The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c13.s2.t1.38

c13.s2.t1.38

But the most interesting factor of this industry is the large number of open sites found in the interior at the foot of the Vindhyas and Satpuras on either bank of the Narbada. In the intra-trappean beds of the Trap formations which through which Narbada flows, there are large outcrops of variegated jasper which occurs in huge thick veins. At Choli, about 12 miles North-east of Maheshvar, there are blocks of jasper as big as 2 x 2 x 1 feet. So in the open fields near these outcrops we have extensive factory sites of the Middle Stone Age. One cannot ignore the nature of these open sites, which are difficult to date. Yet, one important fact for their antiquity of is the *absence of any significant typological difference* between those associated with the terrace gravels and the open sites in the interior. Provisionally, this homogeneity may be interpreted as suggesting a contemporaneity of the both. Hence one may argue that the people who lived on the banks of the river chipped their tools near the outcrops in the interior. Besides, this industry has a wide distribution in the country and it also represents a switch over to the fine-grained materials. Hence it shows a systematic hunt for raw materials.