An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s17.69

v1.c9.s17.69

Four ¹⁴C dates available for the Vidarbha megaliths range between 615 ± 105 and 540 ± 105 B.C. Two of these samples are from habitation and the other two from the stone circles, which prove the contemporaneity of the habitation and burials, as is indirectly emphasized also by the identity of artefacts recovered in the habitation and burials. It may further be stated that at PAUNAR, KAUṆḌINYAPURA and ARNI, the first occupations—though relatively dated to the pre-NBPW [4.16] period—are characterized by the megalithic black-and-red ware and iron artefacts like axes with cross-ring fasteners and nail-parers. The concentration of megalithic monuments and the evidence of other excavated sites in c. India indicate that the first occupants of this region were the megalithic people.