Archaeobotanical and settlement survey, South Indian Neolithic

[Project website]

A major focus of Dorian's research in the past few years has been the Neolithic cultures (2800 BC-1200 BC) of Southern India, in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh). These ancient societies represent the first evidence for agriculture and permanent village settlement on the Indian Peninsula and they are roughly contemporary with the Bronze Age civilisation of the Indus valley in Northwest India and Pakistan. Fieldwork has involved Reinvestigation of known archaeological sites through test excavations together with Professor Ravi Korisettar of Karnatak University and Dr. P. C. Venkatasubbaiah. From these excavations sediments have been collected for flotation, a process by which ancient charred plant remains are removed from the archaeological sediment with aid of water. The plant remains collected have formed the focus of laboratory work by Dorian, first in Cambridge for his PhD and continuing in London. This work is now being expanded through the support of a Leverhulme Trust research grant and the Post-Doctoral Research of Dr. Eleni Asouti (for details click here).

Below: Carrying out bucket flotation in the upper Tungabhadra river, next to the Neolithic site of Hallur.
Professor Ravi Korisettar (in white hat) oversees local villagers, while curoius shepards look on. March 1998.

Bucket floatation

In Northern and Eastern Karnataka, there are two important categories of Neolithic sites. Permanent habitation sites, where agriculture was practised, were often located on the peaks of granite hills that punctuate the plains of Karnataka (see photo below). In addition there are enigmatic 'ashmound' sies which consist of large, heaped accumulations of burnt cattledung, the largest some 8 meters in height and some 40 meters in diameter. Archaeological evidence from a couple of the ashmounds indicates that they are sites of ancient cattle penning where dung was allowed to accumulate and periodically burnt, perhaps in seasonal rituals. The ashmound sites were encampemnts for the movement of pastoral groups tied to the agricultural production at the more permanent sites. Dorian's work on the plant remains from the hilltop villages has established that subsistence focused on the cultivation of small millet-grasses (including browntop millet, Brachiaria ramosa, and bristley foxtail grass, Setaria verticillata) and pulses (mung bean, Vigna radiata, and horsegram, Macrotyloma uniflorum). These crop species are native to Southern India and were probably domesticated in the region. In addition there is evidence for the use of as yet unideintified tuber foods. During the later Neolithic (from ca. 1800 BC) a number of other crops deriving from other regions were introducted including Wheat (Triticum spp.) and Barley (Hordeum vulgare) derving from the northwest, and Hyacinth Bean (Lablab purpureus)and Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) of African Origin. For further details of preliminary archaeobotanical results.

Sanganakallu hills

Above: View of granite peaks in Sanganakallu area, looking southwest from Neolithic habitation area
of Hireguddi towards Choudammagudi (middle), a hilltop with an ashmound and light occupation (seasonal
encampment), and Sannarachamma Hill in distance, the location of a famous Neolithic site of the region. February 1998.

Location map
Above: Map showing the locations of the Neolithic settlements sites sampled for botanical remains.

Ongoinf research should clarify aspects of early techniques of cultivation and their development within South India, and the potential relationships between these cultural developments and those elsewhere in India. In addition it is hoped that further research will help to more precisely localise and date the beginnings of cultivation and plant domestication in the region. It should also be possible to understand the seasonal cycles of cultivation and pastoral movement within which the unique ashmounds sites can be understood. Additional work aims to examine the environmental context of this early agriculture and its impact on the vegetation and landscape of the region.

For information on renewed research in 2003.

This page last modified 21 September, 2006 by Institute Webmaster

Archaeobotanical and settlement survey, South Indian Neolithic

[Project website]