CleanupBot II at 00:01, 14 August 2023

2023-08-14T00:01:12Z

New page

{{Short description|Human settlement in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Hallur
|native_name = ಹಲ್ಲೂರು
|alternate_name =
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|map_type = India
|map_alt =
|map_size = 270
|coordinates = {{coord|14|19|48|N|75|37|12|E|display=inline,title}}
|location = [[Karnataka]], [[India]]
|region =
|type =
|part_of =
|length =
|width =
|area =
|height =
|builder =
|material =
|built =
|abandoned =
|epochs = [[Chalcolithic]]
|cultures =
|dependency_of =
|occupants =
|event =
|excavations =
|archaeologists =
|condition =
|ownership =
|management =
|public_access =
|website = 
|notes =
}}

'''Hallur''' is an archaeological site located in the [[Haveri district]] (which was carved out of [[Dharwad district]]), in the [[States of India|Indian state]] of [[Karnataka]].<ref name="gap">Kenneth A. R. Kennedy (2000), p272</ref> Hallur, [[South India]]'s earliest [[Iron Age]] site,<ref name="ira">Robert Bradnock (2000), p499</ref> lies in a semi-arid region with scrub vegetation, located on the banks of the river [[Tungabhadra]]. The site is a low mound about 6.4 m high.<ref name="pnp">[[Peter Neal Peregrine]], [[Melvin Ember]], Human Relations Area Files Inc. (2001), p368</ref> The site was first discovered by Nagaraja Rao in 1962, and excavated in 1965. Further sampling was carried out in the late 1990s for the recovery of archaeobotanical evidence and new high precision radiocarbon dates <ref name="Fuller, D.Q. 2004">Fuller, D.Q., Korisettar, R., Vankatasubbaiah, P.C., Jones, M.K. (2004). Early plant domestications in southern India: some preliminary archaeobotanical results. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 13(2), 115-129</ref><ref name="Fuller, D.Q 2007">Fuller, D.Q, Boivin, N. & Korisettar, R. (2007). Dating the Neolithic of South India: new radiometric evidence for key economic, social and ritual transformations. Antiquity81(313), 755-778.</ref>

==Findings==
The excavations at Hallur by Nagaraja Rao revealed two periods of occupation, Period I: [[Neolithic]]-[[Chalcolithic]] and Period II: An overlapping period between Neolithic-Chalcolithic and early [[Iron Age]].<ref name="rec">V. N. Misra, Peter Bellwood (1985) p470</ref> Period I consisted of two sub-phases of human occupation dating between 2000 and 1200 BCE<ref name="Fuller, D.Q 2007"/> The transition to the Iron Age took place between 1200 and 1000 BCE. The original interpretation after the 1960s excavations was that Period II represented a new set of humans who arrived at this site with [[iron]] arrowheads, daggers and knives. Pottery in this period was generally [[Black and red ware culture|black-and-red ware]] with lines and patterns in white drawn over them. More recent scholarship, however, argues for the indigenous cultural development from the Neolithic to the Iron Age and population continuity <ref name="rec"/> The iron found in this site was subjected to [[radiocarbon dating]] by [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] and it was found that these iron objects belonged to about 1000 BCE This chronology has been supported by more recent AMS dating.<ref name="Fuller, D.Q 2007"/> This was contrary to the British archaeologist D. H. Gordon's theory that iron was not used in India prior to 250 BCE<ref name="rec"/> Further excavations by archaeozoologist K. R. Alur in 1971 led to the discovery of horse bones (''[[Equus caballus]] Linn''), which were dated to a period before the presumed Aryan invasion. This discovery created a controversy since it countervened the common belief that horses were introduced into the southern parts of India only by the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryans]].<ref name="hor">Edwin Bryant (2001), p170</ref>

Archaeobotanical findings at Hallur indicated that the Neolithic staples consisted of browntop millet (''[[Brachiaria ramosa]]''), bristly foxtail (''[[Setaria verticillata]]''), [[mungbean]], [[black gram]], and [[horsegram]]. This site also produced some of the earliest evidence for crops of African origin in South India, including both [[hyacinth bean]] and [[pearl millet]]. In the later Iron Age period [[finger millet]], kodo [[millet]], and [[rice]]<ref name="Fuller, D.Q. 2004"/><ref name="mur">M. L. K. Murty (2003), p92</ref> Ornaments made of [[carnelian]], [[ceramic]], [[gold]] and [[antler]] were also found.<ref name="pnp"/> Apart from the bones of the horse; bones of cattle, sheep, goat and dog were found.

The housing structures found here consisted of circular floors, composed of schist chips and mud pounded hard to make a hard surface. The walls made of bamboo and mud, provided support to a conical thatched roof.<ref name="gap"/> One of the houses was found to have a circular fireplace containing ash and charcoal. The region below the floors was a burial chamber consisting of urns used for child burials.<ref name="ind">Niharranjan Ray, Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya (2000), p206</ref> Chalcolithic blade tools of black [[quartzite]], small copper axes and fish hooks were also found. The transition to the [[Iron Age]] period is marked by the presence of megaliths and iron implements.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last= Kennedy|first= Kenneth A. R.|title= God-Apes and Fossil Men: Paleoanthropology of South Asia|orig-year=2000|year= 2000|publisher= University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-11013-6}}
*{{cite book |last= Bryant|first= Edwin|title= The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration|orig-year=2001|year= 2001|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-513777-9}}
*{{cite encyclopedia|editor2-first=Peter Neal|editor2-last=Peregrine|editor2-link=Peter N. Peregrine|editor1-first=Melvin|editor1-last=Ember|editor1-link=Melvin Ember|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of Prehistory|volume=8: South and Southwest Asia|orig-year=2001|year= 2001|publisher= Springer|isbn=0-306-46262-1}}
*{{cite book |author= V. N. Misra, Peter Bellwood|title= Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory|orig-year=1985|year= 1985|publisher= BRILL|isbn=90-04-07512-7}}
*{{cite book |last= Murty|first= M. L. K.|title= Pre- and Protohistoric Andhra Pradesh Up to 500 B.C.|orig-year=2003|year= 2003|publisher= Orient Longman|isbn=81-250-2475-1}}
*{{cite book |author= Niharranjan Ray, Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya|title= A Sourcebook of Indian Civilization|orig-year=2000|year= 2000|publisher= Orient Longman|isbn=81-250-1871-9}}
*{{cite book|last= Bradnock|first= Robert|title= South India Handbook: The Travel Guide|orig-year= 2000|year= 2000|publisher= Footprint Travel Guides|isbn= 1-900949-81-4|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/footprintsouthin00foot}}
{{refend}}

[[Category:History of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Former populated places in India]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Karnataka]]

Hallur - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 00:01, 14 August 2023