An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s3.6

v1.c9.s3.6

In a few regions like Dts Chittoor and Bellary raw materials (quartzite and dolerite) employed by the Lower Palaeolithic groups continued to be used during the Middle Palaeolithic. However in most parts of the country a basic change took place in the selection of raw material. Silica minerals, chiefly chert, agate, jasper and chalcedony, now became the most common media of working. These occur in inexhaustible quantities in the form of veins or bands in sedimentary formations (limestones) as well as in the form of intertrappean beds. The nodules from these beds served as the nuclei for working. As stated earlier, extensive workshops emerged at some of these outcrops.