An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s2.1

v1.c9.s2.1

Investigation into the Indian Palaeolithic cultures commenced over a century ago with the discovery of the first palaeolith at PALLAVARAM near Madras by R. Bruce Foote in 1863. But the real impetus to the scientific study of the cultures was given in the thirties of this century by the Yale-Cambridge team of geologists and archaeologists under the leadership of H. de Terra and T.T. Paterson. They worked in the Kashmir valley and Potwar plateau and briefly examined the Narmada valley near HOSHANGABAD and the Kortalayar river near Madras and by their study tried to integrate the Palaeolithic cultures with their contemporary environments. The somewhat earlier work of M.C. Burkitt and L.A. Cammiade in Andhra Pradesh, the Calcutta University's work in Mayurbhanj in Orissa in 1940 and later and F.E. Zeuner's study mostly in Gujarat in 1948 were the other notable contributions prior to 1950. Following the methods of de Terra and Zeuner extensive regional surveys have later on been carried out by the ASI and a few universities and institutes, so that considerable progress has taken place in this field and practically all the regions in India have now been covered for Palaeolithic research.