Stone age artefacts from the recent prehistoric explorations in the Manjira river basin of the Telangana State: A Preliminary Study

 

 

ABSTRACT:

The recent prehistoric explorations which were carried out in the Manjira river basin of the Telangana resulted in a discovery of stone age tools in the study region. An extensive archaeological survey has been carried out in the districts of Sangareddy, Medak and Nizamabad. This assemblage will help in the understanding of the Prehistoric cultures of the study region and also in the reconstruction of the past life and Prehistoric climate.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

The roots of Indian Prehistory can be traced back to 1830s with the earliest prehistoric evidence provided by Primrose (1842), T.J. Newbold (1836, 1843) and Meadows Tylor (1851). Later in 1863 Robert Bruce Foote a British geologist found the first palaeolithic in India at Pallavaram, Chennai (Foote 1866a; Foote 1866b). Indian subcontinent plays a crucial role in understanding the past human migrations due to its geographical location between Europe and Africa on the one hand, and Australians on the other (Zeuner 1951; Petraglia 1998; Mishra 2008; Pappu et al. 2011).

 

The occurrence of Stone Age artefacts in the Manjira river valley was first reported by A.V.N. Murthy in the year 1957-58. In 1971-72, Bopardikar systematically explored the upper reaches of Manjira and the same area was re-explored by R.V. Joshi and his associates. R.M. Sadhakrishnan and reported several Middle and Microlithic sites.

 

 

D.L.N. Sastry surveyed this basin between Janwada and Singoor over 60km stretch and he found 40 sites of which belongs to Upper Palaeolithic and also he noticed the absence of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic evidence. A.V.N. Murthy (1957-58) reported the discovery of series- II tools and microliths at Appareddipalle and Satwar in Zahirabad taluq (Sastry 1985). The present study aims to explore prehistoric sites in the study region and also to investigate the past human behaviour with the available lithic assemblage. Extensive field surveys have been carried out re-examine the previously discovered sites and also to locate the new Prehistoric sites.

 

About the study region:

The Manjira river is a southern tributary of the Godavari river, it originates in Balaghat plateau of Maharashtra at an altitude of 823m. and flows through Osmanabad (Maharashtra) and Bidar (Karnataka) districts before entering Sangareddy of Telangana state. It is having a catchment area of 30,844 sq. km. In Telangana, it flows through Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddi and Nizamabad districts before joining the Godavari River at an altitude of 333m. near Kandakurthi of Nizamabad district. The tributaries of the Manjira river include Terna, Tawarja and Gharni, Manyad, Teru, Lendi and Dabbavagu.

 

Figure 1: Location of the study region in the Indian Subcontinent. (Source: Google Maps)

 

Explorations and Methodology:

The study area has been divided into several regions for fieldwork convenience. Intensive and extensive field surveys have been carried out in different parts of the study region in different seasons with the help of toposheets and geological maps. A sum of 14 sites new (n=10) and reported late Palaeolithic sites (n=4) explored in the Northwest and Western regions of the study area.

 

 

 

Site Distribution:

All these sites are located in the Manjira river basin. These sites may be consists of Middle palaeolithic to Mesolithic cultures, some sites are found near to the river banks (n=10), the pediment (n=3) and the hilltop (n=1). Lithic assemblage collected both from the Surface (n=10) and stratified sections (n=4). The lithic assemblage found along with the alluvial soils (n=10) and pebble gravel context (n=4). All these tools are made of Chert, chalcedony and Quartz raw materials which are available locally in the Deccan Traps.

 

Figure 2: QGIS map showing the Site Distribution pattern in the Study area (Source: Google Earth)

 

 

Figure 3: Flakes within the context at the site of Nandi Kandi

 

Table 1: Site distribution pattern in the study area

Sl. No.	Site Code	Name of the Village	District	Latitude	Longitude	AMSL (in mt)
1	MDN	Mandarna	Nizamabad	18 40 15	77 44 14	346
2	SLR	Saloora	Nizamabad	18 48 55	77 58 31	340
3	KDK	Kaldurki	Nizamabad	18 47 37	77 47 25	341
4	KDT	Kandakurthi	Nizamabad	18 53 16	77 51 6	333
5	SKN	Sunkini	Nizamabad	18 37 28	77 44 46	275
6	KGN	Khatgaon	Nizamabad	18 29 4	77 45 24	285
7	HGG	Hangarga	Nizamabad	18 33 55	77 45 15	278
8	KCL	Kodcherla	Nizamabad	18 32 7	77 45 51	283
9	TPN	Tuphran	Medak	17 52 52	78 29 47	512
10	FSD	Faisalwadi	Medak	17 39 4	78 7 13	491
11	ARR	Aroor	Sanga Reddy	17 38 12	77 52 9	546
12	BDR-1	Budera- 1	Sanga Reddy	17 38 31	77 49 46	595
13	NKD	Nandi Kandi	Sanga Reddy	17 36 47	78 0 3	500
14.	BDR-2	Budera-2	Sanga Reddy	17 39 1	77 50 57	591

Lithic Assemblages:

The tools were made majorly on the Chert material others on materials like Quartz, Chert, Agate and Chalcedony. Among them few flakes and blades are light brown in colour, few are white with black and red banded colour, few are glassy and shiny and few of the blades are white in colour. The primary raw material for Chert which is available locally in the Deccan traps in the forms of pebbles and cobbles. The microlithic tools were made of Chalcedony, Quartz and other siliceous materials. The chalcedony and quartz veins are available at the site of Budera and Nandi Kandi. The lithic assemblage consists of scrapers of several types, borers, Blades, flakes, Core flakes, microliths, Blade cores.

 

DISCUSSION:

The present study highlights the late Palaeolithic cultures of the region. The late Palaeolithic artefacts are predominantly occurring in the regions of Deccan traps which are the sources for quartz and other siliceous materials. The Acheulian is completely absent in these regions. These artefacts are eroding out from the surface layers and also occurring in the stratified sections. Flake-blades and blade-tools are predominantly occurring in this region which belongs to the Late Palaeolithic assemblage.

 

This study mainly helps in exploring the new sites and collection of lithic assemblages from these sites, which further helps to the understanding of the past human behaviour and past climate of the Manjira river basin. This region is strategically located in a closer geographic proximity to the major prehistoric sites like Attirampakkam, Tamilnadu. Hunsgi-Baichbal in Karnataka, Kurnool caves in Andhra Pradesh and Tikoda in Madhya Pradesh. Further studies and surveys are required to find the Acheulian sites in the region.

 

 

Figure 4: Blade tools and from the site Kaldurki

 

 

Figure 5: Microliths from the site Kaldurki

 

 

Figure 6: Microliths from the site Kaldurki

 

REFERENCES:

1.        Foote Robert B. The Foote Collection of Indian Prehistoric and Protohistoric Antiquities.

2.        Government Museum. Madras. 1914.

3.        Mishra, S. 2008. The Lower Palaeolithic: A Review of Recent Findings. Man and

4.        Environment XXXIII(I): 14-29.

5.        Murty MLK. Pre- and Protohistoric Andhra Pradesh Up To 500 BC. Orient

6.        Longman. Chennai. 2003.

7.        Shanti Pappu et al. Excavations at the Palaeolithic site of Attirampakkam, South India:              

8.        Preliminary Findings. Current Anthropology 44 (2003): 591-598.

9.        Shanti Pappu et al. Early Pleistocene Presence of Acheulian Hominins in South

10.      India. Science 331 (2011): 1596-1598.

11.      Sastry DLN. Prehistoric Cultures of Manjira Basin. (MPhil diss., Nagarjuna University)

12.      1985.

13.      Zeuner FE. Prehistory in India. Deccan College. Pune. 1951.

 

 

 

Received on 23.11.2018         Modified on 02.12.2018

Accepted on 28.12.2018      ©AandV Publications All right reserved