Indian Antiquary Vol 10

Author(s): Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 11

JANUARY, 1881.]
SÅVANDURGA RUDE STONE CEMETERY.
They are hollow throughout, and hold 12-5 and 7-5 ounces respectively. The larger (A) has five slight horizontal flat grooves round its greatest diameter, and on its side a scratched mark. It is stained black outside and above the hole. It was cracked or very porous, and will not hold water well. It is very slightly polished, and of a brownish doll red colour.
The other (B) is less polished, holds water well, and is of a dull light red colour (Fig. 29, B).
They were both found in the angle of the jar-trench on the true floor, at the N.W. corner of the chamber. They are pretty smooth, and regularly formed outside, but much rougher within, varying in thickness from 0.17 to 0:5.
The workmen now discovered that the trench extended along the west end, as well as the north side of the cell, and they found several more jars placed in it; and in the S. W. corner a ringed, circular, cylindrical pot-stand (Fig. 18), with splay lip at top, and five regular horizontal rings, grooves or corrugations (PL. III, Fig. 18). It is open at bottom, having a rough flat-edged base to stand on, as if it were intended to stand the pointed bowls and pots on. It was not used for that purpose here, for on taking it up, a number of iron points were found to be pro- truding from the bottom touching the floor; indeed two of them had been struck by the excavating tool, and damaged from having slip- ped out through a broken place in the lower part of the pot-stand, and must have been left so by those who put them there, before filling up the kist with earth.
The pot-stand was full of earth, and contained ten flat, pointed, arrow-heads, with barbs running back nearly parallel to the shaft socket.
These are all of a similar lancet shape, from 24.7 to 5'.6 long, over all. If complete the longest would have been about 5' or rather more in length (Plate IV, Fig. 6).
The blades are from 26 to 89.5 long, 0-8 wide, and 0.15 thick.
The barbs are from 04 to 1:0 long, and their points in no case more than 100 apart. Between the barbs, the shaft-socket extends from 19.3 to 15.6 in length backwards from the blade, being about 0.18 in diameter at the neck, where smallest, and increasing to 0:4 in one case) at the back end, where largest.
The shaft tube or socket by which they were
attached to the arrow-shaft is very well made, from 1'.0 to 1'25 deep, and from 0.25 to 0.35 in diameter at the orifice.
Besides these, the pot-stand contained a plain modern-shaped arrow-tip of iron, like that previously found, and also a plain taper tang, 2:0 long, 02:08 thick, and from 0.1 to 0.2 wide, with sharp edges, and sides clean, flat, and squared, much like a modern "cut nail," or large brad, apparently of steel. There are indications of this piece of steel having been broken short off from a longer piece, at a point where it had been pierced with a (? rivet) hole. Compared with the arrow heads the tang is remarkably free from corrosion. The small end is broken irregularly, but a slight increase of the rate of tapering looks as if it had not been much longer in that direction. The ten arrow heads had evidently been stuck into the pot-stand vertically with their points downwards, and were all much corroded and some gone to pieces.
During the final examination of the earth taken out of the chamber, two small bars of irou were discovered, the larger is 2.5 long, nearly 0°5 wide and 0"-16 thick, and is bent. The other is 1.2 long, 0:"4 wide, 0.18 thick, and straight. Both these pieces are much rusteaten for nearly half their length, but the thicker end is comparatively smooth, retaining its original shape.
3.-The human remains. As soon as the pieces of the skeleton bones were brought in (to Bengalûr), I set to work to put the pieces of the skull together, and with some difficulty succeeded in setting up the major portion of the roof, but none of the base or facial parts were forthcoming. I then shewed it to several medical men from whom I gathered the little there is to say about it.
The outside of the bones is covered with a roagh incrustation of indurated matter which is not removed by the application of water and a hard brush, but scales off before a knife.
The thickness of the skull is unusually great, being about 07 whero thickest. It is the skull of an adult or old person, the sutures having become completely closed and nearly obliterated, so that they can only be seen with difficulty. It gives the idea of being small, but long and narrow, and of a rather low type.
The missing portions of the skull were lost in