Lithic technology and social transformations in the South Indian Neolithic: The evidence from Sanganakallu–Kupgal

Shipton, Ceri; Petraglia, Michael D.; Koshy, Jinu; Bora, Janardhana; Brumm, Adam; Boivin, Nicole; Korisettar, Ravi; Risch, Robert; Fuller, Dorian Q.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2011.11.003

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Interestingly, accompanying microlithic toolkits of these Megalithic groups show some similarities to the early Mesolithic occupation of the site between 9000 and 2300 cal. BC, suggesting a substantial change in subsistence practice at this time (Shipton et al 2012). Importantly, be tween 1200 and 1000 cal.…”

Section: Settlement and Subsistence At Sanganakallu Across The Neolitmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…2, where the dyke running through Area B extends down to the base of Hiregudda. As with Area B, the great majority of diagnostic artefacts were found to be early stage reduction flakes, leading to Area J being identified as a quarry and primary reduction locale (Shipton et al 2012). Stone quarries in Areas B and J are likely to have serviced axe production in both the habitation and 'factory' periods of Area A.…”

Section: Hireguddamentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Sanganakallu-Kupgal as a complex of Mesolithic, Neolithic, Megalithic and Iron Age activity, some of which was described as early as the nineteenth century (Foote 1887a, b), is among the most frequently discussed sites in the context of southern Indian prehistory (Foote 1887a(Foote , b, 1895Subbarao 1947Subbarao , 1948Mujumdar and Rajaguru 1966;Ansari and Nagaraja Rao 1969;Boivin et al , 2008. Publications regarding the complex have thus far addressed sizeable and well-studied lithic assemblages (Brumm et al 2007;Risch et al 2009;Shipton et al 2012), the organisation of craft activities (Brumm et al 2007), rock art (Boivin 2004;Boivin et al 2008) and radiocarbon chronologies . This, alongside abundant and systematically analysed archaeobotanical and archaeozoological evidence (preliminary datasets in Korisettar et al 2001b;, means that SanganakalluKupgal is an excellent candidate for a detailed local analysis of subsistence strategies, settlement patterns and site usage across the later Neolithic-Megalithic-Iron Age transition.…”

Section: Case Study Area: the Sanganakallu-kupgal Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The dolerite dyke seen running through Area B provided the highest quality raw material for groundstone axe manufacture. Analysis by Shipton et al (2012) demonstrated an absence of finished axes and axeworking flakes, suggesting that only preliminary knapping to create axe 'rough-outs' was undertaken in this area (Risch et al 2009). Brumm et al (2007) cited this specialisation and spatial division of activity as indicating increased complexity of organisation at this time.…”

Section: Hireguddamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ceramic and radiometric evidence therefore implies an occupational hiatus at Birappa at the time that Neolithic groups inhabited the nearby hilltop sites, with Birappa coming into use again as hilltop occupation and activities declined. Interestingly, however, there is also evidence for continuity between the preceramic and ceramic lithic levels at Birappa, with only subtle changes in raw material variety and bladelet production (Shipton et al 2012).…”

Section: Birappamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local diversity in settlement, demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition: site growth and abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal

Roberts

Boivin

Petraglia

et al. 2015

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The Southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition demonstrates considerable regional variability in settlement location, density, and size. While researchers have shown that the region around the Tungabhadra and Krishna River basins displays significant subsistence and demographic continuity, and intensification, from the Neolithic into the Iron Age ca. 1200 cal. BC, archaeological and chronometric records in the Sanganakallu region point to hilltop village expansion during the Late Neolithic and 'Megalithic' transition period (ca. 1400-1200 cal. BC) prior to apparent abandonment ca. 1200 cal. BC, with little evidence for the introduction of iron technology into the region. We suggest that the difference in these settlement histories is a result of differential access to stable water resources during a period of weakening and fluctuating monsoon across a generally arid landscape. Here, we describe well-dated, integrated chronological, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and archaeological survey datasets from the SanganakalluKupgal site complex that together demonstrate an intensification of settlement, subsistence and craft production on local hilltops prior to almost complete abandonment ca. 1200 cal. BC. Although the southern Deccan region as a whole may have witnessed demographic increase, as well as subsistence and cultural continuity, at this time, this broader pattern of continuity and resilience is punctuated by local examples of abandonment and mobility driven by an increasing practical and political concern with water. Indian Prehistoric and Protohistoric Antiquities: Notes on Their Ages and Distribution. Madras: Government Museum). Robert Bruce Foote provided the first detailed descriptions of a range of archaeological sites across the southern Indian peninsula during the nineteenth century, including the early village sites of the Deccan plateau. Of particular interest to him was the Kupgal Hill site complex, described in the opening passage, which provided evidence for a significant stone tool production industry, referred to by Foote as a 'celt factory'. Of notable attention in Foote's account of this site is its remarkable degree of preservation. While recognising the long time period that separated the Kupgal Hill celt factory remains from his own era, Foote was struck by the fact that it appeared to be 'in much the same condition as it had been left'. Subsequent years and particularly the last few decades have seen growing destruction of the Kupgal Hill sites as a result of increasingly industrial-scale granite quarrying (Boivin et al. 2004); however, there remain relatively undisturbed parts of the locality where contemporary researchers can still observe a remarkable degree of preservation. Pockets of surface features, including stone axe production 'camps', stone terraces, quarries and ringing rock sites appear to have been abandoned a few decades, rather than millennia, ago. Although researchers since Foote have often described this preservation, they have not evaluated its implications. In t...

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Section: Settlement and Subsistence At Sanganakallu Across The Neolitmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Hireguddamentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Case Study Area: the Sanganakallu-kupgal Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hireguddamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Birappamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local diversity in settlement, demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition: site growth and abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal

Roberts

Boivin

Petraglia

et al. 2015

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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A comparative study of robusticity indices of long bones among hunter‐gatherers and early agro‐pastoral groups of India

Sikdar,

Mushrif‐Tripathy

2023

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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ObjectivesDiaphyseal robusticity and cross‐sectional shapes of the bone tissues are influenced by mechanical loading history. It changes according to work demand on the body. It is the objective of this study to identify the shifts in the modes of subsistence, activities and mobility patterns through the comparison of the shape and strength of bone diaphyses among the Mesolithic, Chalcolithic and Harappan populations of India.Materials and MethodsFor the analysis, 7 sites including 2 from Mesolithic (8000–4000 bc), 2 from Chalcolithic (2000–700 bc) and 3 from Harappan (3500–1800 bc) contexts are considered. The ratio obtained from the maximum length of the bones to their girth (at 50% or 35% from the distal end) and that from anterior‐posterior and medio‐lateral diameters were calculated (following Martin and Saller codes, 1957) to understand certain functional adaptations and stress markers on preserved long bones. Independent‐sample T‐tests and ANOVA were applied to detect mean differences of statistical significance within and between cultures.ResultsThe robusticity indices obtained from the humeri increase from the hunting‐gathering phase (M/F; 19.39/18.45) to the Chalcolithic phase (M/F; 21.99/19.39) showing a slight drop in the Harappan phase (M/F; 18.58/18.37). The right humeri of Mesolithic females show a directional asymmetry of length (4.08%–5.13%) while that in males reach up to 26.09% indicating right‐dominant lateralization. In the Harappan phase, females show a greater value for the right ranging from 0.31% to 3.07%. The femoral robusticity of females increases from 11.42 in hunting‐gathering societies to 13.28 in Harappan times while mid‐shaft of the Mesolithic population clearly shows greater loading along the anterior–posterior (A–P) plane as the index in most cases exceeds 100. There are significant differences among males and females within each group in terms of the indices but significant differences could be discerned between the Mesolithic, Chalcolithic and Harappan populations in case of tibiae, radii and ulnae only.ConclusionThe occupation patterns certainly changed as humans became a food‐producer from a hunter‐gatherer. Occupations involving the extensive flexion and extension of upper limbs in the Chalcolithic period increase particularly in the Harappan phase. Sedentism gave rise to roundness of the femur and reduced the magnitude of lateralization. While equal level of mobility can be traced in case of both the sexes before the advent of agriculture, this distinction increases between the males and females in the agro‐pastoral phases.

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The Sri Lankan ‘Microlithic’ Tradition c. 38,000 to 3,000 Years Ago: Tropical Technologies and Adaptations of Homo sapiens at the Southern Edge of Asia

2015

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Lithic technology and social transformations in the South Indian Neolithic: The evidence from Sanganakallu–Kupgal

Cited by 12 publications

References 46 publications

Local diversity in settlement, demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition: site growth and abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal

Local diversity in settlement, demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition: site growth and abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal

A comparative study of robusticity indices of long bones among hunter‐gatherers and early agro‐pastoral groups of India

The Sri Lankan ‘Microlithic’ Tradition c. 38,000 to 3,000 Years Ago: Tropical Technologies and Adaptations of Homo sapiens at the Southern Edge of Asia

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