Hukay

Microlithic Sites of Mandla (Madhya Pradesh:India) and the Problem of SchematicGeneralisation in Prehistoric ArchaeologyBabul Roy 1AbstractMicrolithic sites that were recently discovered in Mandla can contribute toour knowledge regarding the function and continuity of stone tool technology. Thequestion of whether the Mandla example is an isolated case or is an indication ofprevalent complex cultural adaptation and regional transformation can still bedebated. The latter assumption would challenge the conventional practice ofarchaeological generalisation. In view of the differential and composite culturaladaptation, it is argued that the practice of chronology construction on typotechnologicalground could be a tricky business. In this article, a critical attentionis invited on the archaeological practice of generalisation of cultural chronologyand the reliability and limitations of typo-technological method – a method stilloverwhelmingly followed in India with large majority prehistoric archaeologicalsites found without any contextual/ stratigraphic and/or radiometric dating clues.IntroductionMesolithic culture (the cultural period of the Stone Age between thePalaeolithic and Neolithic periods marked by the appearance of microlithictools) existed in India at least 10,000 years before present (De Terra andChardin 1936; De Terra and Paterson 1939; Misra 1965, 1985, 1989, 2002,1Senior Research Officer(SS), Social Studies Division, Sewa Bhaban, R. K. Puram, Sector–1, Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, New Delhi 110066, India.Email: babul_roy@hotmail.comHukay Volume 17, pp. 79-110