An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s3.3

v1.c19.s3.3

Allchin's excavation of the ash-mound at UTNUR and study of the other ash mounds and of the place-names implying or meaning ash on the one hand and of festivals like Holi involving burning of cow-dung, etc., led him to infer that probably the sites were cattle-pens of the Neolithic cattle-keepers; periodically the accumulated cow-dung in the pens was ritualistically burnt resulting in the formation of the mounds; that the activity appeared to have indeed continued till the beginning of the Iron Age; and that the festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Pongal seem to be the survival of such activity. Further field studies including excavation of the mound at KODEKAL by Paddayya supported Allchin's findings. But an altogether different inference was drawn by Rami Reddy from his study of the ash mounds and excavation of the mound at PALAVOY: he thought that they were due to iron-smelting activities of the post-Neolithic period. Similarly excavations at KUPGAL and subsequent laboratory examinations of the samples by Mujumdar and Rajaguru indicated without doubt that they were due to the burning of cow-dung at 900 to 1250° C. not in connection with any industrial activities such as iron-smelting, gold-extraction, glass-making, etc., and that the sites were not cattle-pens.