recently discovered middle palaeolithic locality at ... · nagardhan, eastern maharashtra, india:...

Recently Discovered Middle Palaeolithic Locality at

Nagardhan, Eastern Maharashtra, India: Placing It in

Context

Jayendra Joglekar1 and Akiyala Imchen1

1. Department of A.I.H.C. and Archaeology, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research

Institute, Pune – 411 006, Maharashtra, India (Email: [email protected],

[email protected])

Received: 08 July 2018; Revised: 02 September 2018; Accepted: 04 October 2018

Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6 (2018): 261‐275

Abstract: Excavations at historically significant site of Nagardhan in eastern Maharashtra have been

carried out for consecutive three seasons i.e. 2015‐16, 2016‐17 and 2017‐18 by Maharashtra State

Department of Archaeology and Museums, Nagpur Division in collaboration with Deccan College Post‐

Graduate and Research Institute, Pune. Previously, two Acheulian artefact‐bearing localities were

discovered slightly away from the excavation site. During the latest season’s survey, a few Middle

Palaeolithic artefacts were recovered from the Locality 9 of the Nagardhan excavations. Surprisingly all

these artefacts were lying on the present‐day soil sediment surface which is tilled for wheat, and pigeon pea

cultivation. This artefact‐bearing surface yellowish brown soil is capping the structures of Historical

period, which was very enigmatic and demanded an answer for the original context of these artefacts. The

clue was found from the iron pellets, which were stuck to a few of the artefacts, suggesting their relation

with the ferruginized pediment surface beneath the structures of Historical period. This paper is a report

about the discovery and importance of the Middle Palaeolithic locality at Nagardhan in eastern

Maharashtra.

Keywords: Nagardhan, Vidarbha, Middle Palaeolithic, Geomorphic Context, Lithic

Assemblage, Levallois Technology, Points

Introduction The out of Africa model about modern human dispersals has been recently challenged

by (Kumar, Akhilesh et al. 2018) at the multi‐cultural site of Attirampakkam, Peninsular

India. The site has been dated to 385‐172 ka by Luminescence dating which has

considerably pushed back the chronology of the Middle Palaeolithic phase in the Indian

subcontinent. The Acheulian phase at Attirampakkam has been dated to approximately

1.7‐ 1.07 mya which is oldest in the Indian Peninsula (Pappu et al. 2011). The site is a part

of the Kortallaiyar River basin, which was well known for its Lower Palaeolithic and

other pre‐historic sites (Pappu 2001, 2001 and references therein). Prior to this path‐

breaking work, it was argued that the Middle Palaeolithic culture in Indian peninsula

ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 6: 2018

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was a result of modern human dispersals in the early Late Pleistocene period (Haslam et

al. 2011; Blinkhorn and Petraglia 2014).

Figure 1: Location of Nagardhan in Nagpur District, and two Acheulian Localities Discovered in 2017

Previously, occurrence of Middle Palaeolithic sites has been well established in various

parts of peninsular India which include Deccan region and central India (Banerjee 1957;

Joshi and Sali 1969; Mishra and Ghate 1990; Sankalia 1956, 1964; Sankalia and Banerjee

1958; Sankalia et al. 1960), Jwalapuram area in the Jurerru valley (Haslam et al. 2010a, b;

Haslam et al. 2011), Ghataprabha and Malaprabha River valley (Pappu 1974; Pappu and

Deo 1994; Petraglia et al. 2002; Petraglia et al. 2003; M. Yogesh et al. 2012), Shorapur Doab

(Paddayya 1974), Konkan region (Guzder 1983), Bhimbetka (Misra 1985), Gujarat and

Rajasthan region in recent times have been surveyed for Middle Palaeolithic phase

(Ajithprasad 2005; Blinkhorn 2012, 2014; Blinkhorn and Petraglia 2014; Blinkhorn et al.

Joglekar and Imchen 2018: 261‐275

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2017; Blinkhorn et al. 2013; Blinkhorn et al. 2015 and references therein). Middle

Palaeolithic culture of South Asia was reviewed by Pal (2002), (James and Petraglia 2005)

which included modern human origin, evolution and behaviour in Later Pleistocene in

South Asia. Petraglia et al. (2007) considered Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in the

Indian subcontinent before and after Toba volcanic eruption dated to 74 ka BP.

Vidarbha region possesses plethora of raw materials and has fairly rich prehistoric past.

Middle Palaeolithic culture of eastern Vidarbha region was well established by works of

Joshi and other scholars including Archaeological Survey of India (Borkar 2009; IAR:

1969‐70, 1989‐90, 1994‐95, 1995‐96, 1997‐98; Joshi 1962, 1964; Paddayya 1984). Mansar

and its environs located around 10 km northeast of Nagardhan has been surveyed for

prehistoric remains previously (Joshi and Sharma 2000; Sharma and Joshi 2015). In those

investigations stone tools ranging from Lower Palaeolithic to Mesolithic were found.

On this background, it was decided to conduct a survey around the site of Nagardhan

for revealing the antiquity of the region. For this purpose, the authors visited the

excavation at this Early Historic settlement. The excavations were conducted by Dr.

Virag Sontakke of the State Department of Archaeology and Museums, Nagpur

Division, Maharashtra, and Dr. Shrikant Ganvir and Dr. Shantanu Vaidya of the Deccan

College, Pune. The site of Nagardhan is situated around 40 km north‐east of district

headquarters at Nagpur. Vital Historical sites of Mansar and Ramtek are hardly few

kilometres towards the north of Nagardhan. It was the capital of Nandivardhan‐

Pravarapura branch of Vakataka dynasty (Sontakke et al. 2016). During the last year’s

explorations around Nagardhan two Acheulian artefact‐bearing localities namely

Dudhala tekad and Bhagi nala were discovered (Figure 1) (Joglekar 2017). Dudhala tekad

has ferruginized regolith context while Bhagi nala is a channel gravel context.

Comprehending prehistoric past is equally important to know the cultural beginnings

and its perpetuation in the region hence these investigations were carried out.

Physiographical Background Current paper is about Nagardhan and surroundings which form a part of Nagpur

district of Maharashtra. Climatically it falls in sub‐humid zone dominated by well

distributed south‐west monsoon rainfall. The average annual rainfall in the district is

1,161.54 mm. Unlike the Western Ghats, there are no major hilly areas in this region.

Wainganga is the largest river in the region with Kanhan being a major tributary. The

vegetation is of the dry deciduous type (Nagpur District Gazetteer 1966). Geologically

the district is covered by Archaeans, Barakar formation of Gondwana group of rocks,

and Deccan Trap (Nagpur District Gazetteer 1966). This region is located in the northern

part of Deccan Plateau. The bedrock in immediate surrounding areas of Nagardhan is

yellowish white hard sandstone of Barakar formation of Gondwana group and also

quartzite of Archaean formations is present in the vicinity. Whitish quartz occurs as

eroded blocks derived from intrusive veins in the Archaean rocks present in the area.

The bedrock is strongly weathered into saprolite. Older geological hard rock formations

are capped by ‘ferricrete’ at places. Ollier (1995) defines ʹferricreteʹ to include hardened


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iron‐oxide rich material in the form of pellets, nodules and lithic hard pans with or

without development of saprolite in the lower part of the profile. At few places especially

on the banks of streams yellowish silt with calcrete was also noticed. This is a

characteristic feature of the Late Pleistocene period in this part.

Figure 2: Position of Locality 9 and Area from where Middle Palaeolithic Artefacts

were collected in Nagardhan (source: Google Earth)

The area around Nagardhan is marked by low lying hillocks with tors (250‐350 m ASL),

valley pediments with thin cover of ferruginous soil sediments and black soils. The

colluvial fan like deposits commonly occur in the foothill zones of low hills with

nonintegrated ephemeral lower order streams and small ponds. General direction of

these streams is northwest‐southeast according to the surface contour. These drainages

are mainly active during the monsoon which transport the runoff and sediment load of

the region. Natural ponds in structural depressions are common on pediment surface.

Method and Geomorphic Context Locality 9 (21°20’N, 79°18’E; 298m ASL) of the Nagardhan excavations is located to the

southwest of the Medieval fort of Nagardhan (Figure 2). Initially, a few artefacts were

discovered accidentally in the soil debris covering the structures of historical period. It

was enigmatic as to how the Middle Palaeolithic artefacts are on the surface while

historical period structures are buried under the soil sediment. After careful survey

around this locality, it was observed that the artefacts are embedded in soil sediment


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covering the ferruginized rocky pediment. All the artefacts collected during this survey

were collected using random sampling method as these artefacts were away from their

original context. These artefacts were found scattered in an area of 80‐90 m (east‐west)

and 60‐70 m (north‐south). It was observed that the ploughing activity in the fields had

churned the soil as a result the artefacts were found on the surface. Due to this

ploughing, the historical period structures buried beneath are also getting destroyed but

in this process the artefacts get exposed (Figure 3). Similar phenomenon was noticed in

the adjoining farms as well. One agricultural farm in the north of locality 9 was

completely dug and the soil from that farm was spread over the neighbouring lands

making it clear that the artefacts were on surface as part of modern anthropogenic

process.

Figure 3: General View of Locality 9 at Nagardhan, Inset: Miniature Handaxe

Scores of artefacts collected from this locality have reddish ferruginous stains on their

surfaces and a few iron oxide pellets stuck on their surface (see Figure 6 and 7). Similar

observation was made regarding Acheulian artefacts in the last season’s explorations

(Joglekar 2017). Few artefacts having Middle Palaeolithic affinities were recovered from

the excavated trenches during the last season. At some spots, the rocky ferruginized

pediment surface was occupied directly by Historical period habitants or was covered

by black clay and then settled upon by constructing the structures over it (personal

communication with the excavation directors). So, the original geomorphic context of the

artefacts is the soil sediment covering the ferruginized rocky pediment (Figure 4). These

kinds of ferruginized pediments are very common in this region. During the

reconnaissance of the Bhagi nala i.e. Locality II (shown in figure 1) a few such Middle

Palaeolithic tools including scrapers and miniature handaxes were also recovered. These


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artefacts also have ferruginous stains suggesting their original context similar to

Nagardhan locality 9 artefacts. None of these artefacts have any calcrete encrustations.

Figure 4: Ferruginized Rocky Pediment near Locality 9 at Nagardhan

Figure 5: Sources of Raw Materials in the Site Environs: a) Whitish Quartz,

b) Yellowish Sandstone

Lithic Assemblage A total of 79 artefacts were collected from this locality. Majority of the artefacts (89 %)

are made from whitish quartz and while remaining on yellowish sandstone. Both these

rocks are locally available in various forms i.e. boulder, cobble, blocks (Figure 5). The

assemblage consists of diminutive handaxes and cleavers, varieties of points and

scrapers, flakes, blades, cores and a worked cobble (Figure 6). Points are the most

dominating finished tool in the assemblage (Figure 7). Almost all the artefacts are fresh

as they have not undergone fluvial process.


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Figure 6: a, b Miniature Handaxes, c Miniature Cleaver, d, e Flakes, f, g Retouched

Levallois Flakes, h‐j Scrapers, k Scraper on Levallois Flake (?), l, m Blades, n, o

Levallois Cores


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Figure 7: a, b Notched Points, c, d Retouched Points, e‐h Tanged Points, i‐k,

Levallois Points

Miniature Handaxes and Cleavers Miniature handaxes (6) and cleavers (2) are part of the assemblage. Mean dimensions of

the flakes are as follows: Length‐ 7.7 cm, Breadth‐ 6.1 cm, Thickness‐ 3.6 cm and Weight‐

169 gms. Four of these handaxes are made on end flake while the remaining two are

made on obliquely struck flakes. On one of the handaxes a maximum of 6 flake scars

were observed on the dorsal side and 3 scars on the ventral side.


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Mean dimensions of the cleavers are as follows: Length‐ 6.6 cm, Breadth‐ 4.6 cm,

Thickness‐ 2.7 cm and Weight‐ 92 gms. One cleaver made on side flake has pointed butt

end and parallel bit end, while the other cleaver which is made on the obliquely struck

flake has a roundish butt end and parallel bit end. These bifaces suggests the continuity

from the Acheulian technology.

Points The assemblage consists of 21 points. Mean dimensions of the scrapers are as follows:

Length‐ 4 cm, Breadth‐ 2.7 cm, Thickness‐ 1.6 cm and Weight‐ 19 gms. All the points are

made on quartz. 3 of them are Levallois points, 4 notched points (borer like), 6 tanged

points and remaining are retouched points. Tanged points suggest use of hafting

technique employed for functional purpose. Notched points must have served the

purpose of a borer. Points are the most dominating tool in the assemblage.

Scrapers Scrapers (13) are available in the assemblage. Mean dimensions of the scrapers are as

follows: Length‐ 5.9cm, Breadth‐ 4.3 cm, Thickness‐ 2.13cm and Weight‐ 68 gms. Only

one scraper is made on sandstone all other scrapers are made on quartz. Only one of the

scrapers seems to be made on Levallois flake while remaining scrapers are made on

flakes (6 end flakes, 5 side flakes and 1 flake indeterminate). Majority of the scrapers are

single sided with exception of 2 which are double sided.

Flakes Flakes (28) are part of the assemblage out of which only 4 are made on sandstone while

others are made on quartz. Mean dimensions of the flakes are as follows: Length‐ 4.5 cm,

Breadth‐ 3.2 cm, Thickness‐ 1.5 cm and Weight‐ 38 gms. 17 are end struck flakes, 8 are

side struck flakes while 3 flakes are indeterminate. 10 flakes are retouched or have

secondary flake scars, 3 flakes are pointed. 5 flakes have irregular surfaces as a result of

raw‐material faults. Majority of the flakes have a diffused bulb of percussion. Cortical

and retouched Levallois flakes are also present in the assemblage.

Blades The assemblage consists of 3 blades which probably are of incipient stage of blade

production. The mean dimensions of the blades are as follows: Length‐ 4.2 cm, Breadth‐

1.8 cm, Thickness‐ 1.1 cm and Weight‐ 12 gms. Two blades have backing on one lateral

side and small retouches on the other lateral side. The third blade which is largest in size

has an irregular surface.

Cores Only 5 cores are part of the assemblage. Mean dimensions of the cores are as follows:

Length‐ 4.6 cm, Breadth‐ 3.9 cm, Thickness‐ 2.6 cm, Weight‐ 52 gms. Maximum 5 number

of flake scars on one of the cores is present. The largest flake scar on one this core is of 4

cm x 3.6 cm. All the cores in the assemblage can be termed as exhausted cores as no


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further flakes could be detached from such core. Blade cores are absent in the

assemblage. One unifacially worked cobble of sandstone also is part of the assemblage.

It can be easily said that the quartz was a preferred raw material over sandstone at

Nagardhan during the Middle Palaeolithic phase. In the Acheulian strategy at

Nagardhan, sandstone was favoured over quartz (Joglekar 2017). As properties of the

different raw materials vary, it is unfair to expect sharpness of same quality in all

materials. Also the shapes of the artefacts differ slightly according to the raw material.

Raw material has an important role for the artefact morphology. The whitish quartz

which has been exploited for tool manufacturing is coarse grained and is very hard for

knapping. The quartz does not have conchoidal breakage pattern and hence many of the

artefacts have very irregular surfaces. It is certain that while knapping many mishaps

might have occurred, some of them include steps, irregular or rounding of the surface,

E’ clat siret, hinge fractures, etc. These features occur during the process of hard rock

knapping. It is very difficult to identify the negative scars on the quartz surface due to

whitish colour, coarse grained structure, and shallow scars. The assemblage is small

flake based and Levallois technology is an integral part of the tool production at

Nagardhan. Blade element probably in its incipient stage is also present in the

assemblage which is also one of the important components of the Middle Palaeolithic

assemblages.

Importance and Discussion Middle Palaeolithic culture of the eastern Vidarbha region has been misrepresented/ not

identified especially in recent years. Lately, Joshi (2017) carried out limited survey in the

Wainganga basin for the study of prehistoric remains but was unable to identify any

Middle Palaeolithic site. Only Acheulian and late palaeolithic sites were identified and

documented in that work. Distinguishing the middle palaeolithic industry from

Acheulian and Late Palaeolithic is a challenge especially at the multi‐cultural sites.

Globally few characteristic features of the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages have been

identified, some of them are as follows: 1) prepared core technique like Levallois and

discoidal techniques, 2) points and scrapers in higher percentages, 3) smaller cores

preferred for production of small flakes, 4) diminutive handaxes and cleavers

(occasionally), 5) negligent percentage of large flakes or LCT’s, 6) presence of blades, 7)

presence of retouched flakes, etc. The middle palaeolithic assemblages are drastically

smaller than the large flake Acheulian assemblages and differ from the Acheulian

technologies like Kombewa, Victoria west, sliced cobble, etc (Sharon 2007). The Levallois

technique might have evolved from the pre‐existing Acheulian bifacial knapping as has

been observed elsewhere, and hence many of the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages have

bifaces or bits and pieces of Acheulian technologies (Adler et al. 2014; Clark et al. 2003;

DeBono and Goren‐Inbar 2001; James and Petraglia 2005; Mcbrearty and Tryon 2006;

Tryon et al. 2005; White et al. 2006). All these above‐mentioned features have been

observed in the present assemblage from Nagardhan. It is to be noted that the number

of pointed (projectile) tools in the assemblage is fairly high. This certainly suggests some

pattern which was adopted for food exploitation. Some of these pointed tools were part


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of hafted tools as can be observed from the tang at their proximal end. Although the

sample size is very small and also is not in the stratigraphic context but it gives ample

indication, that this assemblage most probably belongs to the transition phase from late

Acheulian to Middle Palaeolithic on the basis of technological observations and the types

of tools it consists. This assemblage from Nagardhan locality 9 probably belongs to the

Late Middle Pleistocene to Early Late Pleistocene period and might have continued later

as well. These observations are well supported by the ferruginous stains and absence of

calcrete encrustations. It is well known that during the Late Pleistocene period yellowish

silt with calcrete was formed. This deposit does not yield the Middle Palaeolithic

artefacts at Nagardhan.

The discovery of this locality near Nagpur in the middle Wainganga basin has its

importance in regional context. This area with complex geological formations has been

constantly occupied by the hominins during different time periods as mentioned

previously. This area might have been selected for occupation by hominins/humans for

variety of reasons which include availability of raw material, presence of game and

edible vegetation, perennial sources of water, etc. This region is fairly humid and

possesses water in form of wetlands, small streams, springs and high ground water level.

Ferricrete formation is a diagnostic marker of humid environment in the past. It is clear

from evidences that the region was constantly exploited for its rich natural resources.

The antiquity of Nagardhan area had already been pushed back at least to the Middle

Pleistocene period (Joglekar 2017), but post‐Acheulian prehistoric past was unknown.

Apart from the middle palaeolithic artefacts few microliths made on chert and

chalcedony (non‐local material) were also recovered from the excavated trenches

(personal communication with the excavation directors). These microliths though are in

the secondary context as they have reached the site as part of filling material (black clay

used as bharaav). All these findings are helpful in filling the time and cultural gap at

Nagardhan.

Preliminary exploratory investigations have now well established the Middle

Palaeolithic phase around Nagardhan. Future investigations involving excavations of

potential Middle Palaeolithic sites and detailed typological study of excavated material

will provide sound basis of prehistoric past in the sub‐humid part of central India. Also,

quartz is one of the most difficult raw materials to work on as compared to quartzite,

sandstone, chert, chalcedony, etc. It is therefore, a rare site in peninsular India, due to

exploitation of difficult rock for making Middle Palaeolithic artefacts.

Acknowledgments We are thankful to the authorities of both collaborating institutions namely Deccan

College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune and Maharashtra State Department

of Archaeology and Museums, Nagpur Division for granting us permission to carry out

this work. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Drs. Virag Sontakke, Shrikant

Ganvir and Shantanu Vaidya, directors of the Nagardhan excavations for the trust they

showed in us. Nagardhan excavation team were a great support, we would like to take


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this opportunity to express our gratitude towards them. We are grateful to Prof.

Sushama G. Deo and Prof. S.N. Rajaguru, without their support this work would not

have been possible.

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recently discovered middle palaeolithic locality at ... · nagardhan, eastern maharashtra, india:...

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