An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.t3.1

v1.c9.s6.t3.1

Occupying the hilly s. part of Bihar and described as a physiographic province of the e. plateaux of India, Chota Nagpur is a forested, much dissected and overdrained region with a monsoon type of climate and with a large aboriginal population. Its archaeological record goes back to the Lower Palaeolithic [4.2], geologically belonging to the Middle Pleistocene [9.8.2]. Its Neolithic culture is known from a scatter of open sites located in Dts Ranchi, Singhbhum and Santal Parganas, which have revealed the occurrence of stone tool industries, pottery, terracotta beads and other objects. The tool industries are dominated by the celt family of tools—axe, adze, hoe and chisel and their variants. No dwellings have been identified; nor there is any direct evidence of agriculture. However crude potsherds from Singhbhum have chaff or chopped straw in the clay. The assemblage of artefacts stated above, including grinders and saddle querns [6.19], together with handmade pottery, suggests a rural economy based on subsistence agriculture. It appears and mud walls, was compact.