Early History of Orissa

SR No.: 006922
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Amarchand Mittal
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society
Publication Year: 1957
Total Pages: 506
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

Page 83

58
AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
are taken along with handaxes and cleavers their total would make 63.3%, while scrapers and points together would form just over 4% of the whole. The general resemblance between both the tables is fairly great. Conclusion
The earliest tools seem to have been choppers with straight or convex working edge (trimmed from one side or irregularly or alternately) at one side and a thick margin opposite suitable for serving as holder. The chopping edge does not show any secondary retouch but is often with step-fractures, which evidently resulted from heavy vertical blows dealt with the tool on some hard object.
This was followed by bifaces of irregular form and flake tools with unprepared striking platform forming an abtuse angle with the ventral face. Unlike Levalloision flakes, these were first of all knocked off from the core and then dressed. One of the earliest, curiously enough, shows good marginal retouch of strokes being frequently alternate.
After this came much more neatly worked bifaces of regular form and then a few rather cruder cleavers. Only one cleaver (No. 31, Ku. C-—29) of well executed and regular form was found in course of the excavation. One interesting fact noted is that choppers of an earlier type continued to exist side by side with the more regular tools. But these choppers show a decided improvement in technique. They become smaller, often indistinguishable from side-scrapers, and resemble some forms of bifaces. Even in such cases, however, step-fractures, resulting from heavy vertical blows, show how they had been used.
Here another technique is also met with. Tools were dressed while they lay on one of their sides upon an anvil. But this method does not appear to have been generalised.