An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.12

v1.c9.s6.12

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.