Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c11.28

c11.28

Turning now to the type and range of the settlements, we find that in practically all instances the sites take the form of ‘tells’, formed by the debris of accumulated occupations and ranging from 10 to 40 feet in height. It is difficult to estimate the relative areas covered by the individual settlements because quite often the characteristic pottery by which the culture is distinguished was picked up only on the surface of the mound or comes from trial trenches in the uppermost level. Such an occupied area on top of a tell will of course be far smaller than the overall dimensions of the mound at its base. For instance, the Kargushki-damb in Rakshan is a tell some 530 by 360 yards at its base and 40 feet high, but Stein’s trial trenches (which yielded typical Nal sherds associated with the walls of buildings) were made above the 30-feet contour, where the area available for occupation had diminished to about 200 by 100 yards, and one cannot assume that the preceding 30 feet of unexcavated material was necessarily the product of the same culture.