The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c17.s1.1

c17.s1.1

In this appendix, it is proposed to discuss certain general problems arising out of our recent studies in India regarding this crucial ceramic type, hitherto described loosely as the ‘Megalithic pottery.’ The most characteristic feature of this ware is its method of firing in the kiln. Since it is placed in an inverted position, the interior and a portion of the exterior at the top turn black due to firing under reduction. A pottery with a similar technique, but chronologically very early in Pre-Dynastic Egypt and other parts of Western Asia, is described as the ‘Black-topped ware’. For well over a century, this black-and-red ware, as it is popularly known in Indian archaeological literature, was being exposed or excavated from the hundreds of megalithic burials all over South India and hence it was designated megalithic ware. But within the last five years, and specially after the large scale excavations at Maheshvar-Navda Toli (1952-53), followed by Nagda, Ujjain, Somnath, Nevasa, Bahal, its occurrence with the iron in the Pre-N.B.P. levels, and its occurrence outside the so-called megalithic areas (where megaliths are not known to occur), have given rise to a lively controversy.