An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.27

v1.c9.s6.27

(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*.