Prehistory Of The Chotanagpur Region, India, Part 1: Making Sense Of The Stratigraphy

Abstract

This paper, the first of a series, attempts to review the literature available on the various sites in the entire Chotanagpur region. The reason for this is the fact that even though this region is spread out over the states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, it has its own specific kind of topology and topography. Very few archaeologists, geologists and anthropologists have dealt with this entire range though all those who have worked here have made comments on this issue. Hence, in this paper, I shall look at attempts to unify the stratigraphic data of the region in order to find commonalities in this region. With such an overview one may then be able to check out and find the reasons for the pattern of archaeological records of this region and have an idea of the early prehistory of this region. INTRODUCTION The Chotanagpur region includes the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Parts of it extend out into the states of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal also. For the purposes of this paper, the earlier borders of the Chotanagpur region would be used as a marker for the study since it simplifies the discussion of this area. It lies between 22° and 25° 30' N latitudes and between 83° 47' and 87° 50' E longitudes covering an area of about 86,239 sq. km. The average height of this region is about 2,000 feet (see maps 1, 2 and 3). Further, its geographical region, though may again be subdivided into other zones, seem to have similar overall characteristics. As a result of this extension, many sites of the surrounding areas have also been discussed to look for continuity and spatial distributions. A second disclaimer, if you will. It is not possible to include in a brief research article the entire encyclopaedic panoply of sites. I have thus selected and chosen in order to gain an idea of the region as well as to reach certain conclusions. A preliminary outline of sites in the region and communities studied for the purpose has been given in the appendices. Figure 1 Prehistory Of The Chotanagpur Region, India, Part 1: Making Sense Of The Stratigraphy