An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s14.t1.1

v1.c9.s14.t1.1

A number of rain-fed tributaries originating in the e. slopes of the Chota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana hills join the right side of the lower course of the Ganga (Bhagirathi), the only perennial snow-fed river in the W. Bengal delta, the more notable of them being the Ajay and Damodar. The w. part of W. Bengal through which these rivers flow is mainly of flat lateritic formation interspersed with ridge-like hills. It is in this part, covered by Dts Burdwan, Birbhum (Chakrabarti, 1972), Midnapur and Bankura (Bandyopadhyaya, 1971) that the Chalcolithic sites are located. The first excavated of such sites is PANDU RAJAR DHIBI in the Ajay valley. The e.most extension of the culture is indicated by GANGADANGA near the confluence of the Ajay and Bhagirathi, the other sites being MANGALKOT at the junction of the Ajay and Kunoor, MAHISDAL, HARIPUR and NANOOR, Dt Birbhum, and BHARATPUR and BARABELUN, Dt Burdwan (information about the last two from the ASI, E. Circle, and Directorate of Arch. W. Bengal, respectively).