An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s15.13

v1.c21.s15.13

The blade industry constitutes one of the integral traits of the s. Neolithic, Jorwe and Malwa cultures. It is associated but in a tenuous way with the other cultures. In regard to raw material as well as typology and technology it differs fundamentally from the above industry. It is mainly based on the working of siliceous materials like chert, chalcedony, agate, jasper and quartz. These materials were obtained either as nodules from intertrappean beds and veins in sedimentary formations or in the form of water-worn pebbles from river beds. The excavations at NAVDATOLI, INAMGAON and TEKKALAKOTA have revealed that each household made its own tools. Another feature associated with this industry is that we have some suggestive evidence to show that either the raw material or finished tools were being traded from one region to another. The Shorapur doāb in n. Karnataka supplies a good example. Here reddish-brown chert of fine quality occurs in inexhaustible quantities in the local limestone formations. The occurrence of nodules and artefacts made of identical chert at MASKI, PIKLIHAL, TEKKALAKOTA and other sites proves that this material was being exported to Dts Raichur and Bellary lying further s.