Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c16.s15: 11.15 Megalithic

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c16.s15

Language
English

Contents

11.15 Megalithic

v1.c16.s15.1

*11.15.1 Vindhyan region*. Explorations and excavations in the Vindhyan region in recent years have resulted in the discovery of numerous Megalithic sites [4.17.3] distributed over an area of approximately 22400 square km extending from the valley of the Karamnasa on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the e. to the valley of the Paisuni on the border of Dts Satna-Banda in the w. and from the Son in Dt Sidhi in the s. to the Lapari in Dt Allahabad in the n. The important sites are KAKORIA KAURIHAR in Dt Varanasi; BARJI, KARANPUR, KHUNTABIR, BANIMILA-BAHERA and GALARA in Dt Mirzapur; KAPASI KALAN, LONAMATI, KUNDIDIH, KOTIA KHAJURI, PATIHARI, DAIYA, BADAUN KALAN, KOSKANGARHA, VASAHA-HARDAUN, KONDI and PAWARI in Dt Allahabad; PAHARA and LALAPUR in Dt Banda; Gobari on the Jhurrinala in Dt Satna; BAHUTI FALL and CHACHAI FALL in Dt Rewa; and KASAULI and BABURI in Dt Sidhi. The megaliths of the region can broadly be divided into the following groups: (1) cairn circles, (2) cists (including transepted and dolmenoid varieties), and (3) cists within cairn. Of them KAKORIA and KOTIA, located at a considerable distance from each other, have been excavated. the excavation of 12 graves and habitational area at KAKORIA has fully established the Chalcolithic [4.14.2] character of the site. The excavation has yielded a homogeneous pottery and microliths. The other finds include copper pieces, beads of semiprecious stones, terracotta sling balls, stone weights, hammer-stones with battering marks, muller [6.19], etc. Excavation of five graves at KOTIA has yielded different pottery assemblages, iron objects, beads of semiprecious stones, terracotta and bones along with bone fragments of domesticated animals. A few bones bear cut-marks, while from two megaliths a few pieces of charred bones have been recovered. These megaliths thus belong to the Iron Age. An examination of the assemblages enables us to divide all the megaliths of the region into three broad groups: (1) Chalcolithic sites like KAKORIA, KAURIHAR, KOLDIHWA, VASAHA-HARDAUN, GOBARI, etc. (2) Transitional sites like KHAJURI, KAPASI KALAN, MAHULI, KOILARIHA, etc; these sites have yielded material belonging to both groups (1) and (3) and most probably represent a continuous settlement from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age. (3) Iron Age Megalithic sites like KOTIA and others; they are in a majority and are widely distributed. The KOTIA type of pottery, iron objects, iron slag, pieces of glass bangles, etc., have been collected from these sites and microliths and typical KAKORIA pottery are absent.

v1.c16.s15.2

The bulk of the Chalcolithic Megalithic pottery of the Vindhyas is wheel-made though handmade examples are also present in small numbers in red ware. The clay used for manufacturing the pots is not well-levigated and contains medium to fine grains of quartz and grit. Most of the pots are fairly well-fired. The ceramic assemblage consists of red ware, black-and-red ware [11.15] and black-slipped ware. The red ware which forms the major assemblage is generally of thick section, medium to coarse in fabric with gritty brick-red to smoky-grey core and is represented by: the shallow, convex-sided and deep bowl; dish; shallow bowl-cum-cover; button-based goblet; beaker; shallow and deep basin with collared rim; funnel-shaped lid; bowl-cum-lid; footed and perforated vessel; vase with conical profile; large and medium vase with carinated neck; narrow concave-necked vase; high-necked vase pear-shaped vase; vase with beaded or collared rim; *hāṇḍī* or cooking vessel; and dish-on-stand. The lower exterior of some of the pots is rusticated. A few sherds with burnishing have also been found. Some pots bear ocherous red slip on both the sides. The black-and-red ware which is fine to coarse in fabric includes: the hemispherical, ovaloid, subovaloid and pedestalled bowl; dish; shallow dish-cum-basin, trough; funnel-shaped lid; and vase. Some sherds with a burnished smooth surface are also present. The black-slipped ware, generally of fine to medium fabric and thin section, is represented by: the hemispherical, ovaloid and subovaloid, carinated and pedc-stalled bowl; dish; basin; funnel-shaped lid; vessel with strap vertical handle; and small vase. Some sherds with a burnished black shining surface of this group compete well with sherds of the NBPW [11.16] in brilliance. A few pots which though very close to the black-slipped ware in general appearance but with a grey surface have also been met with. Some pots in the black-slipped ware, the slip of which has flaked off or withered completely or partially, resemble sherds of the grey ware. The typology of the grey ware also matches that of the black-slipped ware. This grey ware also closely resembles the plain grey ware of PGW assemblage [11.14].

v1.c16.s15.3

Though the bulk of the Chalcolithic Megalithic pottery is plain, decoration is found in a few cases. Some sherds of the red ware from KOLDIHWA bear black painting consisting of thick parallel bands, zonal designs, lozenges, strokes and zigzags. Some sherds of the black-and-red ware bear white-painted oblique strokes, dots, bands and lozenges. Incised and applied designs are available on some vessels of the red ware and black-and-red ware. Incised decorations consist of dots, strokes, chevrons, wavy, vertical, horizontal and oblique lines, criss-crosses, zigzags, lattices, diamonds and floral designs. A few sherds of the red ware and thick black-and-red ware have an applied strip of clay with thumb-nail impressions forming chain or cord-patterns. Sherds with ripple-marks or channel-like depressions are also met with in the red ware.

v1.c16.s15.4

The Iron Age Megalithic pottery of the region is well-baked, durable and invariably thrown on wheel. Divisible into the black-and-red, black-slipped, red and thick grey wares, it is represented by: the shallow bowl-cum-dish with out-turned, beaked or beaded rim and flat base; convex-sided bowl; bowl with hollow-pedestal base; shallow bowl with sharp or round edge; thick dish with externally ridged shoulder; dish portion of the dish-on-stand (?); shallow dish with clubbed rim; sharply carinated cooking vessel; knobbed lid; pan with clubbed rim; pan with soot marks on the base; medium-sized vase; large storage jar; bowl with ledged shoulder; and bowl-on-stand. The types which serve as connecting links between the pottery assemblage of the Chalcolithic phase on the one hand and the Iron Age phase on the other, are: the bowl with pedestalled base; bowl with ledged shoulder; convex-sided dish with sagger to round base; shallow dish with internally thickened rim; medium-sized vase with beaded rim; and dish-on-stand.

v1.c16.s15.5

Some pots in this assemblage bear restricted slip on both the sides. A few sherds bear incised designs consisting of hatched triangles, semicircles or arches, criss-cross, floral and creeper designs, meanders or wavy lines, etc. A few sherds with graffito [20.1] marks like bow-and-arrow and cross and parallel verticals are also met with. Some shapes of this assemblage have their parallels in the pottery assemblage of the early historical sites of Ganga valley [4.18.1] on the one hand and of the s. Indian Megalithic sites [4.17.10] on the other.

v1.c16.s15.6

**Fig. 31.** Megalithic pottery from the Vindhyas (Chalcolithic phase)

v1.c16.s15.7

Fig. 32. Megalithic pottery from the Vindhyas (Chalcolithic phase)

v1.c16.s15.8

The chronology of the Chalcolithic-Megalithic phase of the Vindhyas can be worked out by a comparative study of the finds with those of the other sites in the Ganga valley and c. India. The pottery compares well with its counterparts of the Chalcolithic phase of CHIRAND, PRAHLADPUR and ATRANJIKHERA in the n. and PANDU RAJAR DHIBI in the e. Similar bone arrowheads, both of socketed and tanged varieties and microliths have been found at all these sites. It may be pointed out that Chalcolithic-Megalithic sites of the Vindhyas like the Chalcolithic sites of c. India [4.14.5] and the Deccan [4.14.6-8] have also yielded short blades along with crested-ridge cores and flakes in large numbers. This lithic assemblage is considered to be an essential component of the Chalcolithic culture of c. India and the Deccan. In the light of these points the beginning of the Chalcolithic-Megalithic phase of the Vindhyan may be pushed back to the second half of the 2nd millennium B.C. A ¹⁴C date from the lowest Chalcolithic horizon of KOLDIHWA confirms this, the date being 1440 ± 120 B.C. As no site of this phase has yielded any sherd of the NBPW and iron, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that it ended before the advent of the NBPW in this area. For fixing the tentative chronology of the Iron Age Megalithic pottery of the Vindhyas the following points deserve mention: (1) this pottery is associated with iron objects; (2) some pottery types from KOTIA and other allied sites in a slightly modified form appear to have survived at the early historical sites of the Ganga valley and in the Megalithic levels of s. India; (3) only a few shapes of the Chalcolithic-Megalithic pottery assemblage survive in this assemblage; and (4) a carbon sample from one of the excavated megaliths of KOTIA has yielded a date of 270 ± 105 B.C. The cumulative evidence thus suggests that the Iron Age Megalithic culture of the region was later than its counterpart of the Chalcolithic phase but nearer in time to the Megalithic culture of s. India and early historical culture of the Ganga valley. As such, a tentative date bracket of the 7th century of the 3rd century B.C. would not be unreasonable.

v1.c16.s15.9

—B B. MISRA

11.15.2 C. region

v1.c16.s15.t1.1

The pottery from the c. Indian Megalithic burials [4.17.6] consists of four varieties, viz., the Black-and-red Ware, all-black ware, red ware and micaceous red ware, the last being peculiar to the Vidarbha region. The other wares are similar to those in the burials of the Deccan and s. India [4.17.8-11; 11, 15.3]. All the wares are wheel-turned and medium-to-thick in fabric. Due to the soil conditions obtaining in Vidarbha the pots have lost cohesiveness and are brittle: complete shapes are rarely recognizable and the nature of firing is indeterminable. However the all-black ware shows burnishing and the red ware is thick and crude. The micace- Megalithic culture of peninsular India [4.17.8-10] is indisputably uniform in fabric and technique. It falls into three main categories: the Black-and-red Ware, all-black ware and red ware. The whole assemblage, excepting certain categories of red ware, is wheel-turned, possibly on a slow wheel or turntable. The clay is usually well-levigated and shows a sparing use of tempering material like sand, quartz particles and chaff. The surface is slipped, polished, burnished or simply coated with a wash. The Black-and-red Ware is in some instances salt-glazed. Large urns of red ware are always handmade. The three- and four-legged jars in the same ware are partially wheel-turned and partially (legs and lower portions) handmade. Again excepting the large urns the whole range of pottery is normally well-fired.

v1.c16.s15.t1.2

Fig. 33. Megalithic pottery from the Vindhyas (Chalcolithic phase)

v1.c16.s15.t1.3

Although these three wares are universal to the whole region, the all-black ware is not to be found at a few sites, viz. in the excavated burials of NAGARJUNAKONDA [4.17.8], MASKI, TERDAL and HALINGALI and in the early chamber tombs of n. Karnataka [4.17.8]. At TERDAL, however, two highly micaceous grey sherds of Neolithic [11.1.5] affinity were found. The forms of the pots also show that they are not exclusive to any particular type of burials, for a few common shapes do occur in

v1.c16.s15.t1.4

Fig. 34. Megalithic pottery from the Vindhyas (Chalcolithic phase)

v1.c16.s15.t1.5

ous ware in which mica has been used as *degraissant* is thick and fragile. In order of frequency the micaceous red ware predominates, followed by the Black-and-red Ware, the crude red ware and all-black ware. Except simple shapes the pot-forms are quite different from Megalithic ones of the Deccan and s. India, though there is an exception at RANJALA in the Tapti valley where the conical vessel and tulip-shaped vase similar to those obtained from BRAHMAGIRI is available. Again, some lids, knobbed and animal-finialed, in black ware resemble those from the s. Dts of Tamil Nadu. Some of the micaceous red pots are painted in black with linear designs. The coarse red ware has applied finger-tip decoration. The shapes obtaining in the different wares are as follows: the globular pot with flared rim, bowl with a hole-mouth, ring-stand, etc., in the micaceous red ware; the dish, bowl in different varieties, some perforated, and ring-stand in the Black-and-red Ware; the storage jar, cylindrical jar, ring-stand, bowl, vase, basin and spouted pot in the coarse red ware; and the dish and bowl in the all-black ware.

v1.c16.s15.t1.6

For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—K.S. RAMACHANDRAN

11.15.3 The Deccan and s. region

v1.c16.s15.t2.1

Fig. 35. Megalithic pottery, central India: 6, 9 red ware; rest, micaceous red ware

v1.c16.s15.t2.2

most. The only feature common to all wares and all types of megaliths is the post-firing graffito [20.1] marks.

v1.c16.s15.t2.3

The Black-and-red Ware forms the major ceramic industry of the culture, excepting in the early chamber tombs of n. Karnataka, where the red ware predominates. The ware has a black interior (sometimes in portions of neck and shoulder as well) and red exterior, which is attributed to inverted firing [though other techniques are likely]. Its fabric varies from medium to fine. The common shapes in this ware including variants comprise several kinds of the dish, bowl, pedestalled bowl, tulip-shaped vase, conical vessel, small jar, carinated pot, funnel-shaped lid, etc. Some bowls have a carinated waist and conical vases have a ledge towards the bottom. A rare form is the legged jar from MASKI.

v1.c16.s15.t2.4

A variety of Black-and-red Ware (as also red ware) which goes under the name of the Russet-coated Painted Ware [11.19] initially attributed to the ‘Āndhra’ culture (Wheeler, 1947-8, pp. 236 etc.) is found in numbers in Dts Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli as also in Kerala. There are straggling finds from PERUMBAIR in Dt Chingleput. The design repertoire comprises parallel wavy lines, horizontal/vertical bands, criss-crosses, triangles, diamonds, intersecting parallel bands, etc. A white-painted variety of the Black-and-red Ware is also reported from HALLUR.

v1.c16.s15.t2.5

The red ware is of two varieties: (1) highly polished with bright-red slip, and (2) terracotta-coloured with a pale drab slip or wash. The ware is mostly plain but is occasionally decorated with incised lines and herringbone and pinnate-leaf patterns. Besides urns large storage jars are a predominant form. Other shapes include the legged jar carinated at the shoulder (more frequent in Dts N. Arcot, S. Arcot and Chingleput,) roundbottomed pot, ring-stand of squattish, elongated and hour-glass types, large conical based bowl, small vase with globular body, fusiform and pyriform jar, basin, lid, etc.

v1.c16.s15.t2.6

The black ware, compared to the other two, does not seem to have been well-fired. But burnishing is of a very high order, especially in Dts Madurai, Pudukkottai and Tirunelveli. The ware is usually thicker than the Black-and-red Ware but thinner than the red ware. The funnel-slipped lid, tulip vase, lipped bowl, pedestalled cup, ring-stand of different varieties—the smaller ones squattish and the larger ones elongated or hour-glass-shaped—small pot, carinated bowl, etc., are some of the normal shapes. The ring-stand proliferates in the s. parts, particularly in Puddukottai, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Particular mention should be made of the knobbed and animal-topped lid-finial from ADICHCHANALLUR. From the habitations (but not from any graves) at HALLUR comes a variety of this ware bearing paintings in white both on the interior and exterior. The designs are mainly linear—oblique lines, bands and radiating lines at the ends of which are seen several perpendicular strokes. The shapes conform to the general forms in funerary assemblages. The ware is comparable with the corresponding ware of the Banas culture [4.14.1, 11.6.2] as seen at AHAR², GILUND, etc.

v1.c16.s15.t2.7

Fig. 36. Megalithic pottery, central India: 1, 5, black-and-red ware: 2-4, 6-10, black wares

v1.c16.s15.t2.8

Fig. 37. Megalithic pottery, south India and Deccan black ware

v1.c16.s15.t2.9

The presence of mica dust indicates its possible use as *dégraissant* or as having been sprinkled on the surface when the pot was wet. Most of the vessels are decorated, the designs being finger-tip impressions, arches of tiny pin-hole dots, wavy lines, chevrons—plain and intersecting—oblique lines, etc. The common forms are the bowl, ring-stand, *loṭā*, small pot, tall round-bottomed vase, tall cylindrical multiflanged or corrugated vessel, lid either close-fitting or with flange and having human or animal finial, etc. The human form is shown either sitting on horseback or standing and holding a standard

v1.c16.s15.t2.10

The pottery from the Nilgiri hills [4.17.9] is unique and forms a class by itself, not conforming to the normal Megalithic pottery, red ware of varying shades, sometimes burnished, being the sole ceramic industry. It is usually thick and not well-fired. Fine sand seems to have been the tempering material. The pottery is partially wheel-turned and partly (at the base) hand-modelled.

v1.c16.s15.t2.11

or sword in its hand. The buffalo, cow, sheep, horse, elephant, camel, dog, goat, pig, peacock, fowl, leopard and tiger are some of the represented animals.

v1.c16.s15.t2.12

Graffiti scratched on pots with a sharp tool before and rarely after firing are found on all wares and types, usually on the outside and occasionally inside. These are not restricted to any tomb or burial type and even to the Megalithic culture itself [20.1]. What they represent is still enigmatic. They have been variously thought to represent the owner's/potter's mark, signs from which the Brāhmī script was developed, symbols of punch-marked coins [3.1], etc. A comparative study of graffiti of the Chalcolithic and Megalithic cultures reveal that out of 61, 47 are common to both. The usual symbols are simple arrows, chevrons (connected or disconnected), double 'U's, turned 'N's, vertical lines, combinations of vertical and horizontal lines, ladders, door-jambs with lintel, trees, stylized animals, etc.

v1.c16.s15.t2.13

Wheeler, R.E.M., 1947-8, in *AI*, 4, (for 'Andhra' ware). For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—K.S. RAMACHANDRAN

Linked texts (24)