Neolithic Remains of Eastern India.pptx

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1. Neolithic Remains of Eastern India: Neolithic Sites from Chota Nagpur Plateau, Odisha and Asam Dr. Virag Sontakke Assistant Professor A.I.H.C. & Archaeology Banaras Hindu University

2. Neolithic Remains of Eastern India: Neolithic Sites from Chota Nagpur Plateau, Odisha and Asam

3. Introduction Separate zone of neolithic Less studied than the south and Ganga zone Chronology: Late Daojali Hading : 2700 BCE Specific Tool types : Shouldered celts Marker Pottery : Cord impressed

4. Neolithic Tools of Eastern India

5. Courtesy: https:// www.nezine.com /info/N1ZRc0UxalQyZ21tSWhUNThVQzhvZz09/ bambooti -excavation-site:-the-last-neolithic-age-cultural-site-in-assam-with-ruins-of-3200-years-old-kitchen-midden.html Neolithic Tools of Eastern India

6. Neolithic Tools of Eastern India

7. Neolithic Pottery of Eastern India

8. Neolithic Pottery of Eastern India

9. Chota Nagpur Plateau No detailed work Only a few Neolithic sites No proper excavations No authentic neolithic sites are documented yet Rich in minerals, stone, timber

10. Barudih Location : Singhbhum district Situated on : Sanjai Nala First Reported : 1875 Ball Excavations : 1963 & 1966 (D. Sen), 1969 (Gosh) Mound area : 15 x 34 meter

11. Remains : Microliths, celts, pottery, iron slags Tools : 17 celts, Pottery : BRW, Red ware, black ware On the basis of celts, it is considered a Neolithic site Dates : 1401-837 BCE Barudih

12. Taradih Location : Bodh Gaya, Bihar Excavations : 1981-82, 1982-83 Director : Ajit Prasad, ASI N eolithic cultural material at the lowest level Further subdivided into Phase A and B on the basis of ceramics.

13. Taradih : Results Phase A H andmade pottery Pottery : red ware, burnished red ware, cord-impressed ware and rusticated ware. House Remains : The burnt clay pieces with a reed impression House of wattle-and-daub nature. Tools : neolithic tools, microliths and bone tools. Phase B P ottery : burnished grey ware Tools : neolithic tools, microliths, bone tools, Objects : terracotta objects, Ornaments : stone beads, Plants : rice, wheat, barley, lentil etc. Animals : domestic and wild animals cattle, goats, pigs, buffalo, sheep, deer and stag.

14. West Bengal The neolithic celts and ring-stones were reported from the western upland with microlithic assemblage in the valleys of Tarafeni and Bhairabbanki . Pandu Rajar Dhibi At Pandu Rajar Dhibi lowest level is (Period I) Neolithic, A few neolithic stone tools, Bone tools and Microliths A handmade grey ware with rice husk impressions, Wheel-made painted red pottery and A limited quantity of black-and-red ware were encountered. Their date has been assigned to the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE (IAR 1964-65).

15. Odisha S everal neolithic sites and a few of them have been excavated Kuchai, Baidipur and Shankarjang (Dhenkanal district) confirmed neolithic celts in association with a coarse grit-tempered red ware. Dr. Behera has extensively explored the Bonaigarh area and located several celt-manufacturing localities and a few sites associated with celts and ceramics. Sulabhdihi was identified as a celt manufacturing centre in the area. A trial trench at Bargaon revealed a habitational deposit of neolithic occupation. Explorations conducted by Basa et al. (2000) in the Pallahara area of central Orissa have brought to light neolithic stone artefacts in association with coarse red ware and black-and-red ware.

16. Kuchai First neolithic site excavated in Odisha Located in Mayurbhanj district Director : B.K. Thaper in 1960-61 Agency : ASI Deposit : 40 to 45 cm of clayey deposit of neolithic culture

17. Kuchai: Pottery and Tools Pottery C oarse grit-tempered red ware: sometimes slipped and showing in addition incised or finger-tip decoration. Shape : Bowls, vases, lids and knob Tools ground stone axes chisels, mace-heads, pounders and grinding stones.

18. Golbai Sasan Large neolithic site 60 km from Khurda district Right bank of Malaguni Located in the coastal region of Odisha Earlier excavated by Sinha by 1991 to 1992 Director : R.K. Mohanty Year : 2010-2011 Agency : DCPGRI Culture sequence: Period I: Neolithic

19. Hand made and wheel made Red ware (chocolate slip) Grey ware Cord-impressed ware Shapes : Bowl, vase, basins, Golbai Sasan : Ceramics

20. Ceramics from Golbai Sasan

21. Stone tools from Golbai Sasan Celts from Kuchai and Nayapur

22. Archaeobotanical Remains Rice Horse gram Pigeon pea Mung Variety of millets Golbai Sasan : Food habit

23. Asam Major state of NE India Flat and hilly track Assam valley covers: Brahmaputra plain, Eastern Himalaya, Purvanchal and Meghalaya-Mikir region The region is crisscrossed by several tributaries and streams of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers. Neolithic sites are located on the hilly tracks

24. Assam: Historical Background First time reported by Sir John Lubbock in 1867 A.H. Dani (1960) made a detailed study of an eastern Neolithic culture divided Assam and north-eastern states V.D. Krishnaswami (1962), divided the Indian Neolithic complex into four regions including N-E T.C. Sharma (1966), systematically studied the neolithic material from Northeast India B.K. Thapar (1978) also studied the problem of neolithic, and divided the culture into six geographical zones.

25. Daojali Hading A well-known site of entire Northeast India Situated in Dima Hasao district Location : in a low hillock having an altitude of 1,000 feet AMSL Director : M.C. Goswami Excavations : 1961, 1963 Deposit : 1.5 meter

26. Daojali Hading : Tools 32-edged tool, 22 grinding stones, 4 querns, 6 mullers, 11 quartzite pebbles Small celts with three sub-types : Oval Triangular Quadrangular Quadrangular adzes Chisels Material : L ocally available shale, S andstone, Q uartzite and F ossil wood. Shale was used for making edged tools S andstone for grinding stones, querns, etc.

27. shouldered axe, shouldered axe axe with broad cutting-edge, faceted hoe with long parallel sides, faceted hoe curvilinear, shouldered axe, regular and broad, shouldered axe, regular and long, shouldered axe with a regular and crescent-shaped body, Faceted hoe with a unifacially ground edge, Gouge-adze, Rounded butt axe, curvilinear, Rounded butt axe with the bifacially-ground median edge Splayed axe, Tanged axe, Faceted hoe with a bifacially-ground median edge, rounded-butt axe, unifacially ground edge-bevelled, wedge-blade, A faceted tool with side notches Daojali Hading : Tools

28. Stone artifacts from excavation at Daojali Hading (after Sankalia 1974)

29. Daojali Hading : Pottery T hree varieties of pottery collected 595 pieces of a cord-impressed pottery 19 pieces of stamped dull red variety, 11 pieces of the brick red variety. The majority of the potsherds are heavily weathered and Broken into small fragments which prevent identifying the shapes and forms. Core : Cord-impressed coarse grey ware is made of coarse and unevenly mixed clay, heavily tempered with large quartz particles. Technique : coil-building method.

30. Cord-impressed, basket pattern and beater -impressed pottery of Daojali Hading (after Sharma 1989: 226) Cord-marked pottery from Daojali Hading (after Sengupta and Sharma 2011)

31. Daojali Hading : Objects Evidence of querns and mullers indicates agricultural food consumption A large number of rounded pots have been recovered. Used for storing grains, and preparing food. Jadeite stone was found that must have been transported from China Date : 100 CE

32. Sarutaru Location : 25 km southeast of Guwahati, Kamrup district, Assam Situated on the top of a small hillock, about 125 m high from the foothill. S tone celts found during the construction of a farmhouse Excavated Year : 1967-73 Excavator: S.N. Rao Agency : Department of Anthropology, Dibrugarh University.

33. Sarutaru : Pottery Single cultural site Deposit: 65 cm Pottery is handmade M ade of clay mixed with quartz particles May be done on an open surface. Three ceramic types, on the basis of colour, B rown, B uff and G rey Mostly cord-impressed ware The ceramic is decorated with cord impressions or basket impressions on the exterior In the process of making a vessel by hand, two parts of the vessel are molded by hand separately

34. Sarutaru : Tools Tools : 9 stone celts Material : slate of dark grey colour and sandstone of cream to buff color . Technique : chipping and grinding Types: shouldered celts; round-butted

35. Marakdola Location : 1 km from the Neolithic site of Sarutaru Kamrup district of Asam Situated on a low mound Excavator : S.N. Rao (1977) A single cultural stratum of 1.7 m thickness

36. Marakdola : Pottery Wheel-turned pottery is fine M ade out of well- l evigated kaolin clay with no impurities or grit T he texture of the fabric is fine and the walls ware thin. Entirely wheel turned Ware: cream to buff, red, and grey Cord impressed: Shapes: Globular vessel, Goblet, bowls, dish, lids, Spouted vessel Exterior decoration of cord-impressions Terracotta objects : a dish on a stand, smoking pipes, a terracotta cake, a fishing weight, and a zoomorphic form

37. S houldered celt On the basis of tools and pottery, Rao assigned the site to the Neolithic period. It has been observed at many sites that neolithic celts survived as late as the 7th century CE and afterwards. Neolithic deposit is questionable. Marakdola : Tools

38. Assam Daojali Hading Edged tool, grinding stones, querns, mullers Cord-impressed variety, stamped dull red variety, and brick red variety Sarutaru Ground stone celts Cord-impressions or basket-impressions on the exterior of the pottery of brown, buff and grey colour Marakdola Shouldered celt Wheel turned pottery of fine kaolin cla West Bengal Pandu Rajar Dhibi Ground stone tools, bone tools and microliths Handmade grey ware with rice husk impressions, wheel- made painted red pottery and limited quantity of black-and- red ware were Odisha Kuchai Ground stone implements like axes including a shouldered adze from exploration and ground stone axes of butt or pointed- end variety, chisels, mace-heads, pounders and grinding stones, microliths of non- geometric variety represented by blades, points, lunates and various types of scrapers from lower level of excavation Coarse grit-tempered red ware, sometimes also slipped and showing in addition incised or finger-tip decoration Golbai Sasan Neolithic celts and bone pieces in exploration Handmade pottery of dull red and grey wares, showing cord and reed impressions Overview of the Eastern Neolithic Sites

39. Conclusion No microliths like Ganga plain Similarity : Cord-impressed pottery The cord impressions suggest the neolithic folk were making basketry utensils. Tools: Shouldered celts Connection with Southeast Asia Shouldered celt and cord-marked pottery, can be compared with the similar cultures of Southeast Asia, such as the Non-Nok Tha of Thailand, the Lung- shanoid of China, the Sham Wan of Hong Kong, and f the Philippines, Taiwan and Burma ( Movius 1943). Ethnoarchaeology Khasis, who belong to a Mongoloid stock and the Man-Khmer linguistic group seemed to have entered India from Burma, where a branch of a similar linguistic group still exists. Shifting cultivation could have been practised in Neolithic period