A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c8.12

c8.12

In India it is exceedingly difficult to reconstruct the Neolithic complex. This difficulty has been pertinently pointed out by Zeuner. Not much evidence is available for the domestication of plants from our sites. The study of skeletal material with a view to differentiate wild species from domesticated ones should go a long way to throw light on the problem. But large quantities of polished stone axes, adzes and chisels come from all our so-called Neolithic sites in Bellary, Mysore, ‘Hyderabad’ and other parts of the Deccan. Since the material for these tools came from trap dykes, the sites and settlements of these people are situated in the neighbourhood of these dykes. As yet excavation has been confined to three important sites: Sanganakallu near Bellary town, Brahmagiri in North Mysore, and Burzahom in Kashmir. At Brahmagiri two phases of the polished stone axe culture have been distinguished on the basis of pottery and also by the presence of a sterile layer. The authors of this culture besides using Neolithic celts and Microliths, had knowledge of the working of copper and bronze though in a restricted degree. The pottery study at Brahmagiri and Sanganakallu relating to this culture is of great value to the student of the prehistoric cultures of India. Sanganakallu has yielded evidence of fresh stone axes, a fine Microlithic industry, and pale grey ceramic ware decidedly earlier than though apparently of the same culture complex as Brahmagiri, and going back to 1000 B.C. or beyond, dubbed ‘True Neolithic’ by Subba Rao.