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An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6: 4.6 Neolithic

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6

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English

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4.6 Neolithic

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During the last three decades the how and why of the transition from hunting and gathering to food-producing has been empirically studied by means of the analysis of archaeological materials. Prior to this cultural evolutionary schemes were formulated and accepted as explanations of man’s cultural evolution. Most of these were found to be largely speculative and were not tested by actual fieldwork. It was all along thought that the problem of the early development of agriculture was rooted in the environmental and cultural conditions obtaining at the end of the Pleistocene [9.10.1], marked by the gradual onset of recent climatic conditions and usually agreed to have occurred around 10000 B.C.

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Braidwood and Home, 1960, for the first time tested the hypothesis relating to the origins of and the processes leading to food production and opined that the causes of the move towards the development of an agricultural way of life ‘occurred as the culmination of the ever-increasing cultural differentiation and specialization of human communities.’ As a result of his fieldwork it is being increasingly realized that the following factors would perhaps have played a causative role in the shift from hunting and gathering to food production: (a) demographic stresses, showing a tendency to settle more or less permanently at one place in a locality; (b) a proper environment; and (c) a distinctive level and type of exploitative technology.

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What is basic to our understanding is the palaeobiotic and palaeoclimatic factors which would be reflected in the growth-rate of desiccation and of population. Changes in man's relationship with the environment, land and himself would obviously have led him to experiment with a number of indigenous genera of plants of nutrient potential. Cultivation of cereals alone however cannot be considered sufficient for bringing about a change from the food-gathering to the food-producing economy. Hassan, 1976, pointed out that for an effective change of economy factors like diet and nutrition should be given due consideration. Cereals, unlike legumes and meat, are deficient in proteins (certain amino acids) and could not have provided an adequate substitute for food obtained from hunting. It is reasonable to argue therefore that at some stage hunting would have become highly selective. The association of cereals, legumes and domesticated animals thus should be considered as a fundamental adaptive element which contributed to the emergence of permanent sedentary agricultural settlements.

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It has been suggested that domestication of animals [1] passed through the following stages of man-animal relationship: (a) loose contacts; (b) taming in captivity; (c) selective breeding; (d) incipient domestication; (e) planned development of breeds; and (f) gradual extermination of wild ancestors. This classification however is inappropriate and a possible alternative has instead been suggested (Jarman, 1976a, b): (a) random predation; (b) controlled predation; (c) herd following; (d) loose following; (e) close herding; and (f) factory farming. These stages represent increasing degrees of control over and investment of labour in the animal concerned and have the advantage of being based on the process in which man exploited animals. The classification however cannot be taken to be a chronological succession or a technological ladder of progress.

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Likewise, domestication of plants would have been effected through various stages of development. Duckham and Mansfield, 1970, suggested that factors like climate, soil and relief exert the greatest influence on farming systems. The ability to exploit the potential resources at site would depend upon the available technology. Soil-working implements of Neolithic assemblages (picks, digging sticks, etc.) restricted the range of effectively workable soils to the light to medium loams. Heavy alluvial soils, with a higher natural fertility than loams, would have been subject to seasonal or permanent flooding. The location of a Neolithic site, especially in respect of soils, is thus conditioned by a combination of two factors: tractability and fertility. The soils around Neolithic sites are therefore to be studied both from the palaeoeconomic and agronomic point of view.

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Animal and plant domestication may not have necessarily spread together or at the same time in any region. A feedback relationship may be possible in some area which enabled the human population to increase and intensify the pressure on the land and its resources. Against this background relating to deterministic criteria we may review the position of the early farming communities in India.

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(1) Neolithic regions: In India at the present moment, the existence of early farming communities, alternatively termed as Neolithic cultures (Thapar, 1974), has been established in five different geographical regions, to which may be added another one in Pakistan: (a) Pakistan defined in the context of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, covering Baluchistan, Swat and the contiguous areas of the upper Sind valley in Pakistan; (b) n.-w., covering Kashmir; (c) e., covering Assam, Chittagong and the sub-Himalayan regions, including Darjeeling; (d) the Chota Nagpur plateau with its peneplains in Dts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and W. Bengal; (e) mid-e. covering Dt Saran in Bihar; and (f) s., covering peninsular India. The present grouping of the Neolithic cultures is however as tentative and subject to revision as the one suggested more than ten years ago (Thapar, 1964).

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The six regions referred to above seem to follow broad physiographic subdivisions and as such provide possibilities of studying the relationship between the cultures and the characterized environment.

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Yet another manifestation of the Neolithic culture has been brought to light at KOLDIHAWA, Dt Allahabad, along the bank of the BELAN river. Its geographical distribution as also its distinctive traits remain to be confirmed. There is however a good case for recognizing another Neolithic region, to cover Rajasthan and Gujarat, which, in view of the findings at LANGHNAJ and also the palynological evidence from Rajasthan, seems to be a potential area for further research on early farming.

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Excepting the use of ground stone implements, each of these cultures differs from the others in material equipment and to some extent in the specific levels of the subsistence economy. Any attempt to consider these cultures as ramifications of one single development may be regarded as premature (Sarma, 1972). Territorial analysis (Higgs, 1972; Jarman, 1972) which relates archaeological sites to the locally available economic potential and affords a picture of the agricultural constraints operating around the sites has unfortunately not been attempted so far in any of these regions (except perhaps to a limited extent at KUPGAL). At the same time it may be remembered that while certain areas still remain unexplored, the main difficulty at the present moment lies in the varying intensity and emphasis on archaeological fieldwork in the above-mentioned regions.

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(2) Antecedent stage: It must be admitted that in none of the areas have the details of the transition from the stage of food-gathering to that of food-producing and primary or settled village farming been worked out. Our understanding therefore of the origins and early spread and farming is still very insecure and fragmentary. The excavated sites reveal settlements which are later (excepting those at SANGANAKALLU, NAGARJUNAKONDA, KUCHAI and perhaps BURZAHOM) than would be pertinent to the transition itself.

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At SANGANAKALLU (Subbarao, 1948) the Neolithic settlement was preceded by an occupation characterized by the use of heavily patinated flakes of trap and sandstone and crude microliths of quartz, without pottery. At KUCHAI (Thapar, 1974) it overlay an occupation distinguished by the use of non-geometric microliths, also without pottery. At both these sites there was no continuity in the succession of occupations. The occurrence of 'highly rolled potsherds in the top weathered granite murrum layer below the earliest Neolithic occupation' at the former site is less clearly understood at the present stage. At NAGARJUNAKONDA (Sarkar, 1975) two levels of Stone Age cultures were identified, the lower associated with the Mesolithic [4.5] industry and the upper with the Neolithic. The former was distinguished by the occurrence of microliths of a dominant geometric tradition and the latter by the preponderance of Neolithic implements along with blades of the earlier tradition. The continuity of occupation through both these cultures has not been firmly established any more than the level of the subsistence economy in each.

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The third site which provides evidence for the transition from intensified or specialized food-gathering to food-producing is BURZAHOM; two phases of the Neolithic culture have been identified at this site: during the earlier phase, the subsistence economy of the people, as attested by the finds, seems to have been specialized food-gathering, including fishing. The bone tools included awls, points, harpoons, scrapers and needles, while the stone tools consisted of axes, adzes, wedges, digging sticks, drills, etc. The inhabitants lived in underground dwelling pits [14.13], but their cultural equipment including tools does not show any evidence pointing to the domestication of plants or animals. Their pottery was entirely handmade, showing mat impressions on the underside, and was used perhaps for holding liquids. Perhaps there must have been some emphasis on the collection of vegetal products which would explain the occurrence of ground stone tools for pounding and milling—tools which later became necessary for processing domesticated grains. For such an intensified food-gathering the use of the bow and arrow has also been attested by the find of a stone slab showing an engraving of a hunting scene (Pande, 1973), although no microliths or blades, normally used as composite tools after being hafted, have been found at this site. The arrow-tips of the Burzahom industry therefore would obviously be of bone fragments sharpened to a point. Possibly this choice was dictated by the non-availability of siliceous stone within easy reach. The animal most frequently hunted was the deer.

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In the succeeding phase some of the stone tools like mace-heads, harvesters or knives, pick-axes and hoes provide evidence, though of an implied nature, of some sort of cultivation of plants. On the structural side houses were now built above ground. There was a greater diversification of cultural equipment; wheel-made pottery came to be used and the range of forms was considerably enlarged. Hunting and fishing would no doubt have continued even during this phase. Towards the end of this phase metal also seems to have been introduced.

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There is yet another set of sites where the use of pottery has been attested in an evolving sequence of Mesolithic industries [4.5] from a non-geometric one, both without pottery, to a geometric microlith series through a geometric one, with pottery. The sites are located in different geographical areas: LEKHAHIA, MORHANA PAHAR and BAGHAI KHOR in the Kaimur range, where a complete sequence of the industries was revealed (Sharma, 1964); ADAMGARH (Joshi, 1966) and PACHMARHI (Hunter, 1935) in the Mahadeo hills; LANGHNAJ (Sankalia, 1965) on the fossil sand-dunes in the Sabarmati valley; and BAGOR (Misra, 1973) in Rajasthan, where deposits of the non-geometric microliths were not encountered. At LANGHNAJ, which was an open-air settlement, besides a ground-stone industry, represented by mace-heads (or digging stick weights), ringstones, small-sized wedge-shaped sandstone pieces (querns?) and axes dentalium shell beads [10.1] were also found. Pottery has also been reported along with microliths at Marve (Todd, 1950) near KANDIVLI and JALAHALLI (Gordon, 1950, 1958) near Bangalore, but its stratigraphic association is not clearly established at either of these sites. At YERANGAL near Kandivli ground stone mace-heads were also found along with microliths. A solitary fragment of red pottery has also been reported from SAWYERPURAM embedded in the red loam along with some flakes and cores of chert and quartz (Foote, 1916). The use of pottery (and of ground stone tools in the case of LANGHNAJ) does not appear to have brought about any change in the basic economy of these communities which continued to remain largely in a hunting-gathering stage. The distinction between geometric and non-geometric as also between pottery and non-pottery microliths has not been properly developed and is at present not a firm basis for recognizing a transition from the food-gathering to food-producing economy. At a factory site pottery, though in use, may not be found.

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In the Chota Nagpur region, more particularly in Dt Mirzapur, many factory sites of the Mesolithic period have been located. At one of these (Allchin, 1966) a fragment of a Neolithic axe was also found upon the flaking floor, indicating that the site was used by the Neolithic people. Here therefore is a potential area for a multidisciplinary investigation of the problem. The potential may be in technology or in the pattern of migration from the plateau to the plains.

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(3) Characteristics of the culture: The salient features of the Neolithic culture of each of the six regions are summarized below.

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(a) Pakistan. Two phases of this culture are attested. Of these the earlier revealed a pre-ceramic assemblage, represented by mud architecture, bone tools like awls or points, chert blades and scrapers, pecked and ground stone objects, containers perhaps of basket and bones of domesticated goats, sheep and oxen. The latter phase showed the use of handmade pottery, often basket-impressed on the outside, along with other traits of the earlier phase. The pottery at Sarai Kotla, located in the Potwar plateau is highly burnished, being red in colour.

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(b) N.-w. region [4.6.1]. The characteristics of this culture have already been discussed above.

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(c) E. region [4.6.6] The culture is characterized by the use of handmade pottery, grey or brownish in colour and bearing cord or basket impressions, ground stone tools, including shouldered and round-butt-ended celts, mullers, pestles, etc. No direct evidence for the domestication of animals and plants has so far been obtained, but from circumstantial evidence it can be inferred that slash-and-burn (*jhum*) and shifting cultivation must have been in vogue during that period. Since the Neolithic technology was incapable of improving the yield, shifting was the most expedient solution to the problems.

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(d) Chota Nagpur region [4.6.5]. The culture is distinguished by a coarse grit-tempered red ware, sometimes also slipped and showing incised or finger-tip decoration, and also an orange-brown ware and ground stone tools which included rounded-butt axes, faceted hoes, chisels, mace-heads (or digging stick weights), pounders and grinding stones. Here again no direct evidence for the domestication of animals and plants has so far been obtained, though the occurrence of pounders and grinding stones may imply acquaintance with husbandry.

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(e) Mid-e. region [4.6.4]. The culture is distinguished by the use of: (i) objects of bone and antler, consisting of needles, points, borers, pins, tanged and socketed arrowheads, scrapers, and also items of personal ornament such as pendants; (ii) ground stone objects such as celts (two lone examples), pestles, querns, etc.; (iii) microliths, including parallel-sided blades, tanged arrowheads, lunates, points; and (iv) terracotta objects including figurines. The associated ceramics comprise handmade red, grey and black-and-red wares, most of which show a burnished surface. Decorations include applied and also painted designs executed in red ochre and mat impressions. Houses were made of mud and daub. Paddy-husk impressions on some of the pieces of burnt clay and also the discovery of charred grains provide evidence of cereal cultivation. The assemblage as a whole indicates an advanced stage of Neolithic economy.

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(f) S. region [4.6.7-10]. It is a measure no less of the homogeneity of the culture as of its stability that the results brought forth by each of these excavations have, save for certain minor difference in detail, been strikingly similar. Some scholars (Paddayya, 1973) have identified some variants within this region and have suggested that this manifestation should not be treated as a homogeneous entity. The postulate however remains to be established. Meanwhile it may be worth noting that despite local variations there are admittedly observable regularities which can be related to factors controlling the location and distribution of Neolithic sites in the region. Two broad phases can be recognized in the evolution of this culture in this region. In the earlier phase, met with at sites in the SHEVAROY hills and also at NAGARJUNAKONDA and UTNUR, its principal traits consist of a handmade pale-red ware, ground stone tools, microliths (with restricted or no use of blades) and occasionally bone implements. Some of the settlements of this phase are represented by ash mounds [14.3] which have been proved to be an accumulation of burnt cow-dung (Zeuner, 1959; Allchin, 1963), attesting to a pastoral economy. The latter phase is characterized by a dominant burnished dull grey ware, ground stone implements, including axes, adzes wedges, chisels, picks, grinding stones, pounders, hammer-stone, microliths and parallel-sided blades (the latter constituting over 60% of the assemblage), bone points and miscellaneous other crafts like bead-making, including those of steatite. A painted pottery showing simple linear patterns in a brownish purple colour over a red surface was also associated with this assemblage. Towards the close of this phase contact with the Chalcolithic culture of the upper Deccan [4.14.6] resulted in the introduction of the use of copper and other concomitant traits.

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The evidence for the domestication of plants and animals relating to this culture is discussed below. Meanwhile it may be of interest to note that a study of the fossil soils below the Neolithic deposits at KUPGAL (Mujumdar, 1966) shows that during the time of the Neolithic occupation the region experienced wetter climate and had more vegetation with scrub forest and grassland, providing a suitable environment for the wild fauna, especially the deer.

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(4) Domestication of animals [1]: Among the excavated Neolithic sites, animal remains have been examined from MASKI (Bhcla Nath, 1957), PIKLIHAL (Srinivasan, 1960), UTNUR (Srinivasan, 1961), T. NARSIPUR (Alur, 1971a), SANGANAKALLU (Alur, 1969, TEKKALAKOTTA (Nagaraja Rao, 1968). HALLUR (Alur, 1971a), KODEKAL (Shah, 1973), NAGARJUNA-KONDA (Gnanamuthu, 1958) and Kile Gul Mohammad (Fairservis, 1956). Of these the last-mentioned one falls in Pakistan and the remaining ones in the s. region. From the other regions the relevant evidence is not so far available. At ADAMGARH bones of domestic animals have been found in association with a microlithic industry.

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From the available evidence we find that the cattle (*Bos indicus*), sheep (*Ovis vignei* Blyth) and goat (*Capra hircus aegagrus* Gmelin) were commonly domesticated both at Kile Gul Mohammad and at the s. Indian sites. Besides, in both the areas bones of the horse tribe (*Equidae*) have been found. In the s. region, they are reported from the Neolithic-Chalcolithic deposits at HALLUR and in Pakistan from the pre-pottery levels at Kile Gul Mohammad (where it is highly probable that the identifiable fragments are those of *Equus hemionus* and not *Equus caballus*). The existence of the buffalo (*Bos bubalus bubalis*) is also attested at MASKI, NAGARJUNAKONDA and KODEKAL and of the spotted deer (*Axis axis*) at NAGARJUNAKONDA. Bones of the cattle, however, formed the large majority (80 to 85% of the collection), indicating that animal husbandry had become the chief source of their economy during that period. Among the cattle in s. India both the short-horned and the long-horned varieties of breed were known. Two more points merit our attention in this respect: (a) the occurrence of charred and split bones is indicative of the use of animal flesh as an item of diet; (b) the anchylosis of the hock joint and the presence of the exostosis on certain parts of the skeleton, as noticed by Alur, shows that the cattle were used for heavy draft or weight-bearing work. It may be recalled that the horse belongs to the category of animals domesticated primarily for transport and labour (Zeuner, 1963). The presence of the ass has already been reported from MASKI and BRAHMAGIRI. This animal must have served as a beast of burden. The pastoral and agricultural character of the economy of these communities is thus clearly indicated. Whether all these animals were locally domesticated from the corresponding wild species in each area or were brought as a ready-made breed, perhaps like the horse, has not been adequately investigated. Besides the assemblage reveals the presence of the dog (*Canis familiaris* L.), pig (*Sus scrofa cristatus* Wagner), fowl (*Gallus* sp.) and ass (*Equus asinus* L.). Among the wild fauna may be mentioned the tortoise, the monitor lizard, the common rat, the hare, three species of the deer, the *sambhar*, the spotted deer and the *barasingha nilgai*, black-duck and gazelle. The presence of so many species of wild animals indicates a mixed economy whereby hunting and trapping supplemented agricultural products as a source of food.

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(5) Domestication of plants [2]. The evidence, it must be admitted, is inadequate and is available only from the following sites: MASKI, UTNUR, HALLUR, TEKKALAKOTTA and PAIYAMPALLI, all located in the s. region; BAIDYAPUR in Orissa; and CHIRAND in the mid-e. The knowledge of the cultivation of rice from the latter two regions is attested. The occurrence of seeds of millet (*Eleusine coracana* and *Eleusine indica*) and horse gram (*Dolichos biflorus*) from the former region (Vishnu-Mittre, 1971, 1975) is suggestive of gathering rather than cultivation until more positive information regarding their cultivation becomes available. Besides evidence for the existence of teak (*Tectona grandis*), date palm and *Acacia* spp. (*Leguminosae: Mimosodae*) were also recorded from the same region. It is significant to note that millet, identified as *ragi* (*Eleusine coracanna*), is considered to have been developed by selection from *Eleusine africana* and as such appears to have come from Africa. For a full comprehension of this significance it may be recalled that the sample containing the millet came from the same phase of the Neolithic period (viz. Neolithic-Chalcolithic) which yielded the bones of the horse; the mechanism of the diffusion of these component elements, respectively from Africa and w. Asia, will have to be worked out keeping in view the areas on the route and the principles of transmission and acceptance. At CHIRAND in the mid-e. region the occurrence of barley, wheat, rice, lentils and *Pisum arvensa*, besides some leguminous weeds, have been recognized (Vishnu-Mittre, 1972). The rice grains belong to both the cultivated and wild *Oryza sativa* and *O. rufipogan*.

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For the palaeobotanical evidence palynological studies have been made at five places: (i) Haigam lake in the Kashmir valley; (ii) Naukutchiya Tal near Nainital in Kumaon; (iii) Kakathope, Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu; (iv) Sambhar lake in Rajasthan; and (v) Quaternary deposits around Calcutta. The pollen diagram from the Naukutchiya Tal furnishes evidence for the disturbance of natural vegetation, which may have some bearing on the economy of the Mesolithic settlements in the area, experimenting with colonization or harvesting stages of the agriculture as defined by Hawkes (Hawkes, 1969). A similar disturbance in vegetation, simulating a clearance phase, has been observed in pollen diagrams from Kakathope, Ootacamund (Vishnu-Mittre and Gupta, 1971; Gupta, 1973), dated to 23000 years ago. No case however can be made for an attempt at early farming here. Based upon a *cerelia* type of pollen, in association with a large number of comminuted charcoal pieces, a pollen diagram has been made for Rajasthan (Gurdip Singh, 1967, 1971), showing disturbance of vegetation as early as 6000 B.C. The excavated site of BAGOR (Misra, 1973) in Dt Bhilwara however does not take the evidence of occupation so far back. Finally the superficial peat deposits of Bengal (dated to *c.* 3000 B.C.) yielded pollen of a cultivated variety associated with *Plantago*, which however cannot belong to cereals (Chanda, 1969). No archaeological evidence has however been attested for such an early cultivation of wheat and barley in this area.

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(6) Chronology: Looking to the period of occupation of these Neolithic sites in the various regions, it is seen that in India there was no single nuclear zone from which the ideas and techniques of the food-producing economy diffused to the other regions. Yet, on the basis of the ¹⁴C dates (Agrawal, 1974, 1975) it appears that the food-producing economy began somewhere in the last quarter of the 3rd millennium B.C especially in the n. and s. regions, where it showed a maximum time bracket respectively of 2350-1400 and 2450-1200 B C , with the exception of a solitary date from KODEKAL (2460 ± 105). For the Pakistan region (Fairservis, 1956; Stacul, 1967; Halim, 1971) it seems to have begun about a millennium earlier (with a maximum time-bracket of 3775-2250 B.C.) but there is no evidence of its diffusion to any of the five other regions mentioned above. For the e. region we have no datable evidence, but on a comparative study based on the present state of our knowledge it is not likely to be earlier that the first quarter of the 2nd millennium B.C. For the Chota Nagpur region, which is a cultural backwater, the available evidence indicates that it began around the last quarter of the 2nd millennium B.C. and lasted for three to four centuries. In the mid-e. region again, the beginning of the food-producing economy can be placed towards the first quarter of the 2nd millennium B.C. with a time spread up to *c.* 1400 B.C., discounting some incompatible dates.

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(7) Conclusion: From the foregoing it would be clear that climatic changes and the shifting of floral and faunal boundaries at the end of the Pleistocene do not seem to be related to the origin of agriculture in India. It was the environment and the exploitative technology, combined with adaptability, that was largely responsible for the transition from the food-gathering to the food-producing economy. Such a transition came at different periods in different parts of the world. Close man-animal and man-plant relationships may be expected to have appeared wherever such relationship conferred a selective advantage.

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The recent excavations at the Spirit Cave in n.-e. Thailand, suggesting a more advanced and discriminating stage in food-gathering (*c.* 9000 B.C.) rather than domestication (Chang, 1970; Solheim, 1971), and at Gua Kechil, Pahang in peninsular S.-E. Asia and at various sites in Greece (*c.* 6000 B.C.), and the Near E., including Ghar-i-Mar in Afghanistan (*c.* 7000 B.C.) have challenged the primacy of the 'Neolithic revolution' and the restrictive aspect of such a concept. It now becomes possible that there were several Neolithic revolutions in the Old World, independent of each other and occurring at different periods.

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It would be seen that, with the exception of the Chota Nagpur region which may have some interrelationship. as yet unidentified, with the s., the early farming communities in each region were distinct from each other. Of these the Pakistan community seems to have been inspired from w. Asia, the n.-w. one from n.-e. and c. China and the e. one from S.-E. Asia, while the Chota Nagpur, mid-e. and s. ones appear to be autochthonous. At the same time it is observed that there is an apparent time-lag between the manifestations of the Neolithic economy in the former group of regions and their counterparts in the nuclear areas mentioned above; the mechanism of diffusion and also its extent remain to be ascertained. The appearance of the early farming communities or the transition from food-gathering to food-producing in India is shown to have come about palpably later than that in w. Asia and S.-E. Asia, which is rather difficult to explain at the moment but may have been conditioned by several factors, including the level of exploitative technology, environment, late continuance or survival of the Mesolithic economy, etc. It is also partly due to the fact that we have as yet not investigated the antecedent stages of the food-producing economy especially with reference to the domestication of animals and plants, climate, soil, relief, etc., which could, in the light of the present approach to the problem, push the story of early farming in India backwards.

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Agrawal. D P., & Kusumgar, S., 1974, *Prehistoric Chronology & Radiocarbon Dating in India*, Delhi. Agrawal, D.P., Kusumgar S., & Pant, R.K , 1975, in *Physics News* 6, 4, pp. 1-10. Allchin, F R., 1963, *Neolithic Cattle-keepers of S. India*, Cambridge, pp 47-71; 1968, in Ucko, P.J , & Dimbleby, W., ed , *Domestication & Exploration of Plants & Animals*, London. Allchin, B., 1966, *Stone-tipped Arrows*, London. Alur, K.R., 1969, in Ansari, Z D., & Nagaraja Rao, M S., *Excavations at Sanganakallu, 1964-65*, Poona, pp. 29-38; 1971a in Seshadri, M., *Report on the Excavations at T. Narsipur*, Bangalore, pp. 99-104; 1971b, in Nagaraja Rao, M S , *Protohistoric Cultures of* *the Tungabhadra Valley: A Report on Hallur Excavation*, Dharwar. Bhola Nath, 1957, in Thapar, B.K., in *AI*, 13; 1959, in *Records of the Indian Museum*, 59, 4. Braidwood, R.J., & Home, B., 1960, *Prehistoric Investigation in Iraqi Kurdistan, Studies in Ancient Oriental Series*, Chicago, 31. Chanda, S., & Mukherjee, B.B., 1969, in *Science & Culture*, 35, pp. 275-6. Chang, Kwang-Chin, 1970, in *Antiquity*, 44, 175. Duckham, A.N., & Mansfield, G.B., 1970, *Farming Systems of the World*, London. Fairservis, W.A., 1956, *Excavations in the Quetta Valley, W. Pakistan*, New York, 45, 2. Foote, R.B., 1916, *Foote Collection of Indian Prehistoric & Protohistoric Antiquities: Notes on their Ages & Distribution*, Madras, p. 50. Gnanamuthu, C.P., 1958, in Soundara Rajan, K.V., in *AI*, 14, pp. 109-10.

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Gordon, D.H., 1950, in *AI*, 6, pp. 64-90; 1958, *Prehistoric Background of Indian Culture*, Bombay. Gupta, H.P., 1973, in *Palaeobotanist*, 20, 1, pp. 70-90. Gurdip Singh, 1967, in *Indian Geohydrology* 3, 1; 1971, in *Arch. Physics.* 6, 2, pp. 177-80. Halim, M.A., 1971, in *Pakistan Arch*, 7, pp. 23-89. Hassan, A.F., 1976, "Diet, nutrition and agricultural origins in the Near E.", paper read at the IXth Congress Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques, Nice. Hawkes, J.G., 1969, in Ucko, P.J., & Dimbleby, W., ed., *Domestication & Exploitation of Plants & Animals*, London. Higgs, E.S., & Vits-Finzi, C., 1972, in Higgs, E.S. ed., *Papers in Economic Prehistory*, Cambridge, pp. 27-36. Hunter, G.R., 1935 & 1936, in *Nagpur Univ. Jour.*, 1 & 2. Jarman, M.R., 1972, in Clark, D.L., ed., *Models in Arch.*, London, pp. 705-33; 1976a, in *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Soc. of London*, Series B; 1976b, "Animal husbandry: early stages", paper read at the IXth Congress Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques, Nice. Joshi, R.V., 1968, in Bardes, F., & De Sonneville Bardes, D., ed., *La Préhistoire, Problems et Tendences*, Paris, pp. 245-54. Lamberg-Karlovsky, G.C., 1961, in *Old World Arch. Foundation of Civilization, Readings from Scientific American*. Mujumdar, G.G., & Rajaguru, S.N., 1966, *Ashmound Excavations at Kupgal*, Poona. Misra, V.N., 1971, in *Jour. Univ. Poona*, 35; 1973, in *World Arch.*, 5, 1.

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Nagaraja Rao, M.S., & Malhotra, K.C., 1968, *Stone Age Hill Dwellers of Tekkalakota*, Poona. Paddayya, K., 1973, *Investigations into the Neolithic Culture of the Shorapur Doab, S. India*, Leiden, p. 87; 1975, in Clason, A.T., ed., *Arch. Studies*, Amsterdam, pp. 329-34. Pande, B.M., 1973, in *Asian Perspective*, Hawaii, 14, pp. 194-238. Rao, S.N., 1976, "Neolithic n.-e. India: a study in culture continuum and change", paper read at the IXth Congress Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques, Nice; 1976b, in *Man & Environment*, 1, pp. 39-43. Sankalia, H.D., 1965, *Excavations at Langhnaj 1944-63*, 1, *Arch.*, Poona. Sarkar, H., 1975, in Subrahmanyam, R., et al., *Nagarjunakonda, 1954-60*, Mem. ASI, 75, pp. 46-71. Sarma, I.K., 1972, in Deo, S.B., ed., *Arch. Congress & Seminar Papers*, Nagpur, Shah, D.R., 1973, in Paddayya, K., *Investigation into the Neolithic Cultures of the Shorapur Doab, S. India*, Leiden. Sharma, G.R., & Verma, R.K., 1964, in Misra, V.N., & Mate, M.S., ed., *Indian Prehistory*, Poona. Solheim, W.G., 1971, in *Fifth Conference of Asian History*. Srinivasan, P., 1960, in Allchin, F.R., *Piklihal Excavations*, Hyderabad; 1961, in Allchin, F.R., *Utnur Excavations*, Hyderabad; in Allchin, F.R., *Neolithic Cattle-keepers of S. India*, Cambridge. Stacul, G., 1967, in *East & West*, New Series, 17, 3-4, pp. 185-219. Subbarao, B., 1948, *Stone Age Cultures of Bellary*, Poona.

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Thapar, B.K., 1964, in Misra, V.N., & Mate, M.S., ed., *Indian Prehistory*, Poona: 1974, in *Puratattva*, 7, pp. 61-5. Todd, K.R.U., 1950, in *AI*, 6. Verma, B.S., 1971, in *Purātattva*, 4. Vishnu-Mittre, 1968, in *Trans. Bose Res. Inst.*, 31, 3, pp. 87-106; 1971, in Nagaraja Rao, M.S., *Protohistoric Cultures of the Tungabhadra Valley: Report on Hallur Excavation*, Dharwar; 1972, in *Palaeobotanist* 21, 1, pp. 18-22. Vishnu-Mittre & Gupta, H.P., 1971, in *Palaeobotanist*, 19, 1, pp. 110-14. Vishnu-Mittre & Guzder, S., 1975, in *Palaeobotanist* 22, 3, pp. 83-8. Zeuner, F.E., 1959, in *Bull. Inst. of Arch.*, London, 2, pp. 37-44; *History of Domesticated Animals*, London, p. 64. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—B.K. THAPAR. (Reprinted with minor editorial alterations from *Jour. Human Evolution*, Academic Press Inc., London, 7, 1970, pp. 11-22, with permission.)

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4.6.1 *N.-w. region*. The Neolithic culture of the Kashmir valley, represented by BURZAHOM, the type site excavated by the ASI for several seasons (*IAR 1960-1*, p. 11; *1961-2*, p. 17; *1962-3*, p. 9) is different from that of the rest of the country. The culture, according to our present knowledge, spreads between Anantnag and Pampur, where many sites, viz. BEGAGUND, GOFKRAL, HARIPARIGON, JAYADEVI-UDAR, OLCHIBEG, PAMPUR, SOMBUR, THAJIWOR, etc., have come to light. The culture was first recognized at BURZAHOM by the Yale-Cambridge expedition in its limited trial trenches as early as the 30s of this century (De Terra and Paterson, 1939). But regular excavations were taken up by the ASI only in 1959. The culture is divisible into two phases, Early and Late. The Early Phase is represented by dwelling pits, handmade ceramics, viz. coarse grey, different shades of red, drab, buff and brown wares, varieties of bone tools, stone axes, harvesters, etc. The Late Phase, besides continuing certain traits of the Early Phase, is characterized by a change in the residential pattern, introduction of an individualistic ceramic industry in the form of a black burnished ware, distinctive human and intentional animal burials in pits and the occurrence, though sparsely, of metal in its upper levels. Characteristic of the culture is the complete absence of the microlithic industry.

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The entire ceramic assemblage of this culture is handmade and crude. In the Early Phase it includes grey, shades of dull red, drab, brown and buff wares. The fabric is coarse and the finish crude. In all probability this pottery was produced by the coil method of potmaking. Husk and grass are used as tempering material. The pots bear impressions of woven mats on the bottoms of the manufactured pots, and these impressions show at least two varieties of weaving techniques. Grey, buff and brown pottery seems to be the predominant industry of the phase. The main shapes are the bowl and vase. The succeeding phase is distinguished, besides the continuation of the earlier ceramics, by the emergence of a new ceramic tradition in the form of black burnished ware and with new pot-forms. This ware is of medium fabric and better finished than that of the Early Phase. Shapes in the black burnished ware comprise: varieties of the bowl such as the one with slanting sides, flat rim and sagger base, bowl with externally chamfered as also everted rim; deep bowl with featureless rim; dish with flat base; jar with flaring thick featureless or sharpened rim, flaring rim and slightly constricted neck; stem with triangular holes; vase; etc. Characteristic is a highnecked jar with flaring rim, globular body and flat base.

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At the junction of the neck with the shoulder this pot bears incised oblique notches; the bottom invariably shows mat impressions. Decorations on the pots are only incisions comprising grooves below the rim and neck on jars, rows of dots on top of the rims of bowls, groups of short oblique lines and deep grooves on the outside of stems. Interesting is an incised design on the flat inside of a broken dish consisting two triple concentric circles with the intervening space filled with groups of three inverted chevrons one within the other. From the inner circle radiate towards the centre two parallel lines enclosing chevrons.

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The shapes in the other wares are the deep bowl with sharpened externally everted featureless rim and with sagger, pedestalled and ring bases, the sides of some being almost straight. The dish with flat base and the jar exhibiting varieties of rims, etc., are the other forms. Decorations consist of incised lines—horizontal, vertical or oblique—and thumb-nail impressions particularly on the rims. The lines in groups are not executed with care; they resemble roughening of the surface and are sometimes also found on the inner side as well.

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The earliest inhabitants lived in pits, circular, oval, rectangular or squarish on plan cut into the natural loess, their walls plastered with the same material. One of the largest circular dwelling pits measures 2·74 m at the top and 4·57 m at the bottom in diameter and is 3·96 m deep. Three landing steps led into this down to a certain level, beyond which it should be presumed that some sort of ladder was used to reach the floor. It is also to be presumed that such steps were a normal feature of these dwellings. All along the periphery at the top post-holes are found, indicative of some sort of superstructure of perishable material. From the discovery of birch in one such pits it may be concluded that birch, till recently the roofing material in the region, was utilized for thatching. Outside the pits but inside the covered area at the top vestiges of stone hearths and storage pits close by have been discovered leading to the surmise that during the warmer days the pit-dwellers came out of their underground refuge to live on the surface of the earth. Hearths have also been noticed inside the pits. Conical stones measuring on an average from 91 cm to 1·51 m in length and 22 to 44 cm in breadth found inside some pits perhaps served as leaning stones. An interesting feature is that two pits are interconnected with an arched corridor, also plastered with mud. From inside the pits a few bone tools and animal bones have been obtained, but no evidence of grains or cereals has been noticed. The usual filling of the pit comprises ash, charcoal, etc.

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The square and rectangular pits are shallower than the circular ones and have drains on all sides. At the centre is a stone hearth. Like the circular pits these also had a timber superstructure as evidenced by the presence of post-holes. In addition there was a central post to carry the weight of the roof. The corner posts were the broadest and were planted deep into the earth. Some of the pits have also been found partitioned.

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In the Late Phase the residential pattern underwent a complete change. Dwelling pits were entirely discarded and in their place structures of mud, mud brick and even stone appear. The dwelling pits of the Early Phase were completely filled up, plastered with mud and coated with a thin layer of red ochre. The presence of post-holes on the floors indicates that these also had thatched roofings. Successive floor levels represented by burnt soil have also been met with. A rectangular structure measuring 3·96 × 1·2 m with 42 well-arranged post-holes might have served as a community assembly hall. An interesting structure from the upper levels, rectangular in shape, constructed of stone slabs and rubble stones has been found filled inside with sand. Two of the upright slabs bear an engraved hunting scene and a caged animal representing the earliest Neolithic art in the region. Besides, mud partitions and mud platforms, storage pits and hearths form part of the residential requirements.

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No burials of the Early Phase have been met with. In the Late Phase several human and animal burials have been found, the latter being a unique feature of the Neolithic culture of this region. The human burials are in oval-shaped pits dug usually into the floors of residences and are narrow at the top and broad at the bottom. Pits for a normal adult vary between 1.16 to 1.98 m in diameter with a depth of more than 3 m. The sides of the pits are plastered with lime. The filling inside the pits is mostly ash, stone pieces and potsherds. Both primary or complete inhumations and secondary or selected post-excarnation disarticulated burials have been noticed. The orientation of the body was n.-e. to s.-w. initially but later on e.-w., particularly in the case of a child with its head towards w. Articulated interments of the body are seen laid to rest mostly in a crouching or embryonic position, an exception being an adult inhumation in an extended supine position with its head towards s.-w. One of the skeletons in the crouching position is completely smeared with red ochre. The intact articulated condition of the skeleton warrants the conclusion that the pit was opened afresh after the flesh had decomposed for the ritual painting of the red ochre. Trepanning [12.4], seven finished and four unfinished holes, have been noticed on the *norma lateralis* position on the parietal bone between the *bregma* and *lamoda* of one skull. In one case five carnelian barrel beads have been found in the neck region.

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Along with the human bones, those of animals, which were perhaps sacrificed in honour of the dead and flesh partaken in ritual feast, have been found buried in the same pit either at the same level or at a higher level. The animals represented are the dog, goat, etc. Sometimes these animal bones are also treated with a coat of red ochre.

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In the secondary burials selected bones, particularly skulls and long bones, are seen interred. Instances of these bones being given a wash of red ochre are not wanting. In one such burial two long conical leaning stones have been found placed in the leg region. The use of red ochre was discontinued after some time.

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The human burials, as noticed at BURZAHOM, reveal striking parallels with those obtained in comparable times at Catal Hüyük. Some similarities can also be noticed in those from Tepe Hissar and Sialk. The use of red ochre seems to have been prevalent in Russia also.

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Animals have been found interred in oval pits with narrow top and broad bottom with lime-plastered walls, identical in construction with those of the human burials. But the size is a little smaller with the diameters of the pits varying from 90 cm to 1·05 m. A rare exception is an irregular pit with filling mostly of ash and stone pieces. The skeletons are usually oriented n.-s. with the head towards the n., a solitary exception being e.-w. Both complete and fragmentary inhumations were prevalent.

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The fragmentary mode of disposal of the dead consists of remains of five wild dogs and two antlers of *barasingha*; the five skulls were found along with the vertebral columns in an articulated position. Besides ribs and bones of limbs and pelvis are also interred. All the bones show cut marks indicative of ceremonial sacrifice. In an another disarticulated skeleton of a Himalayan ibex (*Capra falconeri*) below which at a lower level have been found bones of stag, dog, sheep, goat and antler.

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Complete inhumations consist of single or double animals at different levels in the same pit. The animals so buried are mostly dogs and in two instances wolves. The orientation of the body is usually n.-s. in a crouching position. Only one animal is seen buried in a supine position on its back with its legs upwards. It is interesting to note the body of a wolf has been found in a completely charred condition. The animal burials are devoid of any furnishings.

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Stone artefacts include polished stone axes made of the Himalayan trap, celts having a flat rectangular cross-section, with the body bent longitudinally and straight cutting edge, bead-shaped mace-heads having an hourglass cross-section, shoe-last type, double-edged picks, perforated picks, double-edged points, perforated harvesters, polishers, pounders, and chisels. The stone tools are typologically different from those of the peninsular Neolithic complex [4.6.7-10]. Further they show a tendency towards an increasing frequency in the later phase.

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Bone tools are distinctive of the culture. They are highly polished with sharp working edges. Typologically they may be classified into short daggers, points of different sizes, awls, antimony rods [18.1], polishers or scrapers, chisels, needles with eye [6.15], serrated tools, harpoons, etc. Again in the Late Phase bone tools are better manufactured and more polished than those of the Early Phase. Scrapers with broad butt are also made of animal horns. In the upper levels of the Late Phase a copper arrowhead and a coil have been found; these are the only metal objects in the otherwise metal-less Neolithic of Kashmir region.

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Personal ornaments were perhaps restricted only to necklaces of beads of carnelian besides those of paste and a soapstone disc or pendant.

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Neolithic art can be gleaned from two engraved stele which form part of the rectangular stone structure of the Late Phase. The first [12.3.5] portrays a hunting scene; a stag or deer being hunted from the front with a bow and arrow and by a spear from the rear. The engraved double sun indicates the duration of the hunt. The scene contains besides the hunters a dog as well. The second example is a tectiform usually found in Palaeolithic rock paintings [13], perhaps representing an encaged animal. These are in all probability representative of sympathetic magic.

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From the burial practices and the engraved stele it is possible to surmise some aspects of the religious beliefs of these people. The ochre wash found on the skeletal remains, both human and animal, a widely prevalent practice in contemporary societies elsewhere, is suggestive of the colour of the blood being utilized for magico-religious resurrection. Sacrificial killing and burying of pet animals of the deceased and ceremonial feast of edible animals are suggestive of family if not community involvement in burying the dead. The presence of separate burials for the dog particularly for the wild variety and the wolf would warrant an inference that the people believed in totems. Trepanning of the skull is indicative of magico-medical belief. The engraved stele portraying a hunting scene would suggest homoeopathic magic inducing successful and plentiful hunting.

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It appears that these people were primarily food-gatherers. Any evidence for agriculture is lacking; no quern or other grinding equipment has been found. Though pounders and mace-head axes might indicate incipient agriculture, they are not a conclusive evidence, for no remains of cereals or any other grains have been found. However harvesters [Sankalia, 1974, thinks that the so-called harvesters were in reality pendants] and charred hay would lead one to think of the prevalence of some sort of agricultural practice. But on the whole the economy seems to be based primarily on hunting and food-gathering as proved by predominant occurrence of bone tools like points and harpoons. Evidence for domestication of animals is also wanting. In short it may be said that here is the evidence for a transitional phase from specialized food-gathering to incipient food-producing stage. Yet these people knew the technique of mat weaving. Bone needles with eyes are suggestive of manufacture of clothing of animal skins which they must have scraped and cleaned with bone scrapers. However there is no direct evidence for woven cloth.

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The Neolithic culture of the region is distinct and stands aloof from that of the rest of India. The dwelling pits, certain tools, particularly the harpoon, the perforated stone harvester and dog burials are alien to Indian Neolithic tradition. The bone tool assemblage including the harpoon has been found at n. Chinese sites. Animal interments, particularly dog burials, recall those of the Ang-Ang-Hse Culture of Manchuria. The burial customs exhibit similarities with the n. and n.-w. Chinese and c. Asian interments of comparable age. This culture appears to be an isolated development, particularly when we observe that the contemporary well-developed urban Harappa culture [4.9] in the immediate neighbourhood has had little impact on this culture although doubtful but incipient infiltration of this urban culture has been observed in the Neolithic ceramics in the form of a couple of pot forms.

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In time span, on the basis of ¹⁴C dates the Early Phase may be said to range between the later half of the 3rd millennium b.c (2375 ± 120 b.c ) to the closing years of the first half of the 2nd millennium b.c. (1542 ± 108 b c.). The Late Phase continued beyond the second half of the 8th century b.c. (707 ± 103 b c ).

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