Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s3.t6: Megalithic Culture of Central India
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s3.t6
- Language
- English
Megalithic Culture of Central India
v1.c20.s3.t6.1
Iron appears in the megalithic burials of the Vidarbha region in Central India, with B&RW which is quite different from that found in the north-east. The region of Vidarbha has 72 of the 83 Megalithic sites in Maharashtra exhibiting only one kind of megalithic monument viz., the stone circle with cairn filling.
v1.c20.s3.t6.2
A large majority of the Vidarbha sites are in the north and south-west of Nagpur and within a circle of 50-60 km radius around the modern city. Thus what we witness here is a highly compact and homogeneous megalithic culture dated around 800-700 BC. Takalghat, Khapa and Gangapur are in south-west, Mahurjhari, Junapani, Borgaon in north-west, and Naikund in north-east direction relative to Nagpur. Kaundinyapur site is near Amaravati.
v1.c20.s3.t6.3
The megalithic people around Mahurjhari practised a mixed subsistence economy, and thier diet included agricultural products as well as hunted game animals. In the entire area, real agricultural tools like sickle and ploughshare were rare. At Borgaon, the tools of offence like spikes, axes, trident and other objects account for nearly 77 per cent of the total collection. At Takalghat, 28 out of 76 iron implements (37%) are offence tools like axe, arrowhead, dagger, blade, sword, spear, knife etc. We have the same pattern in the peninsular megaliths: Brahmagiri shows 28 out of 44 (63%) as offence tools. Many items were ‘socio-technic’ — related to the status or rank of a person in a given social set-up. These indicated specifc status; for example only one out of four burials at Borgaon showed horse-bit of iron and trident. At Takalghat and Mahurjhari were found hose-trappings, ornaments, dagger with iron blade and copper hilt etc. The culture reflected nomadic pastoralism, emphasis on warfare using horses, ritual tradition for sacrificing animals, and a strong tradition for metallurgy.
v1.c20.s3.t6.4
Whereas the Vidarbha Megalith culture shows less use of tin in bronze items, the peninsular counterparts show more lavish use of the metal: Brahmagiri sample 16 per cent tin in bronze, Raigir, Andhra Pradesh sample 21 per cent, Nilgiri area bronze 30 per cent etc. At Mahurjhari and Takalghat 15-30 per cent of the metallic items in the burials were made of copper. The number of copper bronze artefacts used by the Megalithic people is much higher than that associated with the full-fledged chalcolithic Jorwe culture in Western Maharashtra. The Megalith traditions in gold are equally impressive. Takalghat and Mahurjhari show a high percentage of silver (51.2%) in gold items. The gold diadems of Adichanallur are the most classic specimens of skilled technology. Paiyampalli provides the evidence of a goldsmith’s stone mould. The Megalithic people of Maski must have obtained gold from the nearby Hutti mine.