History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c10.32

v1.c10.32

The village of Baidyapur lies on the eastern slope of some high ground to the south of the river Bura Balang. It lies fourteen miles by road from Baripada but only ten miles as the crow flies, as the eastern edge of the Simlipal range intervenes between it and the town. The village of Baidyapur is very small and consists of a single straight street which ends in an open space. Towards the east of the road, in the open space, there is a tank about 500 yards at the end of the village. There is also a mud pool on the northern side of the eastern end of the village street in which also some neoliths were found. The tank to the east of the village road is about 200 feet square and was recently re-excavated. The first discovery of neoliths in Orissa was made here at that time. Mr. Paramananda Acharya, who is an inhabitant of this place, informs me that neoliths are being discovered in this village from time immemorial and whenever the villagers excavate earth or dig deep in the corn-fields around they discover neoliths. The village stands on the sloping ground between the mound on the west and the tank to the east. The top of the mound is formed of conglomerate or *kankar* which is still in the process of growth. But the slope has accumulated either alluvium or vegetable mould during the passage of years and cultivation is possible where this mould is of sufficient thickness. On the south of the village as well in the east there are corn-fields, where, according to Mr. Acharya and his co-villagers,—stone implements are always found at a depth of two to three feet. The actual stratification could be studied with great advantage on the southern bank of the tank. Here below the bund formed during re-excavation we found the bottom of the vegetable mould which is about two to three feet in thickness. Below this comes the disturbed conglomerate of the same type as that to be found on the top of the high mound to the west of the village. It is disturbed and mixed with small boulders, most probably from river beds, the action of the current having rounded off the sharp edges. At this place, the villagers excavate for fresh earth and come upon all sorts of stone implements and pot-sherds. A few minutes excavation brought to light a distinct palæolithic boucher of the Acheulian type with two distinct ridges and edges formed by chipping. At the same time and within twelve inches from the find spot of the boucher, we came across a thin fragment of black Flint which being provided with a cutting edge and the other side being blunt and thick must be a palæolithic scraper if not an Eolith. The villagers brought to me many of these implements, one of which, a distinctly palæolithic bar-celt, was in the possession of an uncle of Mr. Paramananda Acharya and was found only two or three days ago. It is 6.9-16 inch in height 2³/₄ inch broad at the base and only 1¹/₂ inch at the top. The collection originally brought from Baidyapur to the Indian Museum by Mr. Paramananda Acharya for the examination of Rai Bahadur Rama Prasad Chanda, B.A., F.A.S.B., has not been either classified or described as yet. Among them I found two distinct palæoliths, one of which is of the bar-celt type the cutting edge of which has very nearly disappeared. It is not a carefully made implement though it measures 4.4 inch in length and its average breadth is 1.6. The other palæolith is distinctly of the shape of a celt or boucher which was manufactured from a fragment peeled off from a polished surface. The edges were made sharp by chipping, though the cutting edge is no longer sharp. The specimen measures 4.3 inches in height, 2.7 in breadth at the base and only 1.5 at the top. Another neat little scraper, distinctly palæolithic in type, was given to me by the uncle of Mr. P. Acharya. It is about two inches in height and possesses a sharp cutting age on one side.