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 86

THE PALAEOLITHIC period
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the bifacial tool-types such as Abbevillis-Acheulian coupsde-poing, various cleaver types, scrapers on cores and Clactonian flakes. At the same time, there appears a certain amount of development in the Singrauli industry over the Mayurbhanj one, in which region progress is considered to have been slow and spread over a fairly long period. Perhaps, the Singrauli tool-makers were initially vitalized by the Mayurbhanj bifacial industry and advanced at a faster rate than their inspirers, owing to the influence of the Sohan technique, which gave a stimulus to the flaking capacity. This is clearly borne out by the nature of the flake tools in the Singrauli basin.
But all this does not carry us very far. None of these single types or sub-types has a restricted zonal distribution and a consequent high index value. All that can be said, on the basis of such evidence, is that the typological age of Kuliana industry, as suggested by the above resemblances, is lower palaeolithic. Perhaps it was early than late, because handaxes of cruder forms are comparatively more numerous, and well-finished tools are fewer. But this need not necessarily mean that the industry of Kuliana was (From pre-page footnote)
Note--"The occurrence of palaeolithic tools in the Rewa region (Details & Descriptions on p. 63 Ancient India, Vol. VII, Jan' 51) along with those reported from another place north-west of Rewa, near Raipur (from where quartzite palaeo. liths; akin to the Madras Industry, was discovered by C. Maris in 1894 and deposited in the British Museum) would clearly encourage another link-survey of the region lying between the Tamasa basin in Rewa and the Sohan basin in the Punjab. This would help us in fixing chronologically the mutual reactions between the southern Madras biface industry and Sohan pebble flake industry. A similar survey of the not-too-vast reign lying between the Singrauli basin on the Suvarnarekha and the Sankh basin in Orissa is also equally desirable". (Krishnaswamy and Soundarajan--Excavations in Mayurbhanj, p. 64).