“…Changes in material culture during the transition from the Neolithic period (2700-1200 B.C. ) to the Iron Age included the construction of various stone features referred to as megaliths that were used for commemorative and memorial practices, and the production of new slipped and polished ceramic wares and forms (including Black-and-Red Ware), as well as iron (and later steel) tools (e.g., sickles, hoes, plowshares, bill-hooks, celts, axes, horse bits, stirrups), weapons (e.g., spears, arrowheads, axes, knives, daggers, swords, tridents), and hardware (especially nails and wire) (Banerjee 1965;Bauer 2011;Bauer et al 2007;Brubaker 2001;Deo 1985;Gururaja Rao 1972;Johansen 2010;Moorti 1994;Sinopoli 2009;Sinopoli et al 2009;Sundara 1975). Once thought to be the result of punctuated and intrusive processes, the transition from the Neolithic period to the Iron Age is generally viewed today as a gradual and localized development of sociopolitical differences and inequalities originating with the relatively egalitarian Neolithic agropastoral communities of South India (Brubaker 2001;Chakrabarti 1988;Moorti 1994).…”