Brahmagiri archaeological site
Brahmagiri is an
Excavation history
In 1947, Mortimer Wheeler further excavated the site on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India.[2] The region was excavated again in 1956 by Seshadri and by Amalananda Ghosh in 1965 and 1978.[2]
Architectural significance
Excavation has revealed medieval stone temples, pottery,
In 1947, Mortimer Wheeler did further excavations at Brahmagiri, found ten domestic structures and classified them as belonging to a sequence of three cultural periods: Period I - Neolithic or Neolithic-
Period I (Neolithic)
Wheeler dated this period to belong within the range 1st millennium B.C. to 2nd century B.C. The objects found in this period included a large number of polished stone axes made of
Period II (Megalithic)
Wheeler dated this period to belong within the range 2nd century B.C. to the middle of 1st century A. D. It was found that the humans who inhabited Brahmagiri during this period used iron for agricultural tools like sickles and for weapons like spears, swords and arrowheads.[2] Pottery of this period were made in shapes like hemi-spherical deep bowl, funnel shaped lid, shallow dish and three-legged pots among others. The vessels appear in three kinds of fabrics: polished black and red ware, all-black ware, and bright and coarse dull-red ware.[2] The burials in this period were done in stone cists or excavated pits which were surrounded by boulders arranged in the shape of a circle or concentric circles. The cists also contained funeral pots and objects like iron implements and beads.[2]
Period III
Wheeler dated this period to belong within the range 2nd century B.C. to the middle of 1st century A. D. In this period, sophisticated pottery was made using fast wheels. The vessels were made in shapes like shallow dish, cups and vases, coated in a russet colour and painted with geometrical designs in white colour. Ornaments found included bangles of shell, clay, bones, glass and gold, and beads of magnesite, agate, carnelian and terracotta.[citation needed]
Recent archaeological studies in Brahmagiri identified multiple natural rock shelter inhabited by the humans and left with rock art panels assigned to the period of Iron Age.[7] New archaeological features such as cupules are also discovered on megaliths and granite boulders.[8]
Other megalithic sites in Karnataka
- Morera Thatte
- Sidlaphadi
- Sanganakallu
- Kupgal petroglyphs
- Hirebenkal
- Khyad
- Kupgal petroglyphs
- Sonda
- Byse
- Anegundi
- South Asian Stone Age
- Archaeology in India
- Timeline of Indian history
- List of Indus Valley Civilisation sites
- List of archaeological sites by country § India
- List of archaeological sites by continent and age
- World Heritage Sites by country § India
Notes
- ^ a b c "Excavations - Important - Karnataka". Archaeological survey of India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p82
- ^ Peter N. Peregrine, Melvin Ember, Human Relations Area Files Inc. (2001), p367
- ^ a b Kenneth A. R. Kennedy (2000), p267
- ^ Barbara Ann Kipfer (2000), p78
- ^ a b Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson (1999), p122
- ISSN 2352-2267.
- ISSN 0011-3891.
References
- Arjun. R (1 September 2018. "Archaeological Investigations at the Brhamagiri rock shelter: Prospecting for its context in South India late prehistory and early history". Archaeological Research in Asia. 15: 1-12. ISSN2352-2267.
- Ghosh, Amalananda (1990) [1990]. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-09262-5.
- Kennedy, Kenneth A. R. (2000) [2000]. God-Apes and Fossil Men: Paleoanthropology of South Asia. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-11013-6.
- ISBN 0-306-46262-1.
- Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000) [2000]. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Springer. ISBN 0-306-46158-7.
- Ian Shaw; Robert Jameson (1999) [1999]. A Dictionary of Archaeology. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-23583-3.