STUDlES AT NEVMA

MEMOIRSGEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA No. 32, PP. 324-332

Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies at Nevasa: the Last Forty Years SHEILA MISHRA Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune 41 1 006, India

Abstract Quaternary deposits and Stone Age artefacts have been studied for over 40 years around Nevasa, on the Pravara River. These studies show progressive developements in our understanding of the Quaternary of peninsluar India. This work is reviewed and the current understanding of the Quaternary at Nevasa is presented.

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(1970, 1971), Ansari and Pappu (1975) and Ansari et al. (1976). Arun Kumar's thesis also included a study of the Nevasa material (Kumar 1985). In the late 1980s Mishra re-interpreted archaeological evidence from the site (Mishra 1986) and Mishra et al. (1988) used relative dating methods on the various gravel occurrences at Nevasa. Atkinson et al. (1990), and also Kale (1990) were able to date the calcite cement from one of the localities at Nevasa to >400 kyr ago using Th/U dating. Nevasa therefore, is a key locality for an understanding of the peninsular Quaternary record. Sankalia had identified a flake assemblage from gravels at Nevasa as a Middle Palaeolithic industry which he termed "Nevasian". Banerjee (1957) made a study of the Nevasian in his Ph.D. thesis. The later work at Chirki by Cofvinus and others cited above showed, however, that the Nevasian did not in fact show Middle Palaeolithic characters and that the small tool component of the Acheulian was identical to the Nevasian. Rajaguru and Pappu (1970, 1971) showed that the Acheulian and Nevasian came from the same geological unit. Kumar's thesis, completed in 1985 made a detailed comparison of Nevasa and other sites in the Godavari valley and concluded that no differences existed between the Nevasian and the Acheulian geological contexts. These findings led to the conclusion that the AcheuIian at Nevasa was contemporary with the Nevasian and therefore unexpectedly young. The non-typical characters

Introduction Nevasa is a small town on the Pravara River, famous as the place where Sant Dyaneswar composed the Dyaneswari. It was in fact this reason which led Dr. H.D. Sankalia to excavate there, and during excavation of the proto-historic and historic mound at Nevasa, to investigate the Quaternary deposits and Stone Age sites in the vicinity. Ultimately, the archaeological site at Nevasa became one of the most thoroughly studied and published Quaternary sections in India (Fig. 1). Sankalia (1952, 1956, 1964, 1974) and Sankalia et al. (1960) considered Nevasa to be a "type site" for Indian Prehistory and Quaternary studies. It was at Nevasa that Sankalia identified a complete Stone Age sequence in the context of the Pleistocene alluvial deposits of the Pravara. Tripathy (1967) studied the animal fossils from Nevasa and produced a publication on the subject. After Sankalia, Coninus began to work at the Acheulian site of Chirki-Nevasa and to study the Quaternary geology of the Pravara. During the period from 1967 to 1983 Corvinus published 6 articles and 2 monographs on her work at the site (Corvinus-Karve 1967, 1968/9, 1970; Coninus 1971, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1983). Corvinus divided the deposits at Nevasa into the Upper Pravara, the Lower Pravara and the Holocene beds. The Lower Pravara beds contained Early Acheulian artefacts and artefacts considered by Sankalia to be Middle Palaeolithic. The Upper Pravara beds contained Upper Palaeolithic artefacts while the Holocene beds contained Chalcolithic pottery. Corvinus's monographs on the geomorphology and stratigraphy of the Pravara and the archaeology of the Chirki site are the best documented work to date serving as excellent resource material to later workers. Along with Cofiinus, the site of Chirki was excavated and published by Rajaguru and Pappu Fig. 1: Map showing location of Laxmi Nala, Barot Garden and Chikri/Mkri/M~oba Nala at Nevasa

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of the Nevasian were interpreted by Allchin et al. (1976) as representative of the cultural lag between the Indian peninsula and West Asia. Mishra (1986) following her arguments of 1982 (Mishra 1982). which suggested that weathering of basalt had affected the archaeological record, proposed an alternative explanation for the Nevasa evidence. She proposed that the Nevasian was not Middle Palaeolithic at all, but as shown by Corninus, really the light duty component of the Acheulian. She suggested that the absence of handaxes in the Nevasian horizons could be ascribed to (i) the differential resistance to weathering of the light duty component made up of basalt and siliceous rocks, (ii) the heavy duty component made up almost entirely of basalt, as siliceous rocks of large size are rare, and (iii) sorting by fluvial agencies. In 1986, a detailed study of the weathering, lithology and rounding parameters of the gravels at Nevasa was undertaken. Based on this Mishra et al. (1988) suggested that the High Level Gravel at Nevasa was pre-Acheulian in age. The Acheulian at Barot Garden, Lttxmi Nala and Chirki showed the development of a weathering rind, the pitting of felspars and zeolites, and enrichment of clay and carbonate in the gravel matrix. Fluorinelphosphate ratios from a bone from the Chirki gravel approached saturation values. The gravels containing Upper Palaeolithic tools showed insignificant weathering and were almost identical to modern gravels in weathering parameters. Since Upper Palaeolithic sites date from 25 kyr to 15 kyr this implies that the Acheulianaavels are quite a bit older. Since 1988 the Early Acheulian at Nevasa, Singi Talav, Yedurwadi and Hungsi have been dated by the ThoriumAJranium method and in all cases are beyond the range of this dating method which is 0.4 myr (Mishra 1992). Concepts have continued to develop based partly on work elsewhere in western Maharashtra and the Narmada valley, and in this paper I would like to present the Quaternary geological and archaeological record from Nevasa in the light of current concepts and evidence. This work was done in close collaboration with Dr. Rajaguru

The High Level Gravel at Nevasa is described by Corninus at a locality she has called Hathi Well West (Fig. 2 a). It is 1 to 1.5 m thick and rests on deeply weathered basalt. It caps a small hillock which forms the highest local relief, about 15 m above the Pravara river level. This gravel is made up of rounded to sub-rounded siliceous rocks in the cobble and large pebble sizes, and well rounded pebbles of compact basalt. Both components are weathered. The siliceous rocks have developed a dark glossy patina while the basalt has a weathering rind 0.2 to 0.4 mm thick, and pitted phenocrysts of felspars as well as weathering along the joints. Some basalt pebbles can be crushed in the hand and all break with a light hammer blow. The High Level Gravel at Hathi Well West is pre-Acheulian in age. This was realized by earlier workers also, but as the Acheulian was considered by them to be very young this observation was not emphasised. vith the recent dating of the Acheulian to >0.4 myr at Nevasa itself, a pre-Acheulian s e would suggest at least a pre-early Middle Pleistocene date. The High Level Gravgl rests on bedrock weathered to depths of approximately 5 m. This weathering post-dates the gravel depostition. The dated Acheulian gravel at Laxmi Nala rests on almost unweathered bedrock as does the Acheulian gravel at Chirki (Fig. 2 c and e). This means that the High Level Gravel predates the Acheulian by a long time internal and is therefore almost certainly preQuaternary in age. Post-High Level Gravel Fluvial Erosion Corninus' excavations at Chirki Nala and Barot Garden (Corninus 1983) exposed bedrock underlying the Acheulian horizons. This bedrock showed clear marks of fluvial erosion in the form of flutings and pot holes. The extent of this fluvially eroded bedrock was established by a number of trenches. Trench III (Corninus 1983: 17), 280 m east of the river, on the margins of the alluvial fill containing Acheulian artefacts showed weathered bedrock underlying 1 m of gravel. Trench XVII on the eastern side of Chirki Nala, called Chirki d by Corninus and Masoba Nala by the local people, exposed weathered bedrock below 1.85 m of a partly colluvial deposit (Corninus 1983: 28) (Fig. 2 d). All the other trenches exposed fluvially eroded bedrock. The elevation of the weathered bedrock is 8.65 for Trench XVII and 8.55 for Trench III. At Barot Garden also Corninus excavated a series of three trenches in the gravel deposit, on the surface of which Acheulian artefacts were found. In the trench further away from the river she encountered weathered bedrock, while closer to the river the gravel rested on fluvially eroded bedrock. This level of minimally weathered fluvially eroded bedrock is about 10 m above the present level of the Pravara River. Some wells and the excavation for the foundations of a bridge over the Pravara at Nevasa showed that alluvium extends at least 4 m below the present river level (Corninus 1981). This phase of fluvial bedrock erosion is definitely much later than that represented by the High Level Gravel since the bedrock is comparatively unweathered.

Late Pleistocene Deposits (Upper Pravara Beds) at Laxmi Nalaarot Garden

Pre-Early Middle Pleistocene Deposits (Lower Pravara Beds) Two localities at Nevasa have exposed deposits which belong to this period. The first is the Laxmi NaldBarot Garden locality (Fig. 2 b and c) and the second the ChirkitMasoba Nala locality (Fig. 2 d). At both localities gravels exposed close to the river rest on unweathered bedrock while a few hundred metres away from the river the gravel rests on weathered bedrock at a higher level. This appears to represent the transition from a zone of fluvial activity to a zone of predominantly colluvial activity. The elevated bedrock away from the river is weathered and the gravel overlying it was reworked from the Tertiary gravels during the Acheulian period.

Both the Acheulian gravels at Laxmi Nala and Barot Garden are overlain by about 3 m of calcareous yellow silt with intervening layers of gravel. This unit is of Late Pleistocene age based on the presence of Upper Palaeolithic artefacts and fluorinel phosphate ratios of associated animal bones (Mishra et al. 1988). The characters of this gravel are similar to those of the Laxmi Nala gravel of the Acheulian period. The pebbles are of local origin avd poorly rounded. Transported calcrete nodules are abundant. Mud balls are fairly common. However, there is insignificant development of weathering rinds on the pebbles and there is no enrichment of the matrix with clay and calcrete.

Laxrni Nala/Barot Garden At Laxmi Nala a 5 m thick cross-bedded sandy pebbly gravel is exposed. The contact with bedrock is well exposed in the Nala 1 m above the level of the Pravara. This bedrock is almost unweathered. The gravel is differentially cemented by calcium carbonate. Some layers are well cemented while others are uncemented. Cement from the lowest well cemented layer was dated to >400 kyr by the Th/U method (Atkinson et al. 1990) contributing the first absolute date for the pre-Late Pleistocene alluvium. The lithology of this gravel is dominated by local arnygdaloidal basalt and poorly rounded transported calcrete nodules. Silica pebbles reworked from the High Level Gravel also occur. Mud balls are observed in some of the layers. Artefacts have been found in situ in this gravel on every visit to the site over the last 40 years. They show minimal abrasion. These features are indicative of the ephemeral nature of the Pravara River during the period of gravel deposition. The compact basalt pebbles in the gravel have developed weathering rinds of about 0.2 rnm thickness. The matrix of the gravel is enriched with clay and carbonate (Fig. 2 c). Weathered bedrock is exposed at a higher level at Barot Garden, at the head of Laxmi Nala. It is overlain by 1.5 m of reworked High Level Gravel, which contains occasional Acheulian tools. This gravel is overlain by a 1 m thick black fissured clay which is overlain by 3 m of calcareous yellow silt. This black fissured clay is transported soil material. It is likely that it belongs to the period of reworking of the Tertiary gravel cover during Acheulian times. ChirkiiWasoba Nala

Chirki

Opposite the site of Chirki a Late Pleistocene gravel is seen directly overlying the Acheulian gravel which overlies bedrock (Fig. 2 f). This Late Pleistocene gravel also contains blade tools of Upper Palaeolithic type. It is overlain by calcareous yellow silt.

Early Holocene Black Soil The Chalcolithic habitational debris at Nevasa can be seen covering a black soil horizon developed on the Upper Pravara beds. This means that this soil developed after the Late Pleistocene and prior to the occupation of the site by Chalcolithic farmers about 4,000 years ago. This soil was studied in detail by Mujumdar and Rajaguru (1965) who showed that the modern soils were degraded in comparison to the preagricultural soil.

Post-Chalcolithic Soil The habitational mound at Nevasa was abandoned at the end of the Chalcolithic period (1200 B.C.) and re-occupied during the Early Historical Period (500 B.C.). During this period an immature black soil developed on the habitational deposits.

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The Chirki Nala is on the right bank of the Pravara some 4 km downstream of the Laxrni Nala locality (Fig. 2 d). It was here that Corvinus and others excavated to locate the original horizon of the Acheulian tools found abundantly in the Nala. Corvinus was able to expose a rubble deposit overlying fluvially eroded and minimally weathered bedrock a few metres above the present Pravara level. The rubble grades into a sandy pebbly gravel similar in character to the Laxmi Nala gravel. At the head of one of the branches of the Nala (Chirki d), Acheulian artefacts where recovered in a highly weathered colluvial deposit with a component of reworked Tertiary gravels overlying weathered bedrock. This appears to represent the same sequence as that of Laxmi Nala/Barot Garden.

Post-Black Soil Formation A low, inset terrace post-dating the Early Holocene black soil development has been called the Post-Black Soil Rmnation. This Formation is common on all the rivers of western Maharashtra. Corvinus reports the presence of Chalcolithic pottery in this Formation which would suggest that this minor aggradational episode is post-Chalcolithic in age.

m m T 0 6 U C AND QUAmXNARY STUDIES AT NEVASA

Summary of Important Results from the Work at Nevasa Quaternary Stratigraphy

First Sankalia, and then Corvinus made the most important contributions to the Quaternary at Nevasa in the Pravara valley. Cowinus' sub-division into Holocene beds, Upper Pravara and Lower Pravara beds and High Level Gravel is still valid today. However, recent absolute dating of the Lower Pravara beds and accumulating evidence for the antiquity of the Early Acheulian in India make the gap between the Upper and Lower Pravara beds much greater than realized earlier. At present, Holocene, Late Pleistocene and pre-Late Pleistocene units can be identified at most of the localities studied for the Quaternary all over peninsular India. It is now possible in most cases to correlate Holocene and Late Pleistocene units between localities. However, the preLate Pleistocene units often definitely cannot be correlated between localities and usually there is little evidence to decide the issue one way or the other.

Geomorphic Processes

The implications of the evidence at Nevasa is that bedrock weathering has not occurred during the Quaternary period. This is seen in the absence of weathering in bedrock underlying gravels of the Early Acheulian period. In some cases Acheulian artefacts are incorporated in reworked/colluvial deposits, and these do overlie weathered bedrock. The presence of such deposits close to the present river channels emphasizes the ineffectiveness of fluvial processes during the Quaternary. This is also seen in the typical features of the Quaternary gravels of all periods which are not subject to long distance transport. Weathering of. the Quaternary gravels is a fairly slow process. Both the slow rate of weathering and the ephemeral fluvial processes are due to the fact that the climate has been fairly arid throughout the Quaternary.

Age and Genesis of Black Soils

Soils developed on alluvium and habitational deposits were exposed in the excavation of the habitational mound at Nevasa. This evidence documents the process of black soil formation during the Quaternary. The degradation of the soils during the last 4,000 years of agricultural use of these soils is also documented. The black fissured clay from Barot Garden shows that black soils were also present earlier and were subject to flcvTal transport during the arid climate of the Acheulian period. Archaeology

The site of Chirki is one of the most important Acheulian sites in India, both for the quality of the evidence and the thorough study of that evidence. Nevasa has also yielded important evidence from the Chalcolithic period onwards.

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Methodology

Sankalia was the first to introduce the study of Stone Age archaeological evidence in the context of Quaternary environments and stratigraphy in the Subcontinent. Corvinus and others excavated the Quaternary deposits to understand the context and stratigraphy of the archaeological finds. They also placed this evidence in a regional stratigraphy. Mishra and others introduced the methodology of relative dating to build up Quaternary stratigraphy using weathering, archaeology and fluorinelphosphate ratios of animal bones. Kale and others were able to make a new beginning by the absolute dating of the deposits.

Conclusion The site of Nevasa truly deserves to be designated as it was by Sankalia as a "type site" for Quaternary studies. The tradition of interdisciplinary work at the site over the last 40 years has yielded a series of breakthroughs in our understanding of Quaternary stratigraphy, climate, fluvial processes and man's adaptation to changing palaeoenvironments over a long period of A 0 0 kyr. This process is in no way complete and we hope to make further progress in our knowledge using the accumulated con* tributions of many researchers in the field.

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Kumar, A. 1985. Quaternary Studies in the Upper Godavari Valley. Ph.D. Dissertation. Pune: University of Pwna. Mishra, S. 1982. On the Effects of Basalt Weathering on the Distribution of Lower Palaeolithic Artefacts in the .Deccan. Bulletin of the Deccan Coliege Post-Graduate and Research Institute 41: 107-115. Mishra. S. 1986. Archaeological Assemblages and Basalt Weathering - a Re-evaluation of the 'Nevasian', Man and Environment 10: 91-96. Mishra, S. 1992. The Age of the Acheulian in India, Current Anthropology 33: 325-328. Mishra, S., A. Kshirsagar and S.N. Rajagum 1988. Relative Dating of the Quaternary Record from UptC1S(I1 Western Maharashtra, in National Seminar on Recent Qwrtcrnary Studies in India (M.P. Patel add N. Desai Eds.), pp. 267-278. Vadodara: MS. University of Baroda. Mujumdar G.G. and S.N. Rajagum 1965. Comment on Soils as Environmental and Chronological Tools, in Indian Prehistory 1964 (Misra V.N. and M.S. Mate Eds.), pp. 248-253. Pune: Deccan College. Rajagwu, S.N. and R.S. Pappu 1970. On the Problem of Stone Age Chronology at Chirki-Nevasa, District Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 31: 360-389. Rajagwu, S.N. and R.S. Pappu 1971. Envirohments as Reflected in the Deposits of Chirki-Nevasa, District Ahmednagar, Journal of the Universiv of Poona 40: 115-21. Sankalia, H.D. 1952 .The Godavari Palaeolithic Industry. Pune: Deccan College. Sankalia, H.D. 1956. Animal Fossils and Palaeolithic Industries from the Pravara Basin at Nevasa, District Ahmednagar, Ancient India 12: 35-53. Sankalia, H.D. 1964. Middle Stone Age Culture in India and Pakistan, Science 146: 365-375. Sankalia, H.D. 1974. The Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan. Pune: Deccan College. Sankalia, H.D., S.B. Deo, Z.D. Ansari and S. Ehrhardt 1960. From History to Pre-History at Nevnsq (195456). Pune: Deccan College. Tripathy, C. 1967. The Pleistocene Alluvial Deposits Around Nevasa, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, Records of the Geological Survey of India 95(2): 355-366.