View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CrossAsia-Repository LithophonesfromOrissa- TheEarliestMusicalInstrumentsin India? 1 Paul YuleandMartinBemmann EastofthemainareaofarchaeologicalresearchontheSouth AsianSubcontin- ent,eastoftheHarappaandtheGanges-JamunaDoabCulture,liesaanother India. Archaeologicallyspeakingitishardlyknown.Hereweintroduceagroup ofartefactsfromtheinteriorofIndia'seasternlittoralwhichshedlightonalit- tleknownaspectofherprehistory,namelymusic.FromthefindspotSankar- janginthepresentdayStateOrissalong,basaltbarswererecognizedasparts ofinstrumentsin1986. Theidentificationtookplacewithintheframeworkofa visitinordertocatalogueandstudyprehistoricmetallicartefacts. InSeptemberof1971theherdsmanSomnathBiswaldiscoveredsome strange,largegroundstoneobjectswhichhaderodedfromahillnearhishouse followingarainstorm.NewsofthisfindsoonreachedauthoritiesinBhuban- eshwar,andshortlythereafterthemuseumacquiredShriBiswal'sfinds. The bestpiecesarenowonpermanentexhibitionintheStateMuseum. TheyearthereafterP.K.Ray,superintendentoftheState Archaeology,went tothereportedsitejustoutsidethevillageofSankarjang,testedthreeofthe moundswhichhefoundthere,anddiscoveredaseriesofburialsorperhapsos- suarieswhichcontainedtheskeletalremainsofseveralindividuals,numerous groundandroughedoutstoneaxes andadzes,copperbangles,andother smallfindsincludingstonebeads. Thegroundstoneimplementsfrom thegravesatSankarjangarewithre- gardtotheirformandtechnicalper- fectionthefinestspecimenseverto cometolightinSouth Asia.More- over,thefindsfromSankarjangrep- resentthelargesthoardofpolished andgroundstoneimplementsknown inIndia. Fig.1OrissaandthesiteSankarjang. 1ToDrH.C.Dasweextendourheartfeltthanksforpermissiontostudyandpublishobjectsin theOrissaStateMuseum.ShriP.K.RayalsosupportedourworkonthematerialsintheState Archaeology.ProfDr Wolfgang TauteundDrJürgenFreundlichmadetheradiocarbonanaly- sespossible-afirstfortheprehistoryofOrissa.R.RupprathoftheInstituteforCommunica- tionResearchandPhoneticsoftheUniversityofBonnundertooksonographicanalysesofthe stonebars.Finally,ProfDrEllenHickmanndiscussedthetopicwithus,madesuggestions,and providedanopportunityforustopublishthepaperhere. Anindepthtreatmentofmusicologi- calaspectsisnotintended. Thistextwaspublishedin Archaeologiamusicalis1,1988,46-50 2P.K.Ray,Recent ArchaeologicalExcavationsinOrissa,in:M.N.Das(ed.),Sidelightson HistoryandCultureinOrissa(Cuttack1977)539-540:"neolithicburials".Metallicartefacts werenotmentionedinthisnote.Idem., Archaeological TreasuresinOrissa,in:SubasPani (ed.),OurCulturalheritage.SouvenirPublishedinOccasionoftheGoldenJubileeCelebra- tionsoftheOrissaStateMuseum1984(Bhubaneshwar1984)9-14;Idem.,Sankarjang,in: An- nual ArchaeologicalSurveyReport1971-75(Bhubaneshwar1984)69; A.Joshi,Recent Arch- aeologicalDiscoveriesinOrissa,in: A.K.Mahatabetal.(eds.),GlimpsesofOrissan Artand Culture.GoldenJubilee VolumeoftheOrissaHistoricalResearchJournal(Bhubaneshwar 1984)229;R.N.Dash,PreandProtohistoryofOrissa,in:ibid.1984,293. 1 Themaingroupofgravemoundsliesontheeasternedgeofthe Athmallik hills,c.300msoutheastoftheJiminiahill,whichdominatesthelocaltopo-3 graphy,atabout200mabovesealevelinanareaoflateriticsoil. Theyliesca- tteredoveranareaof500x500m. A trackcrossesthearea,fordsthePandiani brook,andcontinuestoasteepbankabout200msouth-south-westoftheJim- iniahill.Nowadaysonlyafewpeasantsandherdsmeninhabitthehamletsnear thecemetery.Hadtheareabeenintensivelycultivated,themoundscertainly wouldhavebeenplanedoff.Inallthesome53moundsweretalliedduringour shortvisitsin1985and1986.Inaddition,asmallergroupsome200metresto4 the Westof15moundsalsowasspotted. Allofthesehillsalreadyhavebeen flattenedbyerosion.Intheirpresentconditiontheymeasurefrom6to10min diametre,andfrom1to1.50minheight.Haditnotbeenforthestrayfindsof ShriBiswalandaconfirmationfromtheactivityoftheState Archaeology,an anthropogenicoriginforthemoundswouldnothaveseemedplausible. Wewereunabletolocatethesettlementwhichbelongedtothecemetery duringshortrecentvisits,owingtotheirbrevityathoroughandplannedsurvey wasimpossible. Withoutdifficultywelocatedthethreemoundsinvestigatedby P.K.Rayin1972. Thebalksintheburialmoundsstillwereclearlyrecognize- able.ShriBiswal'sfinds(includingthelargestonebars),asheexplainedtous atthesite,andasattestedtobyoriginalexcavationphotos,derivefromthe mound"A". Thephotosshowthehillsdamagedbyillegaldiggingpriortothe authorizedexcavation.Innoneofthethreehillsinvestigatedwasafurther stonebarunearthed. Lithictoolsandmetallicgravefurnishingswerestratifiedtogetherinthe threegravesandarecontemporarytoeachother. Thestratigraphicsequenceof eachofthegraveswasidentical.5 Weturnnowtothequestionofthefunctionofthe20lithicbars,themost interestingandmostattractiveobjectsfromSankarjang. Thefinestpossess crisplyworkededgesandpreciselyfinishedsurfacepolish,whichlendthebars aperfect,evenmetallicappearance.Onthestrengthofthedifferentformsof thestonesmorethanonetypecanbedistinguished.SeeninprofiletypeIbars (Fig.2)showaflatobverse,andareversefacewhichtaperfrompointsnotfar6 3SankarjangislocatedintheJarapadapolicestationandisreachablefromBhubaneshwarby wayoftheNationalHighway42andtheStateHighway6.Foradescriptionofthesurrounding area,seeCensusofIndia1971,Orissa,PartX,DistrictCensusHandbook[8],DhenkanalDis- trict(Delhic.1972),264-265,mapoppositep.210and258. 4 1986BijayKumarRath,DurgaPandaandPaul Yulebrieflyvisitedthesite. 5 A morecompleteaccountofthearchaeologicalcontextisinpressin'Beiträgezurallgemein- enundvergleichenden Archäologie'andinthe'JournaloftheOrissaResearchSociety'. 6 Withregardtothemusicaltoneseenote11. TypeI:1.33.5x7.4x1.8cm,polishedbasalt, strikingwearontheobv.atbothends,primaryfrequency:c.2750Hz.,musicaltone:c.F.- StateMus.Orissa(73.22.1).-Strayfind;2.39.1x7.7x6.4cm,polisheddolerite(?),primary frequency:c.2050Hz.,tone:G.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.2).-Strayfind;3.C.38.5xc.7.5 cm,polishedbasalt.- AfteraphotooftheState Archaeology.Sameasno.2?,StateMus.Oris- sa(?).-Strayfind;4.39.4x8.9x2.2cm,polishedbasalt,excellentcraftsmanship,striking wearontheobv.atthelowerend,primaryfrequency:2050Hz.,tone:G.-StateMus.Orissa (73.22.3).-Strayfind;5.16.3(pres.)x7.4x1.9cm,polishedbasalt,lightstrikingwearonthe obv.attheupperend,primaryfrequency:c.4100Hz.,tone:c.C#.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22. 14).-Strayfind;6.C.34xc.6.9cm,polishedbasalt.- AfteraphotooftheState Archaeology.- 2 fromthetwoends. Thecentralpartofthereversefaceisslightlyconcaveas seeninprofile,sothatthebarrestsontwoarrisessituatedtransversetothe length. Thedistancebetweenthesegablesvariesfrombartobar.Bothends andthesideedgesterminateinnear90°angles. TypeIadiffersfromtypeIin7 itslackofnotchesattheupperend(Fig.3),andinthatthereverseisnotcon- cave. TypeIb(Fig.4)resemblestypeIaexceptforthelackofthegablesonthe8 reverseface.StonebarsoftypeII(Fig.5)seenenfaceareroundedatboth ends,andinprofileareslightlybiconvex.9 Incontrasttotheadzeswhichaccompaniedthebars,thelatterpossessno cuttingedgesandcannotbemistakenforchoppingorhackingtools. The notchesoftypeIbarsaredifficulttoexplain;thesimplestexplanationisthat theyhavesomethingtodowiththesecuringofthestones.Similartotheunfin- ishedadzesfromSankarjang,someofthestonebarsalsoareonlyknapped, andnotpolished.Inevitably,withsuchpiecesthenotchingatoneoftheendsis lacking(Fig.6). Thestrikingwearonseveralofthebarsisdecisiveintheirin- terpretation. Thestonebarscanbeunderstoodastheresonantbodiesofaprehistoric musicalinstrument,alithophone.Severalobservationssupportthisinterpreta-10 tion.First,allofthestonebarspossessexcellentsonorousproperties;when theyarestruckatoneendtheyproduceaclearandloudtone.Equallyasim-11 Presentwhereaboutsunknown.-Strayfind;7.c.30.3xc.6.3cm,polishedbasalt.- Aftera photooftheState Archaeology.-StateMus.Orissa(?).-Strayfind. 7 TYPEIa:1.39.9x7.8x2.8cm,polishedbasalt,strikingwearontheobv.atbothends,prim- aryfrequency:c.2700Hz.,toneC#.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.6).-Strayfind;2.C.37.2xc. 8.2cm,polishedbasalt,oneendbrokenoff.- AfteraphotooftheState Archaeology,StateMus. Orissa(?).-Strayfind. 8 TYPEIb:1.21.5(pres.)x8x2.5cm,polishedbasalt,clearstrikingwearontheobv.atone end,primaryfrequency:c.2650Hz.,tone:c. A..-StateMus.Orissa.(73.22.13).-Strayfind. 9 TYPEII:1.40.6x8.4x2.6cm,polishedbasalt,bothfacesslightlydamaged,primaryfre- quency:c.975Hz.,tone:c.B.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.4).-Strayfind;2.31.8x7.4x3.8cm, knappedbasalt.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.5).-Strayfind;3.36.1x8.4x2.3cm,grounddoler- ite(?),possiblestrikingwearontheobv.atbothends,primaryfrequency:c.1300Hz.,tone:c. D#.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.7).-Strayfind;4.39.6x9.7x2.4cm,groundbasalt,worn,prim- aryfrequency:c.2650Hz.,tonec.C#.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.8).-Strayfind;5.29.3x5.9x 2.7cm,knappedbasalt.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.9).-Strayfind;6.38.6x8.3x3.2cm, knappedpartlygrounddolerite(?),primaryfrequency:c.1375Hz.,tone:c.E.-StateMus. Orissa(73.22.10).-Strayfind;7.39.4x9.3x2.6cm,knappedpartlygrounddolerite(?),Prim- aryfrequency:c.2900Hz.,tone:C#.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.11).-Strayfind;8.35.3x8.7x 3.6cm,knappeddolerite(?),nocleardistinctionbetweentheobv.andrev.facesintheshape, primaryfrequency:c.1950Hz.,tone: A#.-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.12).-Strayfind;9.17 (pres.)x6x2.8cm,knappeddolerite(?).-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.60).-Strayfind;10.16.5 (pres.)x6.5x2.5cm,knappeddolerite(?).-StateMus.Orissa(73.22.62).-Strayfind. 10 Cf.C.Sachs,DiemusikalischenInstrumenteIndiensundIndonesiens(Berlin1923)30-31;K. KrishnaMurty, ArchaeologyofIndianMusicalInstruments(Delhi1985).SeealsoCensusof India,Series1P.12MiscellaneousStudies[4:]Ethnomusicology-TribalMusic(Delhi1973); H.Simbriger,Klangsteine,SteinspieleundihreNachbildungeninMetall,