Prehistory and Protohistory in India and Pakistan c7.3

c7.3

TILL very recently, so late as 1954, it was not possible to say what happened to Early Palaeolithic man in India. For except in the north-west Panjab, Kandivli¹ near Bombay and in Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, the layers lying above those which contained hand-axes and cleavers were supposed to be barren. No doubt, there was a large number of several groups of tools collected and exhibited in a few museums. But their cultural significance was not known, as they were all from the surface. Thus except for the three regions mentioned above, the rest of India seemed to have passed from the Early Palaeolithic right into sub-recent times. It was therefore said by an American that there was almost complete ignorance about her (India's) ancient past.³