Early agricultural economy in north-eastern Vindhyas: An archaeological perspective

Abstract

The present article seeks to highlight an overall synthesis of information on the pre- and proto-historic agriculture based subsistence economy, in north-eastern Vindhyas. The vast area stretching over the plateau region and alluvial tract in adjacent plain, envelope a large number of early settlements, which reveal the gradually evolving sequences of farming communities from primitive metal-free stages of Neolithic Cultures up to the advanced Iron using Cultures. Excavations at Koldihwa, Mahagara, Malhar in Vindhyan region and Lahuradewa in Ganga Plain have revealed the beginning of agriculture evidenced by a domesticated form of rice (Oryza sativa) during 7th-6th millennia BC. The diverse crop assemblage, includes remains of Near-Eastern, African, Eurasian, Central Asian and Indigenous crops. Collective evidence shows that the double cropping system was followed in the summer and winter seasons during 2200-700 BC. In view of the fully established agricultural system in the region of north-eastern Vindhyas, the cultural relationships of the farming communities have been established with altogether diverse cultures in the distant north-western regions. However, the complex process of the dispersal of winter crops in terms of diffusionary trends is not fully demonstrable in the present state of archaeological knowledge. Future archaeobotanical studies in this region is expected to fill-up gaps in time and space of exploitation of crop plants.