An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s2.19

v1.c9.s2.19

Scores of these industries have been found in peninsular India in the gravel deposits which are exposed in the cliff sections of rivers like the NARMADA, GODAVARI, Krishna, TAPTI and their tributaries like the PRAVARA, Mula and Kan. Generally the associated gravel conglomerate is coarse and there are chances of getting in these sediments fresh as well as differentially rolled tools, depending upon whether the tools got buried at the same place where they had been manufactured or got transported by the stream. At places the tools acquire patination. The degree of rolling and intensity of patination are sometimes a useful aid for typological analysis of the tools found in a mixed condition and have been used for distinguishing various Sohan collections of choppers and the Madras handaxe industries. It should however be noted that highly rolled and patinated tools do not necessarily represent the earliest tools in the collection, for both these properties largely depend on the nature of the deposits in which they were buried, such as red lateritic clays, calcareous clays, etc.