequence ofthe south Indian Neolith stratigraphy, Budihal in the Shorapur Doab hasprovided more of the general Neolithic cultural picture.A full-fledged Chalcolithic complex occurs in Andhra. Among a largenumber of sites discovered in the Kurnool area, Singanapalli is a singleculture site yielding a profuse quantity of painted pottery, stone blades, etc.The Andhra Neolithic element is no doubt part of the same complex in TamilNadu and Karnataka, the latter region standing in more close relationshipwith Maharashtra from where the Jorwe ware came to this region andpersisted till a much later period.Eastern IndiaExtending over Bengal, Orissa and Assam, physio-graphically eastern Indiais not a homogeneous unit. Neolithic celts have been picked up from thesurface from almost the entire area except for the alluvial valleys and deltas.••••The collection has been large enough to warrant divisions and subdivisions.On the basis of typological studies it has also been possible to speak of twoNeolithic culture provinces, one comprising Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, andthe other Assam, itself with a number of subareas within it. Apart frominferences based on typology, there is little positive evidence of thebeginning of farming in this wide area.In Orissa, Kuchai has yielded handmade pottery along with a few groundstone axes and flakes of sandstone. In Orissa again, the site of Golbai Sasanhas yielded Neolithic celts, bone tools in association with a number ofwheelmade pottery types. This assemblage is likely to belong to the secondmillennium BC.The entire northeastern region has yielded a rich haul of polishedNeolithic tools but no consolidated picture of a Neolithic level has yetemerged. In Assam, two Neolithic sites—Daojali Hading in the northKachhar hills and Sarutaru on the border between Assam and Meghalaya—were excavated some years ago. More recently, several places in Nagalandhave yielded both handmade Grey Ware and Neolithic tools but these sitesare still unexcavated. However, the mere existence of Neolithic andhandmade Grey Ware does not mean that these sites are early in date.It is possible to argue in favour of the existence of an early village level atseveral sites in West Bengal and Bihar, notably at Pandu Rajar Dhibi (WestBengal), Chirand, Taradih and Senuar (all in Bihar).The relevant cultural material in Palldu Rajar Dhibi consists ofmicrolithic blades and husk impressions of rice in the core of pottery.Similar but more extensive evidence occurs at Chirand in the middleGanges valley in north Bihar. This level at the site has yielded anumber of pottery types, a terracotta industry, bone tools, beads andremains of wheat, barley and rice.At Senuar in the Kaimur foothills three principal ceramic types werefound. In addition to a rich microlithic industry there are bone tools,beads and miscellaneous stone objects, rice, barley and some millets.Rice is said to have been the principal crop.Not much is known about the Neolithic level at Taradih except thatthis has two phases; comprising primarily handmade red pottery in thefirst phase.The Chalcolithic phase in the archaeological sequence of eastern Indiacovers a very large number of sites in Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa. Its••hallmark is an assemblage characterised principally by a plain and paintedBlack-and-Red Ware. This level is found to possess copper, a micro lithicindustry, bone tools and worked antler pieces, semi-precious stone beads,reed and mud houses, rice as the principal crop, miscellaneous terracotta andstone objects. In Orissa this level has not yet been extensively excavated, butin Bihar and West Bengal there are very large number of sites.There are 70-odd reported Chalcolithic and Iron Age Black-and-RedWare sites in West Bengal. What is interesting is that, with theexception of Bangarh in the Barind plain of the northern part of thestate, which shows only a piece of this pottery on the surface, they aredistributed mostly in the area to the west of the Bhagirathi.The most impressive evidence of crops has occurred in theChalcolithic context at Senuar—rice, barley, wheat, sorghum, millet,peas, lentil, sesamum and linseed. On the whole, the Neolithic–Chalcolithic assemblage of the Gangetic plains of Bihar is remarkablyinteresting. From approximately the middle of the third millennium BCthere were fully agricultural and pre-metallic villages with a widerange of crops, on the river banks of a substantial area of Bihar.Uttar PradeshIn eastern UP the protohistoric evidence in the northeastern segment of thetrans-Sarayu plain which touches the area of ancient Kapilavastu is notparticularly clear except that the Piprahwa- Ganwaria excavations haveisolated a deposit of Black-Slipped and Grey Wares. Another fixed point ofthe protohistoric archaeological sequence of the trans-Sarayu plain has beenobtained at Imlidih, Narhan and Sohgaura in the southern segment of theregion. Narhan lies straight on the northern bank of the Sarayu; Imlidih is onthe bank of the Kuwana whereas Sohgaura lies at the junction of the Ami andthe Rapti.The most significant range of evidence comes from Saipai andAtranjikhera. Saipai has yielded sword and a harpoon from this level. AtAtranjikhera the Red-Slipped pottery was associated with the evidence ofwattle-and-daub houses supported by wooden posts. Evidence of rice, barley,gram and cattle bones with cut marks indicates the diet of the people. Black-and-Red Ware, copper objects, beads, wheat, rice and barley mark the nextphase at the site. This phase was followed by the iron-using, Painted GreyWare culture (PGW).Another contemporary site in the same region is Lal Qila, which is foundto possess a number of mud floor levels. Copper objects, terracotta objects,beads, bone arrowheads and points were found here. Barley, rice and pulseshave also been found in this context.An important aspect of the OCP complex in this region is its associationwith ‘copper hoards’. The OCP horizon and the associated finds of ‘copperhoards’ give way in the upper Ganga valley to the Black-and-Red Ware level,the most systematic evidence of which comes from Atranjikhera and Jakhera.At both these sites the Black-and-Red Ware (mostly unpainted) wasaccompanied by Black-Slipped and Red Wares.In western UP, the Black-and-Red Ware level was succeeded by thePainted Grey Ware phase. This phase is distributed widely not merely inwestern UP or the Ganga-Yamuna Doab but also in the Indo–Gangetic divideas a whole.In Haryana and Indian Punjab the sites of this phase are many, with someextensions beyond. At Bhagawanpura near Kurukshetra in Haryana andDadheri and Katpalon in Jalandhar the Painted Grey Ware level has beenfound to overlap with the late Harappan level of these sites. In western UPthe Painted Grey Ware phase has been divided at Jakhera into ‘proto-PGW’and ‘mature PGW’ stages.A general idea of the settlement pattern of the proto-historic upper Gangaplain has emerged from a close settlement survey of Kanpur district whichshows evidence of 9 Black-and-Red Ware settlements and 46 Painted GreyWare settlements. The next phase in the Ganga plain is marked by NorthernBlack Polished Ware (NBPW) and with this begins the early historicalperiod.