An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.t6.12

v1.c9.s6.t6.12

On the origin of the Neolithic culture there are two theories. The first is the dispersal from w. Asia postulated on the strength of the ceramic tradition of Shah Tepe and other w. Asian sites, whence migration of a group of people from the Turkmen steppe and Elburz mountains gathered en route the *Bos indicus* from the Indus people and other Chalcolithic traits (Allchin, 1968). The second is an autochthonous origin with Bellary as the nuclear region for its dispersal (Krishnaswami, 1960). At present the origin is a moot question. Yet it is true that in the Neolithic of Karnataka, particularly in its upper phase, a close contact was maintained with the Chalcolithic culture of its neighbours in the n. Deccan [4.14.6] with mutual borrowings explicit in certain traits of ceramics, burial customs, residential patterns, technology, etc.