Animal Husbandry and Allied Technologies in Ancient India: From Prehistorical to Early Historical Times by P.P. Joglekar & Pankaj Goyal

Author:P.P. Joglekar & Pankaj Goyal [Joglekar, P.P. & Goyal, Pankaj]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Infinity Foundation India
Published: 2020-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

The Southern Neolithic Culture

A well-documented neolithic culture existed in south India, where a substantial number of neolithic sites have been reported from the parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. While the neolithic research in this region goes back into the first half of CE 19th century, our knowledge and understanding has expanded greatly in the decades since India’s independence. The southern Neolithic is considerably later than the Neolithic of either the Ganges or the Indus system. The dates of the southern neolithic cites mostly fall within the broad time bracket of c. 2900-1000 BCE. However, those dates can be further divided based on the chronology and geographical aspects. The earliest dates so far obtained from Kodekal, Utnur and Pallavoy range between 2900 and 2400 BCE. Others dates obtained from the granite hills that rise from the plateau appear to be somewhat later. Those are from c. 2000 onwards. The domestic equipment of the southern neolithic sites includes a wide range of heavy stone artefacts, similar to those found at neolithic settlements in north India. Copper also appears in small quantity at an early stage, but it is not clear that copper or bronze was processed from the ores or smelted in south India at that time, because no furnace has so far been discovered (Korisettar et al. 2002: 186). Throughout the neolithic period, there was a range of ceramic wares. A number of burials have also been found in the habitation areas, containing grave goods, such as chert blades, pots and something like stone axes.

Researches in the southern neolithic context are dominated by two major issues: (1) the ash mounds that are essentially accumulations of burnt cow dung, and (2) the neolithic settlements on the flat-topped hills of the region. A discussion on the ash mounds is necessary, since it is connected with the cattle pastoralism. The first reports of the ash mounds appeared between the CE 1830s and 1840s. Initially, those were described as the ‘cinder mounds’ or ‘cinder camps’, and many considered those of the volcanic or limestone origin. Some scholars thought that the mounds represented ancient burial sites, and another group of scholars believed those to be sites of ancient gold and iron workings. Gradually it was realised that the mounds were not natural geological formation, but were created by the people. Robert Bruce Foote, based on his observations at the site of Budikanama, argued that those ash mounds were the heaps of excessively burnt cow dung that the neolithic cattle herders had made. However, only a few were convinced by his argument.

It is established by intensive research that the ash mounds were made out of the burnt cow dung. It also clear that the accumulated cattle dung was burnt, not once, but many times. That repeated burning seemed to have been a deliberate activity. According to Allchin (1963: 164), the ash mounds were, in fact, the pens in which the neolithic cattle were herded. Burning of large quantities of cow dung over a long period represented annual seasonal rites, perhaps, of purification.

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