Crested Ridge Technique and Lithic Assemblage from Datrana, Gujarat

Crested Ridge Technique and Lithic Assemblage from Datrana, Gujarat Charusmita Gadekar 1, P. Ajithprasad 1 and Marco Madella 2 1 Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Faculty of Arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara 390002, Gujarat, India (Email: doyaldua@gmail.com) 2 CaSEs Complexity and Socio Ecological Dynamics Research Group (IMF CSIC)/ Institució Catalana de Recercai Estudis Avançats (ICREA)/ Universitat Pompeu Fabra, C/Egipciaques 15, 08001, Barcelona, Spain Received: 12 September 2013; Accepted: 28 September 2013; Revised: 16 October 2013 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1 (2013): 16 28 Abstract: Recent studies regarding the spread and development of Harappan civilization and the concept of Harappan homogeneity along with regional diversity have brought to light interesting new data. Datrana is one such site from where evidence is found of an Early Harappan culture of Sindh and Baluchistan which has extended southward as far as north Gujarat where the site is situated. The evidence is not confined to ceramic assemblage only but is also reflected in the lithic assemblage recovered from the site locally known as Hadka walo khetar/timbo (23 0 46 41.7 N; 71 0 07 26.2 E). Along with the Early Harappan ceramic assemblage from the site included the Pre Prabhas and a few Anarta potteries. A comprehensive analysis of the lithic assemblage recovered from the site confirms that it is one of the earliest and most extensive factory sites of Chalcolithic blade industry where blades have been produced by using crested guiding ridge technique in this region. Thousands of different variety of blades as well as geometric and non geometric tools, along with an enormous amount of debris has been recovered during recent excavations. Interesting are the abundance of a particular type of core, defined by Cleland as a flat blade core (found from Amri) belonging to a distinct technological tradition; Rohri chert blades, and core blanks (cores where crested ridges have been prepared but were not flaked further). All these recoveries from Datrana suggest a cultural interaction with the Indus valley going back to the beginning of the third millennium BCE. It also points to the cultural processes responsible for the development and spread of early village farming communities in North Gujarat. Keywords: Lithic Technology, Early Harappan Culture, Datrana, Gujarat, Mesolithic, Chalcolithic, Crested Ridge Technique Introduction: the Site The site of Datrana, locally known as Hadka valo timbo, meaning mound of bones, is located on a large crescent shaped stabilized dune about 2 km north east of Datrana village in Santalpur taluka of Patan district (Fig. 1). The site was first excavated by the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, the M.S.University of Baroda in

Gadekar et al. 2013: 16 28 1994 95 (IAR 1993 94, IAR 1994 95). The excavation had revealed a two fold cultural sequence: Period I and Period II. Period I was represented by Mesolithic assemblage comprising microlithic blades, palette stones and skeletal remains of terrestrial mammal and fish that were exploited by the hunter gatherers. Otoliths belonging to this level have been dated to 7550 Cal BC to 7600 Cal BC by AMS estimation. Period II was represented by Chalcolithic assemblage showing cultural affiliation to the Pre Prabhas and Early Harappan Sindh which has been dated from 3000 to 2600 BC (Sonawane and Ajithprasad 1994, Ajithprasad 2002, 2011). One of the significant finds of the excavation was the extremely rich remains of Chalcolithic blade production which also showed the earliest application of crested ridge technique in Gujarat (Ajithprasad 2011). The site was re excavated during November December 2010 under North Gujarat Archaeological Project, known as NoGAP 1 (Madella et al. 2010). The Excavation The recent excavation in general revealed a 70cm cultural deposit belonging to twofold cultural sequences: periods I, the Mesolithic followed by period II, the Chalcolithic (Ajithprasad et al. 2010). Period I: Mesolithic deposit is found to be very thin and poor in relative abundance of lithic blade tools and other Mesolithic artefacts. It was represented by lower most habitation layers 4 and 3 lying directly over the natural sediments composed of fine sand mixed with a lot of calcium concretions. Otoliths belonging to the Mesolithic from the earlier (1995) trenches have been dated to 7550 Cal BC to 7600 Cal BC by AMS estimation. These dates belong to one of the earliest dates for the Mesolithic habitation in western India (Ajithprasad et al. 2010). Period II: the Chalcolithic period habitation measures 30cm to a maximum 50cm at some places and is generally represented by the top layers 1 and 2. The layer 1, of about 5 8 cm, is the loose sandy top soil. Below this the layer 2 is a relatively compact and undisturbed habitation deposit of the Chalcolithic occupation. The excavation has brought to light a good collection of lithic blades and semiprecious stone beads belonging to this period. The pottery reported from this period belonged to two major cultural traditions: the Pre Prabhas pottery and the Early Harappan Sindh type pottery. The latter type is generally associated with Chalcolithic burials of north Gujarat and Kachchh. In addition, occasionally small sherds of the Anarta pottery are also found in the assemblage. Other artefacts include fine copper/bronze punch points, semiprecious stone beads and drill bits of stone, facetted crayons, grinding stones and palette stones (Ajithprasad et al. 2010). The Stone Blade Industry The recent excavation has yielded over 10,000 different varieties of stone blades (used blades, backed blades, obliquely blunted blades, retouched blades, flake blades), (Fig. 17

ISSN 2347 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 2), geometric tools (triangles, trapeziums and lunates) and non geometric tools (scrapers and points), (Fig. 3) cores and over 76,000 pieces of lithic debitage (Table 1, 2 and 3). The main bulk of artefacts, of about 88%, are recovered from layer 2. This layer represents a relatively compact and undisturbed habitation deposit at the site, thus for statistical analysis, tools and debitage belonging only to this layer have been selected in this paper. Raw Material About 85% of the tools are made of chalcedony. The other 15% include banded agate, chert, carnelian, moss agate, Rohri chert, blood stone and quartz. Table 4 describes the quantity of various raw materials used for the production of tools in detail. A recent exploratory survey has revealed two nearby sources for Chalcedony nodules. One is Dokawada near Eival approximately 20km northeast of the site and the other is Merdek Bet, a small island situated in the Little Rann of Kachchh about 20km from the site (Ajithprasad et al. 2010). Scientific analyses to match the raw materials of these sources to the excavated remains will be useful to determine the provenance of the raw materials exploited at the site. Technology It is evident that blades have been removed by crested guiding ridge technique. Hundreds of blades as well as cores show crested ridges running along their longer axis. It is accepted that crested ridge technique was the preferred technique to manufacture blades in the 2 nd and 3 rd millenniums BC in South Asia (Sankalia 1982). Subbarao (1955) has noted that the most significant feature of this industry is its association with the Chalcolithic cultures beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization. This technique includes preparation of the core by making a longitudinal crested ridge. According to Evans (1897) such preparation facilitated the removal of parallel sided flakes or blades. He argues that the removal of two series of flakes from either side of a predetermined line along the length of the core creates a series of weaknesses parallel to this ridge (Evans 1897). Table 1: Distribution of different types of blades Tool Type Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 Layer 4 Total Percentage Simple blades 700 7463 218 8 8389 82.6 Backed blades 40 276 10 2 328 3.2 Obliquely blunted blades/ Pen knives 2 21 0 0 23 0.1 Strangulated blades 1 2 0 0 3 0.0 Crested blades 97 786 11 2 896 8.8 Blade flakes 9 352 64 2 427 4.2 Retouched blades 16 69 2 0 87 0.9 Total 865 8969 305 14 10153 100.0 18

Gadekar et al. 2013: 16 28 Table 2: Distribution of different types of geometric and non geometric tools Tool Type Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 Layer 4 Total Percentage Triangles 3 25 0 0 28 11.62 Lunates 3 18 0 0 21 8.71 Trapeziums 5 8 0 0 13 5.39 Points 26 145 2 1 174 72.20 Scrapers 2 3 0 0 5 2.07 Total 39 199 2 1 241 100.00 Table 3: Distribution of lithic debitage Lithic Debitage Type Layer Layer Layer Layer Total Percentage 1 2 3 4 Primary flakes 1793 13621 307 18 15739 20.40 Secondary flakes 2726 26107 566 40 29439 38.20 Nodules 111 478 35 7 631 0.82 Cores 50 318 16 0 384 0.50 Core rejuvenation flakes 5 19 3 0 27 0.03 Waste 3182 27154 554 37 30927 40.08 Total 7867 67697 1481 102 77147 100.00 Table 4: Distribution of raw materials Raw Materials Tools Percentage Chert 370 4.1 Chalcedony 7669 85.5 Banded agate 507 5.7 Moss agate 105 1.2 Blood stone 5 0.1 Rohri chert/flint 11 0.1 Quartz 47 0.5 Carnelian 255 2.8 Total 8969 100.0 There is no doubt that crested ridge played a very important role in the stone flaking technique. Crested ridge was made often or retained on the core until the latter became very small and flat is indicated by a number of examples (Sankalia 1967). 786 or 8.8% (of the total blades) crested ridge blades have been found from layer 2. 286 blade cores have also been recovered from the same layer. These cores are interesting as some of them show the presence of one or two, very rarely even three, retained crested ridges. These ridges are found to lie diagonally across the core, on the extreme right or left, both sides of the core or at the back of the core. Out of the 286 cores, 171 cores did not have evidence of a crested ridge, 95 cores show one ridge, 16 cores show two ridges while 2 cores have three or more retained crested ridges. 19

ISSN 2347 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 It is generally thought that crested ridge blades have no function after they are removed from the core; only rarely have they been found to have been retouched or to bear use marks (ibid). It is seen at Datrana that though majority 564 (71.8%) are neither used nor retouched, 154 (19.6%) crested ridge blades bear the evidence of edge damage, 5 (1.3%) show retouches along with edge damage while 8 (1%) show evidences of retouches. It was difficult to ascertain the edge condition of remaining 49 (6.2%) crested ridge blades. The cores in contrast were hardly ever put to further use. The main types of cores encountered are shown in Table 5 (only intact cores have been taken here). 20 Table 5: Various types of cores Core Shape Definition Number Percentage Conical Also known as fluted cores, generally blades removed from all the sides 24 8.4 Cylindrical Cylindrical in shape, generally blades removed from all the sides 146 51.0 Wedge Wedge shaped, generally blades are removed only from one face 22 7.7 Amorphous With multiple irregular protrusions 3 1.0 Semi conical Blades have been removed from one face of the core 91 31.8 Total 286 100.0 Cleland (1977) has discussed about a particular type of blade core from Amri which he has defined as a flat blade core. He states that it suggests that Amri participated in distinct technological tradition. He says that his impression is further reinforced by the presence of triangles at both Amri and Balakot, one of the other sites with a flat blade core. He also notes that Balakot s flat blade core is much smaller than Amri s and could only have produced micro blades. Looking at the illustration provided by Cleland it appears that these cores were flaked only from one side, leaving the other side with cortex intact. Such cores were also encountered by Allchin (1966) during her study of lithic assemblages belonging to Central Indian Late Stone Age sites. She has described them as blade cores which are flaked on part of the surface and are with cortex remaining on one, two or three sides (Allchin 1966). Quartering technique (mainly practiced during the Mesolithic period in Gujarat) has been found to provide such type of cores as the end product (Ajithprasad 1992). These types of cores have also been found from Datrana. They have been classified as wedge shaped cores, the definition is given in Table 5. Cleland has not given separate measurements of this variety of cores thus making metric comparison between Datrana, Amri and Balakot impossible. One of the very interesting recoveries was of the discovery of three cores with more than one unutilized crested ridges during the surface survey (Fig. 4). These cores show

Gadekar et al. 2013: 16 28 evidence of 3, and in one instance 4, crested ridges on them while no further flaking was undertaken. This might be the first time that such cores have been encountered from a site; the only other known example coming from the original excavations of Mohenjodaro, now in the museum, reported by Cleland (1977). These cores indicate that each core may have utilized multiple initiation ridges. It has been hypothesized that providing multiple crested ridges on cores may have served to aide city dwelling consumers who may have had less advanced blade production skills (Raczek 2007). Since it is easier to remove a blade from a prepared core than from an unworked nodule, preparing crested guided ridges before transport provided a service to consumers. That is cores reached cities in a ready made state. This hypothesis, as yet untested, could be valid for big cities of Urban Harappan civilization where cores/blades were imported from Rohri hill quarries. However Datrana is a small rural Early Harappan site and thus this hypothesis does not seem to be applicable here. Multiple crest preparation on large parent nodules is a strategy to facilitate maximum utility of the nodule as it helps the knapper to utilize alternate ridges for successive blade removals even as one or more of the ridges become disfunctional in the process of knapping. Experimental replications are necessary to validate this proposition. The recovery of a fine copper/bronze punch point which must have been used in the stone knapping is significant. It has been said that generally the blades are flaked by a sharp, straight, narrow edged tool like a chisel, which acted as an intermediary, the blows being struck with a light hammer (Sankalia 1967). Presence of this copper/bronze punch is very important in this light. The hammer seems to have been made of wood, horns or small quartzite pebble. Several quartzite pebbles are found during excavation as well as surface exploration, showing bruised, rough surfaces on one or both the longitudinal ends. The crested guiding ridge technique was practiced throughout the duration of the Chalcolithic occupation of the site. The crested ridge does not occur in the purely microlithic industry which according to latest evidence, precedes the Chalcolithic in several parts of India, although fluted cores and parallel sided flakes are found in this industry (Ajithprasad 2002). The number of parallel sided flakes however is much smaller than in the later period industry considered here. Simple parallel sided blades: (Total 7455 or 83.2%) parallel sided blades, the intended end products of this industry are mostly thin flakes which are appropriately called blades. These have a mean length of 11.49mm, mean breadth of 5.71mm and mean thickness of 1.6mm. These blades bear no regular edge blunting retouches other than an occasional notch. Both longitudinal edges are generally naturally sharp and one or both may be indented or battered by use suggesting their being held in bare hands when in use. 67.2% show evidences of heavy edge damages. Backed blades: (total 276 or 3.1%) These blades have one of the longitudinal or lateral sides thicker than the other and are steeply blunted, perhaps to facilitate hafting. The 21

ISSN 2347 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 retouch is at times very marked, making it difficult to distinguish between these blades and the serrated or denticulated blades. The used blades show indentation on the edge (Sankalia 1967). 150 or 54.4% blades of this type were found to belong to mesial portion of the blade. Very few (23 or 8.3%) intact blades were found. 72 (26.1%) show proximal condition while 31 (11.2%) were of distal ends of a blade. 268 (97.1%) blades show evidence of edge damage. It appears that these tools were specially prepared for work and were utilized extensively. Blade flakes: (total 352 or 3.9%). These are flakes which do not follow the strict criteria of being a blade (length twice the size of breadth) but have comparatively parallel sides and were utilized for some or the other purpose. 229 (65.1%) of these were found to be in intact condition. 72.5% of these blades show heavy edge damage while 6.3% show minimal retouches. Penknife or obliquely blunted blades: (total 21 or 0.2%). These blades have oblique retouches on one end, usually on their distal end, either on their right or on their left lateral side. Neither shape nor the method of retouch gives a clue to their function, except that they might have been hafted on the retouched or backed side. The angular end, usually backed/blunted might have had some special function as a point. This, however, seem unlikely due to the fact that the entire unretouched edge shows signs of use makes. The possibility that these were hafted in wood, bone or clay is also indicated by their size (Sankalia 1967). These blades have been found mostly to be in broken condition. Only 2 were found intact. Their mean length is 12.56mm, mean breadth 5.21mm and mean thickness 1.88mm. Retouched blades: (total 69 or 0.8%). These blades show minimal retouches, on either lateral sides. These retouches are not regular or does not cover the entire length of a tool thus have been classified simply as retouched blades. Only 11.5% blades were found to be in intact condition, rests were all broken. The mean length of these blades was found to be of 12.55mm, mean breadth 6.3mm and mean thickness is of 1.91mm. Rohri chert blades: special emphasis is being given to this raw material due to its exotic nature. Noteworthy are the Rohri chert blades recovered from excavations (Fig. 5). Hardly any lithic debitage of this particular raw material has been found during the excavation, affirming the conclusion that they were imported and not made locally at the site. A total of 20 blades have been found from the site, 1 from layer 1, 11 from layer 2 and 8 from surface exploration. Only one was found to be intact (from layer 2), all the others are in broken condition. The mean length of these blades was found to be 16.29mm, mean breadth 10.38mm and mean thickness 2.66mm. These blades are much longer, broader and thicker than the blades made out of other raw materials. The site also has Early Harappan Sindh type potteries in association with the lithic assemblages which would suggest early cultural contact between the two regions during the Early Harappan times (Ajithprasad 2011). Lithic data from the Early Harappan Sindh phase from sites of Amri, Kot Diji, Balakot and Sarai Khola was accessible for a comparative 22

Gadekar et al. 2013: 16 28 study. A comparison of length, breadth and thickness of lithic tools from these sites shows striking contrast with the tools of Datrana (Table 6). Table 6: Metric comparison of Rohri chert blades from different Early Harappan sites (* data from Cleland 1977) Site Number Amri ID* Kot Diji I* Balakot A* Sarai khola IA II* Datrana 34 194 52 10 20 Mean Length (mm) 48.7 55.3 41.6 40.3 16.29 Mean Breadth (mm) 12.0 15.2 12.4 10.2 10.38 Mean Thickness (mm) 3.5 4.9 3.8 3.7 2.66 Blades from Amri, Kot Diji, Balakot and Sarai Khola are clearly much larger, broader and thicker than the blades of Datrana. As noted earlier, Rohri chert blades were unquestionably imported from Sindh, one cannot help but wonder why such smaller blades were chosen for import when clearly they had access to much better quality blades? Figure 1: Map of Gujarat showing major excavated Harappan sites 23

ISSN 2347 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 Figure 2: Various types of blades Figure 3: Various geometric and non geometric tools Geometric tools: 28 triangles, 22 lunates and 13 trapeziums have been recovered during the excavation. These three types of geometric tools can be found from almost 24

Gadekar et al. 2013: 16 28 all the Chalcolithic sites. Sankalia (1967) states that the presence of these truly microlithic tools in many of the vertically excavated sites might be explained as a simple case of survival of earlier tool type beyond their specific original use. However as 83.1% of these tools come from layer 2, it has been hypothesized that they played an important role in the life of people of Datrana. Generally thought to have been used as projectile tips, arrow points, barbs and side inserts, recent studies have shown that these tools were used for other functions as well, specially such as to make sickles or scythe (Andrefsky 2005). Figure 4: One of the prepared cores (core blank) showing two crested ridges Figure 5: Fragments of Rohri chert blades 25

ISSN 2347 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 Non geometric tools: 174 points and 5 scrapers have been included amongst this category. Presence of these many points is puzzling and requires further experiments and research. Lithic debitage: over 76,000 pieces of lithic debitage has been collected from the site. It has been categorized as flakes (secondary flakes, primary flakes and core rejuvenation flakes), nodules and waste chips (Table 3). Discussion and Conclusion The state of Gujarat has a unique Chalcolithic cultural pattern. It is like a jigsaw puzzle where some parts are clearly defined but some are missing, leaving the puzzle incomplete. Till recently, it was thought that Harappans migrated here during the Urban Phase of the civilization. Recent research and a plethora of new data have forced scholars to rethink this hypothesis (Ajithprasad 2002). Two broad distinct groups of early Chalcolithic assemblages predating the Urban Harappan occupation are seen in the land of Gujarat. The first group comprises an assortment of Chalcolithic village farming communities in diverse geographical regions. They show a certain amount of individuality at least in their ceramic industry and at the same time show remarkable adaptive flexibility. It is noticeable that none of these pre/non Harappan settlements, in fact, anticipates an urban way of life. In contrast these were small rural farming settlements affording flimsy structures mostly of wattle and daub or similar nondescript materials. However they did have the knowledge of copper metallurgy and produced pottery vessels and lapidary stone beads (Ajithprasad 2002). The second one is a set of ceramic assemblages forming the Early Harappan reported from Dholavira and to some extend the ceramic assemblages from several burials including Nagwada and Santhli in north Gujarat and Surkotda in Kutch. These have a general resemblance with the Early Harappan ceramics reported from sites in Sindh and Baluchistan and therefore indicate the extension of the Early Harappan communities of that region into Kutch and parts of north Gujarat prior to Urban Harappan (Ajithprasad 2002). Datrana incorporates the Early Harappan remains along with the Pre Prabhas pottery of the Saurashtra coast in its Chalcolithic levels. This is significant because it suggests a general interaction between the Sindh region and North Gujarat which is also found to be extending further south into Saurashtra. The interaction is attested to not only by the presence of Early Harappan pottery but also by Rohri chert blades and the introduction of crested ridge technique in the production of blades using locally available fine grained siliceous rocks (Ajithprasad 2011). The site has literally thousands of blades and lithic debitage proving it to be a major blade factory site. Large quantities of animal bones (in fragmentary condition) are also reported from the site suggesting intense occupation. At the same time, the site has not revealed remains 26

Gadekar et al. 2013: 16 28 of any permanent structures, although a few working floors have been recorded. While providing all these evidence Datrana also forces a lot of questions that have not yet been properly answered. What was the nature of this very early settlement? Was this settlement of a migrating early agro pastoralist group or did it originate from the native hunter gatherer population? What role did the regional interaction that so clearly manifested in the material remains at the site play in the emergence of farming way of life in North Gujarat? At least a part of the huge amount of blades produced at the site was meant for exchange. Probably there existed an exchange network with contemporary Chalcolithic and hunter gatherer sites of the region for which there is very little direct evidence. These are issues that require further investigation involving a close study of the micro and macro botanical and zooarchaeological remains from the site along with the study of site formation process which are now under way under the North Gujarat Archaeological Project (NoGAP). Acknowledgment The first author is thankful to the directors of NoGAP for letting her analyze the lithic assemblage from the excavation at Datrana. The authors are thankful to the Archaeological Survey of India for granting excavation permission, to Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, M.S.U. Baroda for all the help provided and to the people of Datrana village for their hospitality. 1 North Gujarat Archaeological Project (NoGAP) is a collaborative research project between the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Institucio n Milay Fontanals Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (IMF CSIC), Barcelona, Spain. The project aims at understanding patterns of environmental resource exploitation in the mid Holocene and the emergence of early food producing way of life in North Gujarat. It focuses up on examining different stages of food gathering and food production in the archaeological records of the Mesolithic Hunter gatherers and the early Chalcolithic food producers in North Gujarat. Evidence in the archaeological records suggesting environmental management tending towards domestication by the Mesolithic hunter gatherers is one of the major concerns of this project. The project also examines the kind of long term interaction that existed between the Huntergatherers and the early food producers. References Ajithprasad, P. 1992. Microlithic Blade Technique: A Case Study. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of ISPQS, Dharwad. Ajithprasad, P. 2002. The Pre Harappan cultures of Gujarat (pp. 129 158). In Setter and R.Korisetter (Eds.) Indian Archaeology in Retrospect vol. II Protohistory: Archaeology of the Harappan Civilization. Manohar Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi. 27

ISSN 2347 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 Ajithprasad, P. 2011. Chalcolithic cultural patterns and the Early Harappan interaction in Gujarat. Cultural Relations between the Indus and the Iranian Plateau during the Third Millennium BCE (pp 11 40). In T.Osada and M.Witzel (Eds). Harvard Oriental Series Opera Minora Vol.7. Harvard University: Department of South Asian Studies. Ajithprasad, P., M.Madella, B.Rondelli, A.Balbo, C.Lancelotti, Rajesh S.V., C.S.Gadekar, F.Cecilia, G.Fiorentino, N.Garcia, V.Yannitto, D.Rodriguez, J.L.Mateos, J.Ruiz. 2010. Excavations at Datrana, Gujarat 2010 11. Unpublished Report. Allchin, B. 1966. The Stone Tipped Arrow: Late stone age hunters of the tropical Old World. Phoenix House, London. Andrefsky, W.J. 2005. Lithics: Macroscopic approached to analysis. Cambridge University Press. Cleland, J.H. 1977. Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Chipped Stone Industries of the Indus Region: An Analysis of Variablility and Change. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Anthropology. University of Virginia. Evans, Sir J. 1897. The ancient stone implements, weapons and ornaments of Great Britain. 2 nd Edition. London. Indian Archaeology: A Review 1993 94. Archaeological Survey of India: New Delhi: 25 31. Indian Archaeology: A Review 1994 95. Archaeological Survey of India: New Delhi: 11 16. Madella, M., P.Ajithprasad, C.Lancelotti, B.Rondelli, A.Balbo, C.French, D.Rodriguez, J.J.Garcia Granero, V.Yannitto, S.V.Rajesh, C.S.Gadekar, I.Briz. 2010. Social and environment transitions in arid zones: the North Gujarat Archaeological Project NoGAP. Antiquity Project Gallery. Vol. 084, Issue 325. Raczek, T.P. 2007. Shared histories: Technology and community at Gilund and Bagor, Rajasthan, India (c.3000 1700 BC). Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania. Sankalia, H.D. 1982. Stone Age Tools: Their Techniques, Names and Probable Functions. Building Centenary and Silver Jubilee Series:1. Deccan College Postgraduate and Research institute, Poona. Sankaliya, H.D. 1967. The Socio economic Significance of the Lithic Blade Industry of Navdatoli, M.P., India. Current Anthropology. Vol. No. 3, June. 262 268. Sonawane, V.S. and P.Ajithprasad. 1994. Harappa culture and Gujarat. Man and Environment XIX (1): 129 139. Subbarao, B. 1955. The chalcolithic blade industries of Maheshwar and a note on the history of the technique. Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 17: 126 49. 28