Understanding the Stability of Early Iron Age folks of South India in Special Reference to Krishna-Tungabhadra- Kaveri, Karnataka; Their Past-Present-Future

Abstract

There are about 1933 Early Iron Age Megalithic sites spread across south India. The Early Iron Age of south India is implicit either in the form of burial sites, habitation sites, habitation cum burial sites, Iron Age rock art sites, and isolated iron smelting localities near a habitation or burials. This paper is an attempt to take a rough computation of the potentiality of the labour, technology and quantity of artifact output that this cultural phase which might once had, in micro or in macro level. Considering the emergence of technology and its enormous output in Ceramics, Agriculture, Metallurgy and Building up Burials as industries by themselves: that has economic, ethnographic and socio-technique archaeological imprints. This helps in understanding two aspects: one, whether they were nomadic, semi settled or settled at one location. Second, the Diffusion versus Indigenous development. A continuity of late Neolithic phase is seen into Early Iron Age and amalgamation of Early Iron Age with the Early Historic Period as evident in the sites like Maski, Brahmagiri, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, T-Narasipur. In few cases, Iron Age folks migrated from one location to the other and settled on the river banks in large scale like that in Hallur and Koppa. In rare cases, they preferred to climb up the hill and stay on the rocky flat surface for example Aihole and Hiere Bekal. Sites which are located close to or on the banks of the river or its tributaries of Krishna-Tungabhadra- Kaveri.

Keywords: Labour, Industry, Production, Megaliths, Nomadic, Semi Settled, early Iron Age.