^4
C h a p t e r VI
L S ■ L E T T L E M E N T ■ I .
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- O - O - o - o - o ------o - 0 - o - O “ O “ J.1 kJ O
yjL
The central lapi basin (Oiule district), tiie crdisile of the early cultures, was noglecteti as far as sattleraent pattern studies are concerned. This region, being one of the most fertile units in the country, attracted tie early farmers in tho beginnin;. of accond millennium B.C. The presant chapter deals with sevei*al aspects of settleaent patterns and systeos in this region during the ohalcolithic period, itie data, gathered in the field, has been utilized to draw inferences about the way in which the e^xrly farmers disposed their settlersients in the Tapi valley.
The chapter consists of several sections. In the ini tial section, there is a brief suamery of the origin and dove- lopnent of the settlement pattam studies in arch eology. ilie second section giv«s a brief sRinnaery of li:aitations in dra wing inferences and applying differ«»it settlenent models. 133
section three diacusses in detail the factors affecting the overall settlanent pattern In the central Tapi basin* J?he locational analysis of various cultures and their possible migration routes in the Tapi baain are discussed in section four. Lastly an attempt is aiads to estimate the popxilotion o f the early farming com ;iunities* ‘The subsistence pattern of ttie early faraing conuaunitiea and the methodology uaed for collecting data are discussed separr^tely*
iiiTTrrn i The settleia^t pattern is a geographic <1 concept which has of late baaaii introduced in archaeology by oiordon u* Willey, tfho was inspired to unuertake the study of the distribution of sites by Julian -itevrardy an i^thnographer» (^illoy 1953)* In •iiaple words, it is a study of vi^iy the ancient sites are located wiere they are* It may be viewed ^ the wording relationship betwotm people, their environment and tneir technology*
iilley defined settlement pattern as “the way in which man disposed 'timself over the landscape on which he lived* It refers to dwellings, to their arrangetaent to the nature and disposal of other buildings pertaining to comsiu-' nity life* He silso describes the settlement pattern as a strategic startin:-, point for tiie functional interpretation J.37
of archaeological cultures since they reflect ‘ la the natural envlronraant, the level of technology on vmlch the builders oper ted and various institutions of social interaction and centers which the culture aaintained (villey 1953).
Chang defined the sattlemant pattern as "the joanner in which hu^an settlejients are arranged over the lundscape in relation to the pnyBiographic, geo^jraphic environment and coifl.iunity pattern as t ’na m inner in vrhich the intiabitarits arrange taelr various structures within the coinmunity and their com .unities within the aggregate" (Ciiang 1958)*
According to Bruce Trig er by a settlement ijattem is meant the manner in which people’s cultural activities and social institutions are distributed over the 1-^ndscapc. (Trigger 1963).
Settlonent pattern studies not only help us to inter pret the distribution pattern (Trlgcer 1963) sjut also to reconstruct the social (Ch-'.ng 1958) or relifjioua (Sears 1961) aspects of anci^t cultures. Three different terms viz. settlement pattern, settlement systcHs and settlamont archaeo logy are in use. The settleiaent pattern is a study of the distribution of sites over a given area (Trigger 1968) whereas tlie settleaent aysteoi is the study of rules governing the physical arrangeaent of sites aci'oss a l:-ndscape (Flannery 133
19o7>* settlement archaeology inclu es tli© study of recon struction of cultural Ilfovrays and process of chmi;e (t ouao 1972).
;>lnce tho introduction of sottlema'nt pattom studies in archaeology by Gordon /llley in his vork entitled ** rehiatoric :>»ttl9n«it i^attems in '/ini Valltfv> ( /illey a nanber of studies have been c-irri«U out all over the world,
'Osjt C1965) stresses and ur^ es that it will bo fruitful for settlement pattern investigations if the archaeolof'ists, ciOi'io- lo^ists and geographers work together, ^aaders (1956) lays uore e.ajhasis on analysing "ttie distribution of human settle ments in the context of agricultural systi>ais, local specia lization and inter-re ,ionnl exchange, tiowever, Chanf, (1950) was the first to reconstruct the social org^'faizatiou of neolithic societies with tiie help of settlenent pattern studies whereas iiinford (1964) analysed the artifact variabi lity in -ouster!on ass .ablages from ?r, nee and reconstrue^tad the ."alaeolithic settlement system.
aruce Irifi; er*s two classic research papers 1967 and 1963 huve ushered in a new era in settleinent pattern studios. He (Tri^er)l967) has isolatea tvro main approaches viz.
1 ) ^olo^ical interaction of two variables, envirooaent and technology, and
2 ) ^oclological-tleconstructins s cial, political and religious organization of c il wures. 1 O J. J
irlggor (1SN5 ) in hia pa^^er on the "ooternin .nts of tiiQ ^ettlojjcait Pattern" has cu^gestsd three dirferent levels of aQttle,a:ynt pattei'n atudies,
1) laaivLdttai >/aildiiiR atr structure - Trigger has divcn a list of ruotors iffactltus individual structures and tholr layouts. Ihe nature of juilcilnfS Uetarainfss a sottlo:nent (>attem, hom.Mic people prufor to hava round auts, as they are ©asy to construct an^i easy to tnnis^ort frjtn place to ;)iace, jThoroas tiie settled cora;iunities pr i'er to live in pera.inent i\.ata;i{5ular hou;;es (Flannery 1972^. iTiare is specific correlation Oetyeen houae typea r.na the availabi lity oi raw aTitorial# For oxanple uuo to scarcity of raw material in desert, people live in tenta. *he size and layout of a building not only reflects the structure of fairdly, out also In the wealth cmd rank. Xha studies at tliis level ara coasidembly naoerous# Tha ./orK of following sciiolars is forth nothing; Ch^mg (1953), Tri&;»r (1953), tlannery (1972) ami havalikar (1977, 1980) etc.
2) ■^Oi-a.tunity level - the arrangeaent of buildings in a particular locality riiflacts social -;tratiflcation and uccjnonic activities, ^vironment cjid subi^istence t^.»chnology play a very significant rjle in deteriaining the size and stabi lity of a coiajouiiity. ihe studies at thi& lev.il are numerous. Q r\ l~y j J
The iirorks of -xi m (1961, 1965)» Chang U 962),Flannery (1971- 1976), Clark (1972), Jhavallknr (1977, 1978)^ Fletcher (1979) etc* are very ijapoirtant*
3) ^nal attem - The zonal pattern Is largely deter- niined by the availability of natural resources, famming communities tend to settle near good arable lana and perennial supply of water vrtiereas pastoral group settle ne^r pasture land. Factors such as the relative case of co ununicat!on, political orcianization, warf ire anti raligion and their sub sistence technology, deternine the location of a particular settlement. Ia.>ortiint works at this level are those of /idan 1961, 1965) Flpjmery (1971), alley (1965), f enfrew (1972), ►:.andera (1965), ^luavalikar (1978 and 1982 unpublished), Chitalwala (1979), -^ossGhl (1980), -«raj 3han (1977), Makkhan Lai (1982), lorsten Madsen (1982) Jo^i (1982), iome other factors like nndLgration, population ch sngo and different tradi tion of land use (iioaans 1962) affect the settlenaent pattern in various ways.
The data obtained for the study of settlement pattern cooes from sty o^m field investigations in the central i'api basin, I have studied the zonal pattern; the third level of settlement pattern studies su ggested by Bnace Trigger (1968). *i. . ->ali of the ^rch eologlcal ^urvey of India, in the late sixties and tho eirly seventies, carried out archaeological investigations in parts of tSiule district anti discovered a good nunabar of chalcolithic and historical sites* I surveyed these sites for observing complete inform .tion. A few sites auch as x-'rakashe, wavalda and Bahurupa were subjocted to vertical excavations but they supply only sketchy information, it is not ,possible to explore all ancient sites as several of tiiem on the b .nks of rivtfrs Tapi and ? -mjhra might have been washed off in the later period becauae of the occurrence of frequent heavy flooas* Secondly, taost of the unclaimed l^oiu is being distributed fimong tho landless people and is being brought under cultivation. In this process, sevaral omcient sites are beinf' destroyed. There is every possi bility of losing surface intJLcation of ancient settlements with very thin h^bitation^^l de:>osit, if they are brought under cultivation* repeated ploughing of the ancient habitations has caused irrepairable damage* ilonce very few sites are intact* In the course of field work, sometimes it becomes very difficult to detect a site if it is hidden balo / a stand ing crop. If at all ancient habitations are free fron cultl- vaiion, they are heavily dei^troyed by mercilessly digging by local inhabitants for obtaining whitisk soil «^ch is used for plastering and constructing houses and ni'inurln,, fields* Uuito a few sites lie bolow the present habitations or to^ns, in which case the extent and occupational debris cannot be estimated* 2 0 2
The aizo and distribution of different cultural periods is datenaineci on the basis of distribution of ceraaiics. As most of the ancient settleaenta are multi-cultural and are under cultivation, there is every possibility of getting the ceramics of oifferent cultures jnixed up and distributed evenly all over the surface in the process of oloughing*
In the central lapi basin there are rem?.lns of four different chalcolithic cultures* namely, the liavalda, the Late ilarappa, the ?lalirfa and the Jorwe, tultfiaents of the K y; tha culture are present at only two sited n.ijsaely Varsus f and Lonkhede, which is not sufficient to guess the settle ment p^ittem of this culture. /
The settlcanents in the caatral Tapi b sin are not evenly distributed all over the region. The northern raountaineous zone and the southwest forested ind b-.dly cut lancforn zone were avoided by the early faraera. On tJie contrary, the central part which is ecologicnlly favourable was densely populated. I therefore do not venture to make any statement regarding their spacing pattern and the average percentage of persons per sq. m as it will be misleading.
and jJLstriautioa of oottlmentm
ihe ecological zones and several other factors have affected the settlement patterns, distribution and their 9 0J KJ9
Bize in varioui, vrays. iho sites have btJen divided into the following differ^t ecoloaiCc’l zones. 1) tlat alluvium sites 2) Tributary zone or flat valley sites 3) ttill slope or pediment slope sites.
Hundred and three chalcolithic sites have been discovered in the central Ta^i basin. Out of these dcH located nearly seventy eight sites. Besides stucyinG already known sites, ay ovm field-rfork in this region brought to 11 ht 25 more settlements, ihe real concentration of settlenionta ia found in the tributary zone, rather than on "Uie o iin river Tai>i. Uf tlie hundred and throe chalcolittiic sottlennents, fifty five are locatea on the tiibutaries, followed by twonty eight sites on the main river Tapi and twenty are loc ated on hill slopes, (i'it;. 9).
uut of lundred and three sites eighty four settlements fall in the category of belorf 1 ha. in size; sixteen in the category of between 1 to 2 h.^. In the category of between 3 to 4 ha. there is only one sattleaent. une settlement each falls in the category of botwaan 9 to 10 ha. and aoove 10 h«. Viable 1).
The earliest farraing culture identified in this area is the aav Ida. The total number of .>avalda sites are t.^enty seven (Table 2>, of vfhich a m Jority (20) are located on the 9 0J X J p n
Table 1
No* of sites in reapact of size (in hectare)
Total of Sites ^ize Total 103 Below 1 ha* 84 1-2 16 3-4* 1 9-10 1 Above 10 1 m ta m t.. sttBsntaMMBauMiMMicBMBMaaiaranairr sasBm saoaiaiiM HM M m aaiaNBaxwM
T a b l e 2 i'Jo. of sites during idfferent vjultural i^eriodat
Cultural Perioas Total No* of sites
^ v a l d a 27 Late Harappa 23 Malwa 33 Jorve 49
■ ilw afW W w W iW W clB naf**!—»«w»tTs«ie!«3gwqcai« 9 nJ vj ''
Tapi and only soven are aituoted -5way from the Tapi. Of the twenty sites on the Tapi, fifteen are located on the right b.iixk and five are on tha left bank. There is one settlement each on the Pan n d the fei.der of the Buni and the /anjhrti, and in both the cases the sites are on the left bonk. Two settlements are located on the river uanfavnti, one each on either bank. Three settlements are situated away froD the perennial aupply of water, on the hill slopes, near a sm>11 ephe meral n,Ala. It is very interesting to note that there is a heavy concentration of settle-naits in the 25 to 30 long strip between Pr kiohe and i^kunaunda for as many aa twelve settlements re located in this restricted area, of which nine are on the right b m k and only three on the left (Fig. 10), In respect of size, eishteen of the sites are below 1 h;. five betwe^ 1 to 2 hi. and only one settlcaent b;*tween 2 to 3 h ’. (Table 3* ^ig. 11). Ihe size of three settlementa could not be '.e .sured as two of ttie three settlements are now submerged under the cutc laent area of Ukai daxa and oae settleraent is under present occu^^ation.
.he second knom culture in tiiis region is the Late iiarappan. ihere are altogether twenty tnree sites of this culture. Of these six are located on the b nks of the Tapi, ten on her tributiries anc. seven on hill slopes. Out of six settlements located on the Tapi, five are on the left bank
203
ti. 2 0 3
iable 3 no* of sottlemaits in respect of size (In Hectare during differont cultural periodsi
vultural Periods ->ize Total
;>avalda iielotf 1 hectare 18 1-2 •» 5
■ 2-3 1 3./, N a*
9-10 " - ibovo 10 " -
Late Marappa BelOif 1 hectare 17 1-2 * 3 2-3 " - 3-4 « 1 9-10 " 1
*0»v© 10 ** _ 1 r^alvra iielo»# 1 hectare 28 1-2 • 4 2-3 ” 1 3-4 *» 1 9-10 ** 1 Above 10 « 1 Jor#fe Belovr 1 hectare 40 1-2 • 6 2-3 " 2 3-4 • 9-10 " 1 9 ;
and only one lo on the rlaht bank. I’he r e are t ^ o settle- jaents on the t^anjhra, both on the left bank. Out of tiir^e aettleraents located on the i^.an, a tributary of the Panjhr i, tv/o are on tlia left bvnk arid one on the right bank. There are two settloments on the 3umi, one each on either bank. In the c se of weau, tnere are two settlements one each on either b mk* The river \rurj vati has one settlement on its right b nk. ieven settleaionts located on hill slopes are on small ephemeral streams (Fig. 12). In respect of size, seventeen setuleo-aats are belov/ 1 ha. category anU three are between 1 to 2 ha. category. In the c..tegory of 3 to ^ h^. there is only one site. One settlanent each falls in the categories of betw^een 9 to 10 ha and above 10 ha (Table 3§ Fig. 13). Largo size settlencaits are found to be located on hill slopes are sraall in size.
There are a good number of ^Iwa settlements in the Central Tani basin. In all thirty aevtan settlejients of this culture have beran discovered. Of these, seven re located on the river Tapi, of \sfhich five are on the left b nk and tv^o on the right b^nlt. The re'il conc.:ditr:'tion of the lalwa sites tta is in tile low<2raost part of^^Jurai river -fhere aufficient fertile 1 nd is av liable. Ten settleotmta are located wit in 18 km long and 5 ka wide atri^.. Jix, of t.ie ten settlenient:^, are located on the left bunK'and four on the right bank, i '.ere 2 n ro cr? ^ ij
are two settleiaente on the *^anjhra, both on the left b ’>nK, i.here are two sottlemanta on the ivan, one each on either banit. There ia one set leffient on the iiurai, which is almost near its ongln and Is soread on both the banks. Two settle ments are located on the Gooal, of which one is on the left bank, and the other on the right. Thirteen sites are situated in the third ecological group. They are on the hill slooes near anall epheraural streaas (Fig, 14), A majority of the settlemants are very small, apraad over an area of not more than 1 ha. 0\xt of tixir^y s
The hiiihest number of chalcolithlc settlements btilong to the Jorwe culture. There are fortynine settlejients of
this cultu4.e, ^ 3ht settlements, of the total Jorwe sites, occur on the Tapi, four each are on either bank . A good number of sites are fomd to be in the Kan- anjhra valley. On the v»an there are four sites of which three are loc ted on the left bink and one is on the ri^.ht bank. On the Pinjhra, out of ten sites, seven are on the left bank and three are on the ri*ht. There are five settlanents loc ted on the Bur:d, of wlilch two are on the loft b Jik m u three on the right, XTie river /ua^rav ti has five settlements all on its left bcink. 2he fianka Kala also provided suitable ecological 2ii
5
< J 7 U- n O 218
niche for the loc tion of early habitations, ihere are four settlecaeats on this river, two each on either bank. The highest nu-iber of settlements occur near pastures v#hich re generally avray froii the perennial supply of water, near smoll streams* Twenty three settlerataits are located on liill slopes. Three sites are located near lo^ lying awa-ipy areas, where water ACcuTiulatas durin^ the rainy season (Fig, l6), Thou^-h the settlements of this culture are more in nuinber, a majority of them are small in size. In respect of their size, forty of the forty nine settlements are belov/ 1 ha. Six sites fall in the c tegory of b-tween 1 to 2 ha. In the category of between 2 to 3 h . there are tfto settlements and there is only one aett-laaont in 9 to 10 ha. category, (Table 3» ri<^, 17 and 18),
Iho overall distribution pattern s ows that a large noiiber of settlements were m - l l in size. The highest nuiaber of settlements are below 1 h\. followed by the sites botweoi 1 to 2 ha, Anothv'r reaaiiciible fe iture is ■tiiat the sites, aw?.y from major rivers, are aai iller in size in comparision to the settle.nent3 alone the perennial rivers.
Factora affeotia^i. the A v i t e m Bruce i’rig^^er \1968) has given a list of factors affecting settlement pattern such as nearness to the perennial sutjply of water, availability of arable land, pasture 1 .nd. 2 i
di LL f-j9 ^ u
a lI 40 -
31 - SETTLEMENT SIZE ( IN HECTARE ) DURING DIFFERENT CULTURAL PERIODS IN 31 - CENTRAL TAPI BASIN U
33- SAVALDA 30 - LATE HARAPPA 31 - HALWA 3S JORWE 34-
32 -
30 -
ie- «n Ui ^ IS - p i v» i i u. U - g i o . 12 o X
10 - m m s II
I III 5-10 above to 1 - 1 1 - 2 2-3 3-4 C hectare
Fig^ 18 2 2 0
building material and raw aaterial* Besides* tt\ere are huzaan factors such aa trade, >oliticaI organization^ urarfar®, religious factor etc. ^icfi affect tlie settlement pattern. The chalcoJLithic people in i) ul« appear to hfive chosen sui table ecological niches where adequate resources were avai lable for agriculture and aniaal husbandry. They preferred those vantage points whic:i are free from the danger of flood and w;ich could afford a commanding view and easy access to vrater and fields, Xh© size, stability and dursition of a settlement is obviously li:;nited by the environment and the elf- ectiveness of the subsistence technology.
The proximity to perennial source of water is the first deterainant of a settlement pattern, airing the course of field work, careful observations were mtide concerning the riverine setting of ancient sites, ITie major perennial rivers in this region are the Tapi, the main river, and its tributaries such as Go^ai, .irunavati, Burai, «aaravati, Kan and ir'anjhra. Of the hundred and three settlements, el;.hty eight are in the vicinity of per<«ini ,1 source of water, and fifteen are near saall eph^eral streams. The distribution of these eighty eight settl«Kients is as follo«fS» There are twenty nine large size settleaaits bn the Tapi, of which eighteen are on the right bank and eleven on the left. There 2 2 1
are thirteen aettlenionts on the t^'an^hr i of wtilch ten are located on the left bank and only three on the rlgUt* Fifteen aettleiienta are aitUited on tiiQ iiural« of which eight are on the left b nk and seven on the right. The river AaL^ravati has four sites on its b. nks; all of thaia on the left bank. There are only two settle.aents on the uomai, \ one settlesaent ec\ch on either bank. The Kan has Sevan sites on its banits, of wiiich four are on the left bank and throe on the rignt. The river run vatl, though perennial, has only two sites on its b'\nks, one each on either bank. Four settlements ai^ located on a small perennial stroaTi called i\anka ^^ala. two each on either bank. There are two settle- ajants on the river Mesu, one each on either bank.
The region alon , both the banks of the Tapi is one of tlie most fei*tile areas in the country, but was sparsely inhabited in the chalcolitilc period, ispacially the area between i^rakaahe and ihalner, which is 100 ko in lent^th was very sparsely occu.jiad as compared to the densely inhabited region beyond t^rakasha upto ^.i^naunde, which is h rdly 25 to 30 ka in l&as,tn, i-Tie saae phenoiacna has bO(^ observed by C,D, i^shpande in the cas_' of modem sottleiacnts. *ie observed tl'i..t **quite contrary to the general pattern of the rivers, the Tapi dlscourases population concentration on its banks, -erosion and consequent bad land} topography prevent irrigation 222
and Intensive cultivation" (ijeahpande 19A8: It is vary interesting to not© that a aajority of large aize aettleaentsy all taluka headquarters and the district head quarter are located away from the Ta^ii on its tributaries. Certain fictors are responsible for tho sparse habitation on the Tapi. For this, the following f ictors are responsible.
l) The oost important Is Hie danger of severe monsoon floodings* In the flood-torn area» the general tendency of the people is to establish settlements either on the elevated older terrace, which is beyond the reach of nonaal flood water, or away from the river, Jarman 1972) has rightly st^^ited that the attraction to settle on elevated land is conuuon in the areas of flood plains. 'k>st of the chalco- lithic aettleaients in this region are located on the elevated older terrace.
iio far as the floods are concerned, tha Uaiettoer of Bombay .-'residesicy, district i'vhandesh, has recorded l^e details of six great floods which occurred in the oineteenth century, in 1732 sixtyfive villages were aitirely dastroyc‘d and fifty partly destroyed by the Tapi floods. In 1829 the Tapi again was flooded which washed away the thick deposits of soil, ana the 1S37 flood washed off many villages. In 1372 the k*anjhra and the Gima were flooded which swept away five huiidred houses belov/ ^ule and hundred and fifty two villages wera damaged (-iazetteer 1880), /igain in 19^^ the Piinjhra floods affacted several villages (Gazetteer 1971).
vJn the £»anjhra,a mn;Jor tributory of the Ta^i, -ttiere are very sparse settleraents below iJhule u.»to its confluence with the Tapi* There are on y tivo settleiients near the confluence which are located on a very higji elevated Icoiu surface, ilie region belo^ i^iule is lowlyinf, and the river becomes very shallow? therefore even an ordinary flood causes severe danger to sottlefBents. oecondly the river gets blocked an . starts sweliin^, artien the Tapi gets flooded, and t^e water flovrs and spreads out of ita c.vmnel* Ihe banks of the i*an^hr below ja^rl are b :dly cut and the preavince of ^i^atiari ravines have created an unsuitable l-Jidfora for settlesnont*
2) Flannery has stated that early settlcsaents are often founded at crossing points (Flannery 1976). A most interesting features of the early faming villags of the Oecoan is that "they wer^ alaost Invariably situated at the crossin^:, points of rivers. It should be noted in this connection that the rivers in iiaharashtra run tlirough rocky uplands and as such have dee.) entrenched valleys; their regimes have therefore cnanged relatively little. Hence a gre t majority of these bridgehead sites have been continuously occupiiwi through the raillenia till the late raedieval tiiaes and in cases as at Nasik, 224
till today" (iJhavilikar 1973). Therefore one inust agree >/ith the /illchins (1962* 52) that "Xnstancea of oroaslngs of antiquity and repute may be found on all the great rivers of India. Ctae has to only recall tiie crossing of the Goda vari at iiasik and of the i^armada at •laheshwar — to see how interestin/^ oomplexes of i n d e n t sites are foiaid clustered around such spots; in each case closely linked with ancient routes of importance." The Tapi is a mighty river and there fore it is not easy to establish coanunication with the settle- mcaits situated on the otl^ier bank. 14ovradays for establishing coa.iunication on the other bnnk of the river, people use a ferry. /Oid therefore, most of the settleaents on tiie Tapi are located near or at crossing points.
3) rhe banks of the Tapi are very hish, ranging from 15 to 20 a above tlie water level. Therefore, it is a trying task to obtain water from the river for domestic use. iecondly^ since the b^^ nks are very high and the river course wide, it is not possible to have artificial irrigation or darning, iiowadays people use lift irrigation, v/hich is^of course , possible only because of the introduction of electricity.
4) The perio Uc flooding causes rapid erosion on both the banks wtiich prevents intcaisive cultivation, lie black fertile soil and the flood alluviau deposit is baing w shed off by these floodings. 22 f:
In sharp contrast to the Tapi, its tributaries present a differant plcturo. Ihe oonoaitration of chalcolithlc and historical settlements is found in the tributary zone, as is the case even today. The followin:' are sorae of the possible reasons for the concentration.
1) The tributaries ori inate in the vrestem Clhats and since the western C3iats get heavy rainfall (1150 an), the riv«rs originating from the»e get an assured au^sply of water. Hence they are perennial,
2) The tributaries are narrow and flovr through deep cut valleys therefore the flood vrater Is hanily alloved to coae out of their channals. However, unlike the Tapi, where
settlements are located «^fe\/ hunurod aetra away frani Ti/ie river b init, the se tlea«its on the tributaries are located ciirtictly on the banks, 3) ihe trioutaries very rarely get flooded
U) It is possible to have intensive cultivation on both the banks of rivers as the black soil is not washed off, 5> ihe tributi^ries, beinii small ana n^irrow can eaaily be d m a e d , ihe Qazetteer of itihjidesh (13Q0) has the follow ing to say, "Ae »^handesh valleys are open and level, and the
3IB H e r ri ers, rising in tiie Sahyadri hills, flow in shallow beds, blocked here and there by rocky ledges of n*uch service 22 G
in mailing aiasonary weirs bandharaa. wlille froa their flatntfss or vory gantle cross slope, large areas of land are easily commaruied. This irrigation from weirs js chiefly practiced near the hilla on tiio u?per parts of the river courses. As tiie rivers grow larger and draw near the Tapi, their beds are too deeply sunit to be easily dimmed. As the Xapi itself flows laore than 100 ft belo.v the level of the plain:it is suited for the irrigation works"
6) xhere are numerous river meanders in the tributaries
(i^l, 4a). A majority of the settleaents !\re found to be located in the river meanders. The ohalcolithic people pre ferred to settle in the moanuers because the meanders afford protection from three sides. In the deep depression formed in^-river meander, vreiter accusiulates in hu(se quantity, vriiich supports not only large aquatic creatures but also attrficts terrestrial^* ^econuly even if the river goes dry, the water aocuiuulateu in the river meanders remains for the whole ye ir.
The central Tapi basin falls in the semi-arid zone with precipitation araund 500-700 mm; therefore tlie people living in this area are constantly at the mercy of nature, rhe wiiole economic set up gets disturbed if rainfall patterti is disturbed. From tiie available data, it is clear tiiat every tetith year was a fatoine ye ir» Kost of the faoiinea, oocurrod 22
In the pa»t, are due to the failure in r-iinfall pattern. In order to overcome the water deficiency, the chalcolithlc people of the Jeccan had developed the teclmique of artificial irrigation, vriiich was used for irrigating agricultural l.tnds, ihere is clear evidenoe of artificial Irrigation at Inamgaon, Uiring the i-arly Jorwe period (l400 to 1000 B.C.), a huge diversionary channel and an e ib *nkment wall parallel to it vras constructi'd to divert the oxceas flood water, v/hich might have caused a serious ^reat to the settlement, and for irrigating the fieldr U-havalikir 1975). The cultivation of vrtieat in this region is presently possible only on an artificial irrigation as there is no winter rainfall which Is required for wheat* In the iiarly Jon^re levels, theru Is definite evidence of .iiheat, which certainly suggests tliat some device for irrigating lowlyini^, fields was used ' v^-havalikar 1975)* In fact the siturition in the central Tapi basin, especiai.ly in the tributary aone, is very Ideal for artificial irrigation.
There is no thick fon?st on the banks of the rivers, as the seeds and shoots are swept av/ay by floou water but grassy strips are aeen (i'ossehl 1980), The availability of agricultural land plus a grassy strip of land along the rivers for pasturing the herds, miiiiit have been some of the factors resoonsible for the astablisha -nt of ohalcolitiiic settlements alon;;. the rivers. As the population started 228
increaaing the peo;>Ie must felt the necessity of clearing laad by felling trees with jollahed stone axes and by burning for cultivation* and gradually extended their aettlenants there.
The rivers not only provide water, but also afford a vast z^servolr of aquatic creatures and attract the gaiae* There are certain commuiiitios called ivolis and l^ois» who mainly subsist on fishing. They obtain grain and othor essential cojiaodlties froa the villagers in exchange of fish.
The early fanning coinminitles in /estem India are closely associated with black cot^on soils (^ossehl t960)« There are three distinct bolts of soil in the central Tapi / along both tba brmks of l^e Tapi and other m i n Tributaries* the medium black cotton soil in the tributary zono and coarse red soil in the hilly region. The majority of the farmers practiced dry-fanaing, I^awrencc Leshnik, who has studied the present day method of dry f nnlni; prabtice in Nlaad district of i^dhya Pradesh, states that the blacK soil 1s moisture retentive and considerably famous for its fertility (Leshnlk 1967).
In nineteenth century, (me British agriculturalist, who travelled Qxt«n3iv«*ly In India, was very much impressed S20
by the char oteristies of blaok cotton soil. He had following to say: "In the black cotton soils of the Deccan, where ploughing Is hcinlly pjrectlcal, the interchmge of top soil for aoil from tha beneath goes on mainly owing tothe course, Black soil has wonderful power for absorbing water and durinii rainy season it s w o II q , s o that the whole surface is raised. Although it conti *ues to retain throiighout an^- abnormal aiaount of moisture which is of gre t value to the crops grown on it and in short enables cultivation to be practiced without ixrigation, at the same time in the dry weather it lose^ a large amount of moisture and shrinks in consQQuence, I V shrinking is in all Qirection3, consequently, very deep and wide cracks are formedf which mixke tho land quite unsound and dangerous for riding. % the use of i^utch hoe harrow, the cracks are filled and closed with the fine aoil of the surface and by tliia Jieans a regular circulation of soil is established. The cracks further fulfill the function of ploughing by admitting air freely into t^e body of the soil* The objects of ploughing is such that nature is left to do a large share ol the ytork and furth-'r aha provides the means b y wiiich m a n can succesiifully carry out the remainder of it. xhe plentiful supply of powdejry soil is useful not only for carrying on the circulation processes, but for closing up the cracks to present excessive evaporation 230
of moisture fro^ the body of under soil (Wallace 13Ji8i 130-81).
It is very clear from the at>ove statement that the black soil played a very significant role in detenainlng the settleacnt pattern of thu early fartaing coaiiunlties, who were laostly prcicticing dry-farains* In sharp contrast zo the large size ^sodem sottlemimts sitauted avay from the main river Tapi, the majority of tho Istrge size chacolithlc settleiaente were located on the Tapi. And nicura ly the black cotton soil ana fertile flood alluviuia de.)oait were rusponsible.
The blacK cotton soil refuces the de.iendcanca of farmers on artificial irrigation. If there is no continuous rainfallf l^e crops do not get affected as the loistiire retained by the soil supplies the necessary amount of viator to the crojs. Ihe distribution of the chalcolithic settle ments on different soils is as follows. Of the hundred .?nd three total settlenjents, sevtmty five are located in the deep black cotton soil zone, forty four are located in the coarse red soil. It means, altogether there are eighty nine settleataita located in the black cotton soil zone. In tlio absence of artificial irrigation intensive faraing is xiot possible but i^ turn exteiisive farning can be practiced in dry-farmin: art^a. iri.estinik 1967). 231
t^st of the large size settlemen s are located on the Tapi, tl-io obvious reason for which is the availability of rich hinterland and pasture (PI, 4b). the large size villages such as /Jiaparkhede, oavalda, .iahurupa and Ubhad md the region 1 centra t^rakashe are loc >tad on the Tapi whereas the mediuaj size villages such as Chinchkhede, Lonkhede, Chikse, i^arSx-aal etc. are in the tributary zone, r-ach large size settle ment had an ar a of approximately 2 to 4l«a on ai.1 sides under their jurisdiction* In the vicinity of large size settlements, in a radius of 2 to 3 km, are founa vary small settlements, which seG ffls to be seasonal in type. According to Hole and Flannery, such ooall size settlenents were occupied by the group of peoplo^ from Inr^e size settleoonts during :>lantinc and harvesting seasons (Hole and Flannery 19^7) » These 5«all f size settlements are located near the large tracks of b^.^ck cotton aoi^, however* the other ifnportant deteniinaat factors such as proxiiaity to water, defensive position and nearness to other resoui*ces, ^ere not consider d.
^uch seasonal enca:apaent3 are found alaost in all the present villages. A group of 5 to 10 indivic.uals from the large size village at the time of harvesting, planting iind also for protGCtin^j fields from birds and ani?ails, camp on the farji. They raise temporary circillare huts of th^tc *. Theue haiolets are provided with cooking facilities, in case 23'j
of such temporary settlGments, the evidence is likely to coasist of thin accu-iuluted dobrls and a few pot-sherds.
iuvory l .rge size chalcolithic aettlaaent has in its vicinity a siaill aize settlement* i^r.-kashe has a small settle ment which .ms occupied durin , the Jor/e period. It is one and half kni downstream from tho taain aettlesnent in the locality called Kamat Barada* It is very small, measuring 26 x 18 m with habitational deposit not a»re th-m four inches. The site is located on a slope vjtiich is within the reach of normal floo* -rfater of the Tapi, A grou^ of 4 to 5 persons fron the ^av’lda settlanent may have iCasnped on their fani, one ka dovmstreaia at ilingir. ihis aettlenent is located in the river meander, directly on the river bank. It aieasuros
15 X 15 m and iias very thin hatbitational deposit* There were three large settleracinta, very close to ©j.ch other ;md each measuring aroxmd 1 hrt. with 1 m thick habitational deposit, at Uahurupa. It had fr/o season^al ca;nps, one oxactly opposit at Chinc’iioda and the other tv/o ka dovmstreaia £roji the vill'Age at Ha'ttioda, The Chinchoda settlement is v .ry saall, occupied by h rdly four to five individuals wher*i;as the Hatoda settlera«it was considerably large* It measures 50 x 35 ai vrith a habitational deposit not »aore thin 15 cm. iiiaparkhod© iiad a small seasonal ca^ip at 3orala, 2 ka downstream* It is Iocat€Kl on a lowlyint? slope within the easy reach of normal flood water* 233
Xha central part of Uiula, vrtilch incluues pnrts of i^durbar, ^.dndkheda and oakri, is an elevated plate ;u, covored by poor coarse rad soil which is not suitable for dry fannins ^Personal coauunication fn>m the 3oil Conser vative Officer at thule). Vhe bare hills, with sparoe vege tation, are covered by thick grassy patches (e*l 5a) • These hills ana plain lw.ndfonn constitute a vast reservoire of pasture, i’he present day herd keepers, called l^angars, are confined to this area.
A few chalcolithic settltaaents are found in this zone. Of the hun rod and throe settlomonts, fourteen are located on hill slopes v/hore there is always water ac-‘rcity. ‘olo ''.nd Flannery (1967) h ve classified such settlements as herding unit;^, occupied by a group of people seasonally from a peitaa- nunt vlll^^e for the purpose of pasturins flocks. I studied the present pastoral cotamunity called hangirs in this rSijion* I studied t?ieir movement and niode of sub3i:,tonce and I found that a gr-up of peo,^le, consistinof four or five BUile and two-three female members, set out of their perrarmGnt villages in jsumsaer and vinter with their large flocks of cattle and shee,?-go its. ^hey move as far as 50 to 60 ki away from their village and camp near vast pasture land# Female taeitibers are included in the group for cookin'^ and ,234
colltfctinfi flre-wooii. ^all circular huts of thatch and branches are raised near pasture land vrtiere they continue to live till the resources are depleted. Then they ®ove other regions where sufficient pasture and otiier resources are available* Once the rainy sectson starts, they return to tlieir aitive settlement* llie iJhangars from 3akri move as far as Navapur which is nearly 100 Ion av^y from their settle* aonty in search of pasture land* iiruce Tz*igger has su/gcsted that whcather a site can be inhabited pennanantly or not is determined by the availability of resourcea (rrlgger 1968), There are certain chalcolithic settleioonts in this group which were occupied for a considerable longer period, as is suggested by the tliickness of the habitational deposit and their axtc»it* i*his may have been possible only due to availability of sufficient pasture land*
Ihe chalcolithic people in this zone chose better ecolOii,ical niches, v^ith proxiaity to pasture and forest. Gensrally all the herding units are located on gentle slopes of hill pedimcjnts* A majority of the settlements fall in the o^itegory of belovf 1 ha* in size. In most of the cases, the habitational deposit is very thin, while in some cases the traces of habitation are too siea:Te to identify. The con
centration of hording units in this re-.ion w h s in the csntr»l part of Diiule district, in the northern part of Nandurbar and northwe.it part of uindl'Jaoda Talukaa,
Out of fourteen settlenents located in this zone, Hatnur, winich 1» very 5-iall, measuring kO x JO m. Is located far away from the assured supply of w^ter. At prwsant there is ane saall ephemeral nala. but according to S,iJ, :g-^ru ^ who visited this site, it is a rocent phonomona as is clear froai tha river section exposed in a well, which is situated right on the bank of the nal, . -ven though the soil around the sottleaent is coarse red, and not siiitable for agriculture, it is surrounded by jirassy hills and forest. liatziur is 7*5 km southwest of t'arasoal, a large size settleiaent, wnich is on tiie b ink of Burai, It is quite possible that liatnur was occupied by a gi'oup o* peo^jlt frcan ?arasiaal for pasturing their herds.
Kaothe-I, which is ^ km west of 3akri is the 1 rgest ciialcolithic settlement in i-hule district and its rjopulation may have biiSn above 2300. But the resources and hinterland is not sufficisait to support such a large population, ilence some people may have been compiled to resort to pastoral life and sot up a seasonal cai^, 3 k m north of the aiain scttla^ont Ci^l. 5b). -Tils Kaothe-ll settlecnent is very small, located on a rocky outcrop end is away from the perennial source of water, ihe settlement nueasurea 60 x 35 a with 15 to
20 cm thick habitational deposit (uhinde t^3)« a few 23fJ
of tha sltesy from their extent and ha^itatlonal deposit seeta to have been occupied for a considerably longer period. All these settlesnents yielded nothing except a few pot- alnerds*
■iite Typology
J.li. t^arson 0971) and K*L* Blanton (1972) stuaiod tlie ancient settlement pattern of tha t^exico valley and classified the sites in different categories (Flannery 1976 ) as follows! 1) Primciry regional centre - population over 2000 indivl duals* 2) secondary regional c^tr*? - between 1000 to 2000 inhabitants* 3) Nucle®tted village - between 100to 1(XX) inhabit ints 4) haoilet - population belov/ 100 5) Caap - laicroband of 15 to 20 pe sons* i^fhile claasifyinti the settlements from the central Tapi basin, I adopted slightly differcait classification. 1) iiegion:.tl contre • having a population of more than 1000. i-here are t^o settlcaents in this category, r*raic she .nd uaothe, 2) Big village - having inhp.bitants betwo -n 200 to 600. There are eight settlements in this category* 3) i>mall village - having a population between 100 to 200. There are twenty settlements in this category. 237
4) Hamlet - There are forty eight aettl^aents in this category. The population in tiiis cat»-.*gory is botween 10 to 100 persons. 5) Camps •» The population in this categozy is belov 10. There are fifteen settlaoenta in this category, viable 4)
luring Idio Savalda period, there did not exist a si n c . l B regional centre. There were six large size villages. Five settlements can be included in the category of small vill iges and seven can be identified as hanlets, inhere v/ere five TVieil camp sites of tiiis culture (Table 5t Pig# 19). ^twenty three settlements of the Late ilai appiin period^ of which two <.'ere I regional centres. Four settlements can be identified as big villages and an identical numbor of settleisents fall in the small village category. Ihere were 10 hamlets (Table !?» fig, 20). Of the thirty seven sites of the t^lwa oXtlture* there v/as one regional centre. In the category of big vill.'Age, there «rere five aettleoicn .8 and nine settlements can be grouped in the sakill village category, Ihere were sixteen h-iaaets and three camp sites of this culture (Table 3$ Fig, 21), lluring the tiorae period, of the fortynine settlements, . ttier was oiily one regional centre. Five and eight settlejients can be classed as big and saall villages respectively. The highest number of settlements (26) were haoilets. In the category of caap, 2 3 8
Table A -^ettlesaaats of Ulffarait Categoriee-
Heglonal ccsitre - 2 Big village - 8 jaiall v i r a g o -20 iiamlet -A8 Caii^ -IS »0iV«K«iMi3aY3assflUKMc;ft.
Cultural ue^^ional Big ooall iia>'nlet Caiap t'erlou C m t r e Village Village
avtilda • 6 5 a 5 Late i^rappa 2 4 4 10 3 ^ialwa 1 5 9 16 3 Joive 1 5 7 25 7
Table 6 ^tiaate of i'opulation in Central Tapi Basin during different Cultural Periods.
Cultura Period Total population
Savalda 3200 Persons Late Harappa 7520 “ Halva 5645 ^ Jorwe 5090 • oaiM «ts n cz >s S9«am» oo » mvaB «ft «nac o nnm« :-o0EaBBx3i«M«i»»s;at«iai3a«>s«iKC3VB. Mmmman 239 o 240
o (M
U. 241
CM
U- 242
there vrere five settlaflents. (Table 4, Fig. 22 and 23).
Uaftar . i ^ a U f t m q X the 4i«alda Culture
There are tmrenty seven settlements of the ^valda culture, all located along rlv^r honks in a linear fashion (Pig* 24)- Out of the twenty aev@n settlemonts* twenty are located on t^e Tapi and three aie away from a perennial source of water, 111680 three settlements are located very close to each other, in a radius of 1 kt»» Loakhede is located on the left bank of a staall perennial atreaa called Pan, a feeder of the iiurai whereas i^aikhede is located on the left bank of the t^aii^hra, ihere are two aettlemerita on the -einmatati^ one each on either baii.^*
It appears on the basis of extent and the short duration of occupation at Bahyana that those were thQ herding units, occupied by a group of people fitun Koparli, a big village of the 3avaldo culture, vrtiich is 7 km northwest of i^ahyana. All the three localities at Bfjhy^wa fall in the category of hamlet, with populations of 49# 12 and 35 respectively. Thes^ localities are surrounded by small hillocks, which have sufficient grass (PI. 6a).
The settlements on the Tapi sprang up along the river system, fonaing wh t Flannery described as lon^, strings of villa es in "Ribbon band f .ahion* (Flannery 1976). i^e ma;)or 243 REGIONAL CENTER BIG VILLAGE SHALL VILLAGES
NO. OF SETTLEMENTS OF DIFFERENT CATEGORIES DURING DIFFERENT CULTURAL PERIODS IN CENTRAL TAPI BASIN
Fig. 23 245
bJ a D CM cb 3 O LL
< a -J < > < U) 2 4 B
coxicentra-ion of the Sav >lda se«.tl^8nta was in a 23 liua long and ^ kra wide aroa between ^^rakasha and Kukamunde. There are as many as twelve settlCTienta located in tills restricted araa of ^Ich eight are on thQ right bank and only four on the left bankf In contrast to them there are only eight settleraents located in the 100 km long strip betweoi .^mkashe and Vadhode* Naturally the question arise as to why there was a such iieavy concentration of settle-aents in between i’rakashe and Kukunrnmde and why a majority of thea are confined to the right .bank? i^at were the reasons for the s.>oradic settlements in the 100 km long strip? Similar questions were raised by Fl mnery while explaining the linear stream patterns and riverside rules (1976).
if9 surveyed the entire region right frtMn Kukurr:nmcle to Vadhode, and we found that there are very few elevated spots which are out of danger of flood water» and it la these s ots which were occupied by large size settlements (*?1* 6b). Secondly, the concentration of Late Harappan settlements 1s found between I'rakashe and Vadhode. It is hi,ihly like th^t the 3avalda and the Late liarappan people -/ere contuoiporaries and hence the ^valda settlements florished beyona J^rakas^e. I the regiorif especially the ric,ht bank of the Tapi > beyond t^rakashe, is a continuous elevated plateau and nox’iaally it is out of danger of flood* Therefore there are greater 247
nuaber of settleaien-a on the right bank, Flnnnery (1976) has suggested that a village alXl loca-e on that aide of the river which aXforus the best catchment area witli resoect to mountain huntin,^ lands,piwild plant collecting aroa ana special resources like salt, flint or pottery clay, exactly sirrdlar situation is oatained on the right bank of tiiQ Tapi below t^r kasJie, The ;iat .uda mountain, plaity of wild plants, tub»rs, wild arximals, birds and ana,^le pasture l^nd, at inds aidjesticaily 4 km north of the Tapi. In between the riv«r and the Satpuda mountain is f;^und rich Mnterland, The oatpuda, besides providing ample natural rt^sourccs, affords protection on the northern si?le, Tha area between the river and tiie mound is Qxcaptionally fertile and gives maxir^ura yield with r:J.nimu3i efforts, T^iis ideal situation enabled t h e Savalda people to establlsi^i lai'ge size settle^aents in t;iis ihere are bici villages such as Ubhau, :iavalda, ^^orit, and trirett settleoienta at :3ahurupa.
There is a general tendency of splitin^ tlie settljment as soon as it groda above 2 hi. The settlements like Ubhad, Uahurupa, and /iorit are the bost example of it, The possi ble explanation for this may be, as ?osehl (1930) has stated that the r^soiirces espi?cially fertile land and grass belts are evenly apr- ad all along the riv r, -^ith growing; population, aquisition of new land for agriculture becomes Inevitable, 248
la the case of present day fanaera, if the agricultural lanU is beyond 3 Km from thair sattle-aent, a group of people from the big villages establish their permanent settleniont on the farmland. Thus big villages split and ne>r villar;;es go on emerge. Hie sarae phenomena has also b.en observed by Tittaay rind Abhott (1932) while studying the sottleaant pattern of early agricultural societies in east Jutl^md,
iJatiiaark,
Generally the linear settleraent pattern follows the resource pa tern* Ihe spread and shifting was continuous all alon^ the river course upto ioikarcainde, perhaps still further, but it could not be detected as the region beyond is submerged under the catchmerit area of Uliai daa. On the southern bank of the river there are only four settlements, of ^hich t^ro, namely Uin^ir and Chinclioda are camp sites wi^iereas oavalda and i^^rit are bi^ and aiiall villab® respectively* Chinc' oda, wiiich is si uated exactly on the opposite bank of Bahurupa, was perh?ips occupied seusonally by a group of peo,)lo during harvesting and pi uiting seasons, from Bahurupa, The sou-Uiem bank is not suitable for habitation as it is vory lo / nd v/ithln the reach of nonaal flood water, and the 1 ndform is highly dissected U^l. 7a). 'Ihe river takes a very sh rp turn and therefore, it is the sout'^.eni bank wiiich is affected ^aost during floods. • IV 243
Udhad, flahurupa and Aukarmtmcie» situated on the northern bank, are located equidistant from each other. Three loca lities of Biihurup^^, which are vory cloae to each other, are 9*45 km doiaflfistreasi from Udh;id and 10 km upstrean froia Aukar- caunde, •smtola, a small village, which is 4 km upstream frcwa iiahurupa, is located near a rocky outcrop. The settle ment is considerably large in ^tent, but it seeas that it was occupied for a very short period as is clear from the thickness of habitational deposit. The site yielded little pottery, but is covered by a large nu:aber of -forked and un- ifori&Bd pebbles, unfixiished polished stone axes and a few finished polish stone axes (Hef. to PI* 3b). From the avai lable evidence, it is clear thsit the peo^jle inhabiting this site were mainly occupied with manuf.>cturing polished stone axes and they might have supplied thorn to other settlements in exclian^e of food grain and other corouiodititjs.
Few settlemfflits are found to have located away from the Tapi« in fact thore are two large size settlements, one each on the river ?anjhr« and the Pan nala. They were occupied by the iSavalda people perhaps %^ile migrating to /arda south. iAie to the uif vourable f-eo, raphical position, toere are sporadic settlements b .tween Pmkashe and Vadhode, a 100 km long strip. Only 8 settlements of the tot tl 27 are loc ted in this strip.
The formula for deterjoinini^ the spacing of settleiaeats 250
is b iseU on the dansity of rural settlements. Ihe average spacing between two settlenenta Is daterained by dividing the total area surveyed by total number of aettltrafflits* urlng the Savalda period, there were altogether twenty seven settlements. The aver.ige spacing between the settl^aits is 12*5 k!a. It ia true that trie factors other Xhtin size affected the spacing settlements. Aing (1961) has carried out spacing in flaahLngton itate, observed that the s. acing of settlements was governed not only by taie size of population but alao by the economic potentialities of the area.
Generally the population gets attracted towards strategic resources (necessary and localized resources) (iiarly 1976), around a more important site such as a ma^or town or a reli^ous centre or to obtain protection or to be able to take advantage of the >;reater range of functions and activities available (Ho der 1972, itodder and Orton 1976). In the case of the Late Harappan settlements, although a majority of them are situated in a linear fashion, few of them present a hexagonal pattern dascrlbed by »/alter Christaller (1933);(Fig, 25). According to Christaller, the hexagonal * pattern enists if there isj (1) uniform distribution of population and purchasing poorer (2) uniform terrain and 251
in c\l
CD LL 252
resource ciiatrlbution (3) equal transport facility In all directions, and (4) all central places perforraing "Uie same functions and serving areas of the same size» the moat eco nomical spacing of such service centres would be equidist^^mt (Christaller 1933) • iiut the studier carried out subsequ ently by archaeolofiistc: (Johitnaon 1972^ Holder 1972, iiv:ms and ^ulu 1932 and Flann^rry 1:>76) revealed that it is not necessary to have perfect hexagon.
In the central Tapi basing during the Late ilarappan^period^ there did exist a hexagonal p a t t a m * Kurlcvrade, a big size villaije of the Late Harapptm period, was surrounded by six small size settlements, «^ich definitely were related to KuiH&wade. Though Kurkwode is not located near any perennial .source of water, It is surrounded by very good hinterl-jnd» Varsus and t^atun 15 Ka sout^ieast, tUftarde 3udruk (Khola;)) 9 < basis of their atratoglc position near vast pasture leind and the habitation^ \n^ili;h la seasonal In character, Hethl (^ecikal), v ^ c h Is 13 km south of ivurkwade, thou.jh extensive, Was under occupation for a short period, as Is clear frosa the habitation^ deposit, 3ut the settlement was very important, for It lalght h ve been a factory site. The settle- snent, which Is surrounded by rocky outcrops. Is located near a vast reservoir of raw material. The careful surface explo ration revealed large nu'aber of nodules, rfaste material, flute cores and worked and uncorked blaoes of chalcedony (Hef. to Pl» 3a). The people inhabiting the site were ja^ainly occupied in manufacturing blade tools, v^ch were obviously supplied to other nearby comnunlties. Otiier settlements are arranged in a llnaar fashion, all f o l l o ’./lnii river courses. M.K. iJhavallkiir (1979) put forth the hypothesis that the Late Harappans Migrated Into the central Tapi basin, % from Gujarat, throuch the oongadh pass, ilie evidence we gathered corroborates his hypothesis as a few settlefaeaits occur on their way to the central Tapi basin. These are t^/o saall size settlements, namely the T^hetgaon and Chlkhali, tla on the banks of^rivtr Neau. The Late Harappans, before esta blishing a very e.ttensive settlement had small ^alfjratory camps at above aeatiwied places (cihinde 1933) • Kaothe, one of the two regional c Bettiem^jnt in the centi^al Tapi basin. The settl®nents spread upi4'ards ana ao.mwaixis from the village, ihon they moved upwards they established a very large sized aattleraent at t^raltashe. iliere are a good number of aettlementa around i^rakaahe, A group ot people mi^^rated _.ownvrards in the Godavari basin where, at i^mabad, they established n extensive settle ment (aali 1982). The progress of the mif?ration was checked at PraKashe by the areaence of the Savalda people, except at Bahurupa, there is not a sintie si e of the Late rtarr»p:5an culture between PraKashe and tr .unde* ilie Late Harappan settlements are evenly spread over a large area. At ivaothe^ jiot on.y enough hinterland is available, but within the rc^dius of three kia th»re is also a thick forest* The bare hillocks have good pasture, rhe site is located in the inner periphery of the shallow meander and hence there Is no shortage of water# t'^othe II, 3 ka north of the laain settlement rfas the herding unit, occupied by a sroup of people froa Mothe X, for grjtzing the herds, inftiereas Ciihadwel was the seasonal encampment occupied during planting and harvesting seasons (>^hlnde 1983)• It lies 3*5 km upstream from Kaotna. Although Kaothe I was the lar.est settlement it was not inhaai^ed far v«ry long period, as against rrakashe, the second larg::st in the region, was occupied for very long 255 period. Unlike Kaothe* Prakaehef ^#hich is located very 3trategi©aily> was inhabited right from tlie Late tlarap !on to the medieval and is occupied ov®i at present. The 3sttlea«nts of the Malwa people sprsing up a ll along the rivers in a linear pattern. Flanntry haa stated that sites oii^Jit bo closer together «^er.Jor conc«antration of the people* next to the Uurai valley, ia around the regional centr. r^rakashe. 256 ft ‘:‘4aa According to i:.arlet a random distribution aeans th^it all individuals have eui equal possibility of occurring at any given point on a surface place (i^arley 1976). ’ih e r e does not appear to b«; any pattern as such in the case of the Jorwe 257 aettleaents and they are randomly dlBp<.r8ed* One Interesting feature to be iioted here is that the Jorais settlements, tliough greater in number, occupied less area than that of the Late liarappan and the ‘'^alva settlementa* The majority of the settle* oianta of the Jorwe culture are located avay from the porennlnl supply of water and fertile hinterland, but in the proxitnity of pasture land. ^\1 though tie settl«aents are randomly dispersed, a vast majority are confined in the central and yeatem parts of the region* i\a against this, .'soat of ttie /talwa aettleaenta are restricted to tdie eastern part of «ie district, Therefore it is obvious tin t the area inh bited by the ^^alwa ,>e3 >le vras not occupied by the Jorve people, s vo a few sites, suggesting tiiereby the conteLaporariness of both the cultures in this region. -\s the area, rich in fortuity, was under occupation of the -alwa people^and - tiie Jorvre people were co.Qpelled to stabile t i i ei r settlements in an area w i i i c h was free fron. hua :n occupation but not at all suitable for ajjriculture, and thus thay were forced to aOojt a different subsistence stntegy. i.lie Jo we people selected suitable ecological hlches where staple resources for pasturing the herds are available* itfe are aware of the f.’Ct ttuit the number of Jorwe settlaients is greater and over ninety percent of thoa are v-*ry small in size and teaporary in chnracter. Their strategic location 258 near the pastura and forest sug ,eata th.^t they reaortea to the pastoral node of life. An area of tiiirty km long rmd 10 km wide in the Kan- r^anjhr' valley, w.iich la c vered t»y deep blacic cotton soil, was CO iparatively thickly populated by the Jorwe people, Ihere are as aany as twelve settle»^ts located in this at ea, all of th&a in the Ii:sear fashion* The conglomeration occurod because of two import^int f actors, fhe first obvious factor is the occurrence of rich hinterland and perennial source of jfater, and secondly the region is located on the migration route of the Jorwe people* ihe Jorwe people from Nasik-Jorwa sii .rated into the 'i-api basin through the. iaghalan pass near s»atana. ihere is a very small sai ratory camp of the Jorwe people at x^iap’aldar wiich is located in the passy »riiich is away from the water source. There are two lirga size settlaamits; Chinchkhe^e and m e Chikse in this region, of w5iich the fonaer^is rich In pottery and habitational deposit. Oyer dozens of full pots in ,^aint ^ o m L i x U o n A growinfc, eophasio on estia-tlng pooul-tion size, deiialty and *^rowth r .t&a of the past has taken place recenly (uook 1972 and Hassm 1378), xljttre are several obstacles, siiort coiiaaiags and pitfalls in estimating accurate population, wjveral factors affecting the population size within given area makes taa task difficult» if not impossible, tccording to Hassan, docaogr^phic archaeolo;^ is an analytical and interpret tivo approach within archaeology, which ddresses the key problems of the rate of demographic variables in cultural pzx>cesses throu hout the archaeological past (Hassan 1978), Several methods h ve been ®fflployed to estia. te the p?!St huaan pooulation, Xhe laetl^iods e:sployed \re a) huTian skeleti'.l remains (Vallois I960), Jrothwell (1971), Aacadi and Nemeskeri U970). b) artifacts used by people (Cook 1972a) c) Foo: regains (Cl rk 1954# 1972), £.vans and Renfrew (1968) d) £4J0i0gical potentials of human habit t (Hassan 1974a, dirdscll 1975) ana e) ‘the settlement area (ndam 1965, '^ook and ieizer 1968). As I mainly concentrated on the problem of the chalcolithic cultures, I aa refrained from eatimnting the population growth, I have attenpted to estimate the population 2C0 of each culture on the toaals of settlement «ise, w-ilch Is baa I ;>iuinber of Inhabitants • Constant x site area (Hassan 1978), where the nufaber of persons per unit of site are deter- ained from the aodem village in the area, wtiich la to be coapti- rable to the archaeological settlements under c ^naidoration. However, there are many liaitations and shortfalls in 12ii8 method. The length of occupation anu thickness of deposit seriously affect the estimate of lopulation (Tolstoy and Kish 1973)* tHit what we want here is n estia te of copu lation at a fixed point of time and not over a long period* Lawarence t.esnik conducted tiie ethnographic sui'vey in t^iraad district of central India, where he estimated 200 persons living in one hectare of area lLa\/rence 1967). I have applied the s^iine estimate to the archaeoloivical settleaents under consideration! iAuring t.^ie Sav'>lda period the total population from twenty seven aettlea^ts was 3200 persons (Table 6). ilie totiil area occupied durinti this period was 16039 sq. ha* (Table 7). There is only one settlsmsnt with popul tion aroxind 600 persons* - 2 6 1 T a b l e 7 • HuLHber of aitcs* total area occu^lGd and i>pulatlon in each category (In respect of size in h«ctar py of sites. C u l tures oize in No, o f sites Occu:> tional t*o>ulatii>n H o c t :-r aroa ciavalda below 1 ii& 18 5.939 1186 1-2 » 5 7.1 1420 2-3 a 1 3.0 6 0 0 » . 3-4 --- L a t e iJelow 1 Ha 17 6.P219 1244 H a r u p p a 1-2 « 3 . 4.38 8 7 6 3-4 m 1 3.6 720 9-10 m 1 9 . 4 1880 ibovt? 10 " 1 10.00 2800 Malva 0elovf 1 Ha 28 9.4635 1892 1-2 « 4 5.769 1153 5-4 « 1 3.6 7 2 0 9-10 m 1 9.4 1880 Jo mre below 1 Ha 40 10.1748 2031 1-2 R 6 5.aa 1176 2-3 II 2 - - 9-10 M 1 9.4 1330 2G2 There are five settlenents In the category of bot»reen 200 to 600, tfhlle identical nusaber of sottXeaents fall in the cate gory of betweai 100 to 200 persons. In the category of between 10 to 100 persons* there are eight settle:aents* Five settleaents fail in the category of bolow 10 persona. (Table 8), uiring the v..avalda p e r i o d nearly 90/v o f the population lived along the aiain river Taplt and 5^* each in the tributary zone and la the hillalopes, away froa the ^jorwuiial source of water. CFlg, 26). iXtring the Late Harappcm period, t^e total nuaber of persons increased sharply. Though the number of settleisents is sm H e r thaui tiiat o f the niav-.lda culture, there i s a increase in population. This Is mainly because of the ei.argence of t»rfo large sized regional centres. There are in all twenty three settleaaents and the total population was aroun^l 7520 persons. The total area inhabited during t^ls period was 37.60 sq. ha. '00, there are four aettlen^mts. Four settlttnents fall in the category 263 T a b l e a t Cultural Period i^opulation size Total 3it08 In p e r s o n a oavalda B e l o v 10 5 10-1CX) 8 100-200 5 200-600 5 a bove 6 0 0 1 Late Harappa Bolow 10 3 10-100 10 100-200 k 2 0 0 -600 k 1000-2000 1 a b o v e 2000 1 Belov/ 10 3 10-100 16 100-200 9 2 0 0 - 6 0 0 5 • AiM>ve 1000 1 J o r ^ e B e l o w 10 7 ■ 10-100 26 100-200 7 2 0 0 - 6 0 0 5 arsnBiat«M is»£iair - ai3si>t«ainDisaS^€i«>»::-'2iW^^Naat saw;: aienMetciarM* 265 of population between 100 to 200. The highest nuniber o t settlanenta (10) fall in the category of .jopul itlon bet;feeai 10 to 1-0. In the last c itetiory of population below 10, there are throe settleaents. Of the tot 1 number of people, 3180 people lived alont: the main Ta .i, waere as 3524, the highest nu«b:T of people lived in the tributary *one and only 870 poople lived on the hill alopea or pediaent slope (Table 7, Fig. 27). ii.ven taou^^ ther . is an increase in the total number of scttldiaents over the ireceding culture, there is a decrease i n tha o^ul 'tion. >'iost of the settlements are ynall in aize. iJurinij the {^li population (1254) Lived on the pediment slope, (table 7, Fig, 28). v.)on^ the chalcollthic cultu es, the hi .hast nu:ato<3r of aettleaanta (49) belonged to the Jorwe culture. The total habitational area iras only 25*4348 aq« ha. and total ^opul tion vras 5090* There is cmly one settleaent with po,>u~ lation above 1Q00. In t^e category of populatioa between 200 to 60U, there are five settl Luring, the cl*alc jHthic periodSt the tot L h<\bitational area occualed by four different cultures was 107.2133 sq. Ha. and the total rj^oul^tion of all these cultures waa 21455. .uring the late Harappan period the population was hif^hest and i^rea er area under occupation, w lie the lowest popu- l ‘’;ti o . and the smallest area occupied was ciurin,; the 3avulda period. 268 2G'J 270 o o ui N in tfr - C 3 < a UJ Q. s Q. < nUI * Oo < c Ui o UJ 5 7 !2 < < »- tn s i a LU < (n 0 I"* * u. o Q. 0)55 CD'^ Ul UJ o ►- UJ < u z u or UJ o ut •"5 ro < oc UI2 o° a. UJ rxl- i CD u. UI a u. ffl ' •His ffi 5 f». o ^ < UJm ' ■■T"T— 1~1-- 1— »~~f '■<■ T— r-r-T -T «•M iM-4 r Table 9 Jettleiaesnt wise ^'opulatlon estim to during different cultural Periods in central Tapi Basin 200 persons per hectare) H o m e of the site P d . L H pd. a n Bhortek 163 - 2. L o n k h e d e - - 129 3. Prtikaahe X - 1830 1B60 1380 4. Prakuishe II -- 10 5. Sarangkhede 9 9 «• 6. /^hairve - «• - 10 7. \nturli ? - - - 8. Hingoni BK. 40 40 - - 9. Untavad 36 m -- 10. Uparpind 21 - - - 11. uldhade 77 - - 12. iiabhulde 2 - 2 - 13. T h alner «» -- 240 14. K^alkhod© 246 246 - - 15. Betavnd -- - «•» 16. J ^ d a v a d *• - 17 17 17. Vacihode m - 54 54 18. Pijapri - - 15 «» 19. Niahane - • 8 0 - 20 Uarkhede - - 8 0 - 21 iabhulde - - 48 22. P arasmal I * 8 0 - 2 7 2 Table 9 coatd*.* Name of the slta i'd* 3 P d . L H P d . M P d . J 1 • 23. t'arasmal 11 «» ao 24. Bir&mnaX 111 - ? - 2f?. lUisraJ -- 112 112 26. ^indkhdda m m - 104 - 27. P a t a n 5 - 2S. fdjiltimde - 70 - 29. V erauB •1* 7 7 «» - 30. iietnur - - - 31. i^athi - 82 82 82 32. K h a r d e M - 304 304 304 35.. «• - - 6 7 34. KuruK w a d e 246 2B6 236 - 35. Tilall - - - 7 36. Hai)alo - m m 62 37. B a l v a n d -- - 216 30. ■ieltane --- ? 39. Va idane - - «» 12 40. wyaliJill - - 8 41. Bhadv/ad Kh» - mm - 8 0 42. i^iandhare - - - 80 43. Nimbhel - - 22 44. B a l d a n e - - 31 45. Bahyaae-I 8 0 8 0 - 8 0 46. 3ahyano II 49 49 49 2 7 3 JS Table 9 Contd**. liaae o f the site Pd.3 fc»d.LH Pd.J 47. Bhay.oie 111 12 12 m 12 48. Osrel - - m 8 49. Kaparli 342 - 342 mm 50. Khapardhcde mt 720 720 - 51. Na n sinde - - 28 - 52. B orale - - 110 - 53. » womt 117 - - 54. Javalde 266 wm - 55. iMiinaule - - 75 - 56. B hona I - m 221 m* 57* iihona XI -- 50 «» 58. x^an u r b a r - - - - 59. LontUiede 240 -- - 60. N a l a v e BK -- 104 104 61. i^wOthali - - - 48 62. xihav nipada mm - 48 63. t^lmplod tm - - 27 64. Oianore «» - - 130 65. Ohlkhall 72 -- 66. 4ietgion - 35 - 67. iirilmmwel -- 104 104 68. Jaithane - 108 108 t 69. Dusane - - - 7 70. b a l sane 1 ■» «• 42 2 7 4 T a b l e 9 S.Ko. Hane of the aite Pd.S P d . L H ?d.M S?d.J 71. Balsarid II •• •• 27 72. Vahiergaaa «■» - «■» 20 73. uonRheda •4 - - - 74. iihongaon - 36 36 - 75. G)K>da<.ie mm - - 5 76. j^rpsax - 170 -- 77. ChhaUwel «» m - 17 70. : ao t h s I «m 2 3 0 0 - - 79. KaotheXX 42 -- ao. •iakri - -- - 8t. j ^ a d a n e - 20 82. G ondas - - - 7 32. t e s a r - - - ? 34. Taiaaawidl - - - 40 85. Sayysdnatjar - - 165 36. CiidLnchKhede -- 170 37. Lhadiae - - 200 38. ^aaodd - «•» - 14 39. ChiRase - - 216 90. Par^iuoa - ««» - 9 6 - 91. i^okane - 69 6 9 92. i^ule m m 3 «• - 93. Ubhad & 0 0 « 275 Table 9 Contd*. U m e o f tho sita Pd*Lii Pd.J 94, iilngir t* -- 95. ^ t o l a 160 - m t - 96. Cblnchoda 2 - - 97. liahurupa I 195 195 -- 96. Bahusupa 11 192 192 «» 99. dahuru^a III 190 190 -- 100. iiatoda 55 «» -- 101. Aanrava 10 mm - •m 102. ?lapla« ? - «» • m 103. Kukan>und^ a «• aam»aqec!&»taa«igm ga«oo«t«m«»wi«>»BB»«i*i«MMKanwawtt«»«gtWMW!a»»»tc«WMW>&w w tswwi»«we«e