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1. Early farming communities of
Central India: Neolithic remains of
Ganga Plains
Dr. Virag Sontakke
Assistant Professor
A.I.H.C. & Archaeology
Banaras Hindu University

2. Early farming
communities of
Central India:
Neolithic remains of
Ganga plains

3. Neolithic sites of Ganga Plain
1. Jhusi
2. Hetapatti
3. Sohgaura
4. Lahuradeva
5. Imlidih Khurd
6. Waina
7. Bhunadih
8. Chirand
9. Senuwar

4. Jhusi
• Ancient: Pratisthanpura
• 7 km from Prayagraj
• On the confluence of the
Ganga + Yamuna
• Excavation: Allahabad University
• Year: 2002, 2003
• Culture Sequence:
a) Neolithic
b) Chalcolithic
c) Early Historic

5. • Small huts
• Wattle-and –daub
• Made of bamboo and reeds
Jhusi: Houses

6. • Hand-made
a) Cord impressed
b) Rusticated
c) Burnished red
d) Burnished black
e) Crude black-and-red
Jhusi: Pottery

7. Jhusi: Tools & Antiquities
• Microliths
i. Blades
ii. Scrapers
iii. Tringles
iv. Trapeze
v. Points
vi. Drills
vii. lunates
• Material
a. Chert
b. Chalcedony
c. Carnelian
d. Qaurz
• Bone
a. Arrowheads
• Antiquities
a. Steatite bead

8. Jhusi: Food
Plant
• Barley
• Jowar
• Wheat
• Rice
• Lentil
• Pea
• grass-pea
• Horse gram
• Black gram
• til
• Oil seeds
• Jujube, fruits
Animals
• Cattle
• Sheep
• Goat
• Boar
• Barasinga
• Fish
• Turtle
• Birds

9. Hetapatti
• Location: 20 km from Prayagraj
• Situated: left bank of Ganga
• Excavated by: University of
Allahabad
• Year: 2006

10. •Hand made pottery
•Cord impressed ware
•Rusticated ware
•Red ware
•Shape: bowl (shallow and deep),
basins
•Houses: hut floors, burnt clay
lumps with reed marks
Hetapatti: Excavation

11. Sohgaura
• Location: Gorakhpur district
• Situated: Confluence of Rapti ad Ami river
• The first neolithic excavated site
• Mount: 150 acres
1. Excavation : 1961-62, Gorakhpur University (Chalcolithic)
2. Excavation : 1974-75, Gorakhpur University (Neolithic)
• Famous for Mauryan bronze plaque
• Culture Sequence:
a) Neolithic
b) Chalcolithic
c) Early Historic
d) Medieval

13. • Neolithic deposits exposed in a
17 cm area
• Hand made pottery
a) Cord-impressed ware: mixed
with rice husks, ill fired
b) Rusticated ware: Clay solution
+ straw + husk
c) Red ware: less, globular vessels
Sohgaura: Pottery

14. •Limited excavations
•No 14C dates
•Chronology: 1900 BCE
Sohgaura: Results

15. Lahuradeva
• Discovered by Gorakhpur University
• Location: Sant Kabir Nagar, 5 km south of Basti-Kabir nagar road
• Situated: on the site of lakes (surrounded on three sides)
• Area: 220 x 140 m
• Excavations: 2001 to 2006, U.P. State Archaeology
• Director: Rakesh Tiwary
• Culture sequence:
a) Early farming phase
b) Developed farming phase
c) Advance farming face (Iron Age)
d) Early Historic

17. • Period IA
• Hand made pottery
a) Red ware
b) Black-and-red ware
c) Black and grey ware
d) BRW with cord impression
e) Incised ware
Shapes: bowls, pots, vessels, knobbed bowls
Plants: Domesticated Rice 4220 BC
(Estimated 6000-5000 BCE)
Faunal remains: turtle and bones
• Period IB
• Pottery: improved
• Introduction of new shapes
• Black-and-red ware with black slip on one
side and burnishing on the other side
• A few painted sherds
• New Shapes: beaker, perforated vessel,
spouted vessel, dish, bowl-on-stand
• Beads: Steatite, stone and TC beads
• Bones: cut marks
• Huts: wattle-and-daub
• Chronology: 2135 BCE, 2079 BCE
Lahuradeva

19. IA
IB

20. IB

21. Imlidih Khurd
•Location: Gorakhpur district
•Situated: left bank of Kuwana (a tributary of Ghaghra)
•Excavation: 1992-92 to 1993-94, Banaras Hindu
University
•Director: Purushottam Singh
•Culture Sequence:
1. Neolithic
2. Chalcolithic

23. • Hand made pottery
• Mostly: corded ware
• Cord impressed redware
• Porous surface pottery, ill fired
• Shape: mostly globular vessels
• Post-firing scratched designs done by a sharp instrument
• Design: geometrical pattern: concentric circles
• Paintings: red on a bright red surface
• Designs: dots and dashes
• Applique: on shoulder of handis
• Design: cut marks,
Imlidih Khurd: Pottery

26. • Large Reed marks
• Several mud floors
• Oven and hearths
• Circular pit dia: 1.95 m. identify as grain silo or bin
• Mud floor: thickness 25-30 cm
Imlidih Khurd: Huts

27. Imlidih Khurd: diet system
• Animal bones
a. Cattle: cut marks
b. Sheep/goat
c. Pig
d. Horned bear
e. Canid (wolf ?)
f. Turtle
g. Fish
h. Freshwater molluscs
• Early Farming
a) Double crop pattern
i. Rice
ii. Barley
iii. Wheat
iv. Jowar
v. Millet
vi. Bajra
vii. Pulses (lentil, grass pea (kheshari,
field pea, mung,
viii. Oil seeds: til,
ix. Froits: jujube, anwla, grapes

28. • Micro beads of steatite
• TC beads
• Semi-precious stone beads: agate, faience
• Bone poits
• TC discs
Imlidih Khurd: Results

29. Waina
• Location: Ballia district, Ballia-Gazipur road
• Situated on: Left bank of Choti Saraju river (Tons)
• Site: spread about 10 acre
• Year: 1995 (March –May), BHU
• Trench Size: 3 x 3 m.
• Culture Sequence: four period
• Lower period: Neolithic

30. • Red ware
• Cord impressed pottery
• Shape: spouted vessels, bowls, vases
• Similar to: Imlidih Khurd
Waina: Results

31. Bhunadih
• Location: 28 km north of Ballia
• Situated: Right bank of Bahera Nalla
• Site: 4 acres
• Excavation: 1996 (May-June), BHU
• Trench size: 2 x 2 m.,
• Culture Sequence: three periods
1. Neolithic
2. Neolithic-Chalcolithic (Narhan)
3. Chalcolithic (Narhan)

32. • Red ware Cord impressed
• Plain red ware: spouted vessels, beakers, vases
• New type: Red ware with short spout (martban)
• Red ware with basin and pots
• Remains of burnt clay lumps with reed marks
• Micro beads of steatite
• TC and Pottery discs
Bhunadih: Results

33. Chirand
• Location: Saran district, 11 km west of Chhapra
• Situated on: Bank of Ghaghara
• Discovered by: Hunter 1887
• Excavations: 1962-63 to 1972-73
• Director: B.S. Verma Archaeology and Museums, Bihar
• Neolithic Deposit: 3.5 meter
• Culture Sequence:
I. Neolithic
II. Chalcolithic
III. NBPW
IV. Shunga-Kushana
V. Pala

34. Chirand: Tools
• Mainly Bone tools including antlers
• Bone Tools:
i. Different celts
ii. Scrapers
iii. Chisels
iv. Hammers
v. Needles
vi. Points
vii. Borers
viii. Awls
ix. Diggres
x. Pins
xi. Arrowheads
xii. Shovel (made by Unfinished bone)
• Stone implements
i. Celts
ii. Hammer stones
iii. Pestle
iv. Querns
v. Balls
Material:
a) Quartzite
b) Basalt
c) Granite
• Microliths
i. Parallel blades
ii. Scrapers
iii. Arrowheads
iv. Points
v. Lunates
vi. Borers
Material:
a) Chert
b) Chalcedony
c) Agate
d) Jasper
Source: bed of Son ?
No Carnelian

35. • Largely hand made
• Slight indication of turn-table method.
• Chief ware: Red ware
• Grey ware, Black and BRW
• Corded ware (mat impressions)
• Types:
a. several types of vases,
b. variety of bowls
c. Footed cup
d. Channel spout
e. Spoon or ladle
f. Miniature pots
g. Dish
• Post-firing scratch also noticed
• Paintings: linear designs, criss-cross, concentric circles (painting designs similar to Utnur, Piklihal and Bramhagiri
(Verma 1997)
Chirand: Pottery

36. • Stone ornaments: Beads
• Shape
a. Long tubular
b. Long barrel
c. Short barrel
d. Cylindrical
e. Triangular
f. Disc shape
Material:
a) Chalcedony
b) Agate
c) Jasper
d) Marble
e) Steatite
f) faience
• Bone ornaments
i. Pendants
ii. Ear-rings
iii. Discs
iv. Combs
v. Ivory-bangles
vi. Tortoise- bangles
Chirand: Ornaments/objects
• Terracotta Objects
a) Bangles
b) Beads
c) Balls
d) Pendants
Toys & Objects:
a) Humped bull
b) Birds
c) Nagas
d) Human figurines
e) Smoking pipe
f) Wheels

37. • Early phase people lived in dwelling pits (floors partially dug underground)
• Possibly covered by a wooden roof
• Later Phase living on an even surface
• Circular huts with mud-plastered walls
• Several hearts in a row indicate community cooking
• The area around the Hearths becomes white (bone ash?)
• Used for roasting animal flesh?
Chirand: Residing Evidence

38. Chirand: Food Habits
Plants
i. Rice (paddy husks)
ii. Wheat
iii. Mung
iv. Masoor
Animals
• Main source was meat
• 12 species of Animal
a) Cattle
b) Buffalo
c) Sheep
d) Chital
e) Barasinga
f) Pig
g) Elephant
h) Rhino
i) Dog
• Fish
• Turtle
• Birds

39. Senuwar
• Location: 7 km from Sasaram,
in Rohtas District of Bihar
• Director: B.P. Sing, BHU
• Year: 1986-87 and 1989-90
• Culture Sequence:
1. Neolithic: IA & IB:
Neolithic-Chalcolithic
2. Chalcolithic
3. NBPW
4. Kushana

41. Senuwar
Period I A
• Neolithic
• Burnished Grey ware
• Burnished red ware
• Cord-impressed ware
• Rusticated ware
• Red ware
• Crude Black-and-red ware
Period IB
• Neolithic-Chalcolithic
• Intro. Of copper
• Date. 1042 BCE

42. 1. Burnished red ware: 8.11 %
2. Burnished grey ware: 6.22 %
3. Corded ware: 3.67 %
4. Rusticated ware: 6.12 %
5. Black and red ware: 0.34 %
6. Red ware: 85.65 %
6.1. Coarse red ware
6.2. Slipped Red ware
6.3. Slipped and smoothened Red ware
Senuwar: Pottery

43. Burnished red ware
•Mix clay, ill-fired,
•Different shades: dull red,
orange, bright red, dark red,
chocolate
•A few sherds are painted
•Shapes:
a) Vase 75 %
b) Bowls 21.15 %
c) Lipped bowls 1.92 %
d) Spouted Vessels 1.92

44. Burnished grey ware
• Consists: 6.22%
• Core: coarse, gritty, porous, tempered
• Ill fired
• A core is black: fired under reducing
conditions
• The slip is grey and further burnished
• Handmade and wheel made
• A few red-painted sherds : post firing
• Types
Vase 10%
Bowls 80 %
Basins 5%
Tubular spouted pots 1 %

45. Corded ware
• Forming 3.67 %
• Wheel-made and hand made
• Fabric: Thin, Medium & Thick
• Clay is not well levigated
• Mixed with husk, shopped straw
• Core: black
• Colour: Dull red or mat red
• Slip over cord impression
• Impressions: generally vertical
• Shape: mostly bowls
• Similar to: Taradih, Mahagara and
Koldihwa

46. Rusticated ware
• Include 6.12 %
• Rustication: Clay solutions
• Applied: pre-firing stage
• Material: clay + straw,
small stones + ground
potsherds
• Core: ill fired
•Shapes
•Bowls
•Vases
•Similar to
•Koldiwaha
•Mahagara

47. Red ware
• Maximum: 85.65
a) Coarse Red
ware
b) Slipped red
ware
c) Slipped and
smoothened
red ware
1. Coarse Red ware
• Devoid of slip or
wash
• Daily use pots
• Wheel made &
hand made
• Vase
• Bowls
• Painted with red
ochre
• Post firing
paintings
1. Slipped Red ware
• Red slip
• Fine that CRW
• Less than CRW
• Mostly Bowls
1. Slipped &
Smooth RW
• Finer and smooth
surface
• Shed: light red to
brownish and
chocolate
• Similar to BRW

49. Black and Red ware
• Represent 0.34 %
• Crude nature
• Mixed with: grass, sand, stone particles
• Pottery: ill-fired and plain
• Similar to: Chirand

51. Tools
• Axe
• Chisels
• Saddle querns
• Hammers
• Balls
• Microliths
• Date: 2190 BCE
Microliths
• Total: 1392 micro tools in IA
• Total: 4919 in IB
• Type: Burin, scrapers, blades,
• Material: Chalcedony, agate,
Jasper, Quarts
Senuwar

54. Bone Points
Made of reused bones
Varies types
1. One ended points
2. Arrowheads
3. Tanged arrowheads
4. Barbed arrowhead

58. Period I A
• Rammed floor
• Mixed with potsherds, burnt
earth
• Remains of 10 floors
• Floor with post-holes
• Huts with wattle-and-daub
structure
Period IB
•Similar to the previous
period
1. wattle-and-daub
structure
2. Mud huts
•Circular huts: 5.24 m
Senuwar: Habitation

61. Chronology
• 8000-7000 BCE to
• 3000-2000 BCE

62. After Pokhriya 2008
Remains of
Early Farming

63. Oryza sativa L. (cultivated rice)
Reported: Koldihwa, Mahagra, Tokwa, Senuwar

64. Hordeum vulgare L. emend. Bowden (hulled barley)
Reported: Mahagra and Tokwa, Senuwar

65. Triticum sphaerococcum Perc.
(dwarf wheat)
Reported: Senuwar, Tokwa

66. Triticum aestivum L. emend. Thell. (bread wheat)
Reported: Senuwar

67. Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. (ragi millet)
Reported: Senuwar

68. Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (jowar millet)
Reported: Senuwar

69. Lens culinaris Medik. (lentil)
Reported: Mahagra, Tokwa and
Senuwar

70. Pisum arvense (L.) Poir (field pea)
Reported: Tokwa and Senuwar

71. Lathyrus sativus L. (grass pea)
Reported: Mahagra and Senuwar

72. Cicer arietinum L. (chick pea)
Reported: Mahagra, Senuwar

73. Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdcourt (horse gram)
Reported: Senuwar

74. Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek (green gram)
Reported: Mahagra, Tokwa
Moong

75. udad
Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper (black gram)
Reported: Mahagra

76. Cajanus cajan L. (pigeon pea)
Reported: Mahagra

77. Linum usitatissimum L. (linseed)
Reported: Tokwa

78. Brassica juncea L. Czern. & Coss (field brassica)
Reported: Tokwa

79. Discussion
• Gradual Development in farming societies
• Early Phase: Rice and primitive millets
• Developed phase: Rice, Barley, Wheat, lentils, green gram, etc.
• Double crop pattern: Rice, Wheat
• Domesticated Animals: Cattle, Buffalo, Sheep, goats, pigs (Senuwar)
• Animals wild: Rhinoceros, Elephants, deer, barasinga, stag
• Dietary system: Plants, Hunting, catching (birds) and fishing
• Pottery: Hand-made to wheel-made (Seunuwar)
• Paintings: Imlidih Khurd, Lahuradeva, Chirand and Senuwar
• More microliths than polished tools
• Stone household objects are more
• Bone tools: Jhusi, Senuwar and Chirand
• More bone tools than stones

80. Conclusion
• The exploitation of diverse geographic locations
• Growth of population
• Nearby lakes, river beds, and jungles were utilized during this periods
• Aquatic fauna was also the source of diet
• Chirand: advance in bone technology (Advance Neolithic)
• Wattle and daub houses, circular huts
• Regional interactions: steatite beads, semi-precious stone beads,
pottery designs
• Technical development: Fine ceramic, painted pottery, new shapes