An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.t6.16

v1.c9.s6.t6.16

*4.6.10 S. and s.-w. region.* Despite their contiguity the two s. states Kerala and Tamil Nadu are of two differing geographical, climatic and ecological types. The former is dominated by the vertebral and towering w. Ghats, resulting in a truly sub-equatorial belt with lush vegetation, heavy s.-w. monsoon and essentially maritime and water-borne functional bias. On the other hand the comparatively loosely knit chain of the E. Ghats, swinging from the e. coast into and across the peninsula, on the n. borders of Tamil Nadu and joining W. Ghats around the Nilgiris, gives it a different character. The advent of cultural impulses into Tamil Nadu in the post-Palaeolithic ages was largely shaped by this physical difference, and this generally followed the Ghats in the region between the Nilgiris and the Cardamon Hills, comprising the best part of e. Coimbatore, Salem, N. Arcot and the w. part of Dts Madurai, which form the most hilly tracts of the state. It is precisely in this region that the Neolithic cultures of the state have also mostly been identified.