~Bulletin of Deccan College Research Institute, Vol. 40. 47-64 (1979-80)

EXCAVATION AT WADOLI-WAGHODI - A MIDDLE PALAEOLITHICSITE ON THE HIGH LEVEL GRAVEL OF THE GODAVARI RIVER

R. V. JOSHI, R. S. PAPPU, A. R. MARATHE and R. P. PANDEY

Introduction

In the field season of 1976-77 the depart­ment of Archaeology, Deccan College,Pune, initiated explorations in the centralGodavari basin in Marathwada region ofthe Maharashtra State from Paithan(75°23'E, 19028'N) to Nanded (77°20'E,19oIO'N) with a view to investigate Qua­ternary history and to assess its prehistoricpotentialities: This work led to the dis­covery of a large number of Middle- andupper Palaeolithic sites, rich fossiliferoussites, and a few chalcolithic and historicalsiteS. -The Lower Palaeolithic sites, how­ever, were not found during present explo­rations in this region.. The most interest­ing discovery was the occurrence of MiddlePalaeolithic industry in the old bed of theGodavari river at about 20 m above thepresent bed near Paithan. In view of theimponance of this discovery, the investiga­tions were continued in a subsequent field

~ season (1977-78) by undertaking detailed-y:

geomorphic and prehistoric examinafionaround Paithan and a small-scale excava­tion in the high level gravels near Wadoli­Waghodi (75<l23'E, 0 19027'N), villagessituated 5 km east of Paithan.

The upper reaches of the Godavari basinhave been explored in the past on severaloccasions during which rich Lower Palaeo­lithic sites were brought to light at Ganga­pur near Nasik (JOSHI et al., 1966) andChirki on the Pravara, a tributary of theGodavari, in Ahmednagar district (CORVI­NUS, i970).· The latter, also known as

Nevasa is famous in Indian Prehistory ashere it was first identified the MiddlePalaeolithic culture in stratified context(SANKALIA; 1956). Subsequently severalMiddle Palaeolithic sites have been foundin this region. A few 14C dates could alsobe obtained for this culture (SANKALIA,1974). However, inspite of extensive workon the Middle Palaeolithic Cultures inIndia, very few sites in stratified contexthave been excavated for proper evaluationof this culture. We gOL this opportunityduring the explorations in the central Goda­vari basin, the details of which are pre­sented in this paper.

Geographic Setting

The investigated region forms pan of thecentral Godavari basin covering portions ofAurangabad and Bhir districts of °Maha­rashtra (Fig. 1). Physiographically theregion is a shallow box-shaped basin flankedon the south by a conspicuous divide - theBalaghat, and on the north by a scatteredgroup of hills of Ajanta range. The valleyenclosed between these tWO divides is aflat featureless terrain. The erosionalsurface at 500 m AMSL developed on thevarieties of basalt is a prominent geomor­phic feature in the region. As the relief inthis region is low, the Quaternary depositsoccurring as valley-fills are often found rest­ing unconformably on the bed-rock Geo­logically the region is covered by Cretac­eous-Eocene Deccan Trap basalts and thereare no later formations except the Older"Alluvium of late Pleistocene age. The region

STONE AGE SITES AROUND PAITHAN.~ tMILES

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Figure 1.

1f Jel'NOU

A MIDDLE PALAEOllTH'C S'TES

• FOSSILIFEROUS SITES

o EXCAVA TEO 51 T£S

o OTHER SITES

r '))\. i

EXCAVATION AT WADOLI-WAGHODI 49

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experiences a typical monsoonal climate andis characteristically semi-arid. The annualrainfall is of the· order of 900-650 mm.

Stratigraphy

The Quaternary formations are of wide­spread occurrence in the region and are re­presented by 1. high level gravels sitUatedoUtside the reach of the present day floodlevels and 2. alluvial fill made up of gravelsand silts exclusively confined to the presentchannels (Fig. 2).

High level gravels occur as thin cappingson the rock-cut valley floor at an elevationof about 20 m above the present bed andabout 0.50-0.75 km away from the presentchannel. Good exposures of this depositare met with at Paithan, Chanakwadi andWadoli-Waghodi (PI. I-a). T'his depositoccurs almost at 1500 ft contour surfacewhich has been intensively gullied subse­quent to the gravel deposition with the re­sult that the deposit now occurs in isolatedpatches. A large area of this COntour sur­face is at present under cultivation. Thisdeposit has attained a thickness of about1-1.5 m and the top surface has weatheredinto brown soil. The gravel is loosely con­solidated and is made up of boulders, cob­bles, pebbles and sands of chert, chalcedonyand basalt. The gravel as a whole is richin silica family minerals. The tools ofMiddle Palaeolithic industry are found inabundance on the eroded surface of thegravel and a few are embedded in the gra­vel itself.

The alluvial fill with a thickness of about12-15 m is well exposed at Paithan, Ape­gaon, Naugaon and Borgaon. The sectionsat Naugaon-Borgaon, sltUated 16 kmsoutheast of Paithan have exposed wea­thered trap at the present river level. Thisis overlain by well-consolidated sandypebbly gravel with a thickness of about10-12 m from the present bed of the river.

50 R. V. JOSHI, R. S. PAPPU, A. R. MARATHE and R. P. PANDEY

The gravel is in turn topped by kankary,yellowish brown silt of 2-4 m thickness(PI. II-a). The fossilised limb bones of anelephant (Elephus maximus) were re­covered at Borgaon in association with freshas well as semi-rolled tools of MiddlePalaeolithic industry (Pit. II-b). The gra­vels are sub-rounded, fairly wen-sorted andwell-cemented and at places exhibit cross·bedding. The matrix of the gravel is coarsesand and cementing material is calcareous.The proportion of silica-family minerals issignificant in this gravel as in case of highlevel gravel. The. tools recovered from thegravel comprise scrapers, points and borersmade on multicoloured siliceous mineralslike chert, chalcedony, jasper and agate.

ExcaViation at Wadoli-Waghodi

Three trenches each of 3 ,x 3 sq m werelaid down in the high level gravel at Wadoli-

. Waghodi with the aim of understandingthe nature and composition of the graveland to find Out the distribution of artifactsin the profile of the gravel (PI. I-b). Sam­ples of a gravel at an interval of 20 cm werecollected and were passed through a set ofsieves to ascertain the size range (Tab. 1).

. About 100 pebbles having a size range 2-8cm were analysed for their length (L),breadth (1), thickness (T) and raw mate­rial. The Index of Rounding and Flatten­ing were estimated (BUTZER, 1972)(Tab. 2).

..

TABLE 1: RESULTS OF THE SIEVE ANALYSIS

No. Depth from surface Sieve size (em)in em. (>3.75) (3.75-\.85) (1.8'5-0.95) (0.95-0.45) ( <0.45)

% % % % %

1. 21 40 12 9 14 20 452. 41 - 60 15 12 15 18 403. '61 - 80 10 '8 12 18 524. 81 - 100 IS 11 11 13 505. 101 - 120 12 10 13 17 48'6. 121 - 140 17 9 9 20 45

TABLE 2: RESULTS OF MORPHOMETRIC ANALYS'TS* OF GRAVEL~

'--_.Size Lutting Index of rounding

Sample Raw material range Indices Transportation Std. Coef. RemarksNo. cm (T/L)%(T/I) % by mean dev. Varia.

\. Silica familyminerals 4-8 90.6 89.4 Rolling dominant 18.4 4.9 26.63 homogenous

2. Silica familyminerals 4.8 89.3 80.2 Rolling dominant 19.8 6.'8 34.34 homogenous

3. Silica familyminerals 4-8 _ 79.1 76.2 Rolling dominant 22.8 '6.3 27.63 homogenous

4. Basalt 2-6 74.2 76.2 Rolling dominant 46.3 11.4 24.62 homogenousS. Basalt 2-6 72.2 71.0 Rolling dominant 49.4 13.2 26.72 homogenous6. Basalt 2-6 81.4 80.6 Rolling dominant 60.2 22.3 37.04 homogenous

'" Indices mentioned by Lutting and its modification suggested by Butzer (1972).

FIG.I

' SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF ((;~AVELCLASS SIZE LIMITS (CM)

A > 3'75B 3'75-1'85C 1'~5 - 0'950 .0'95-0'45E < 0'45

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52 R. V. JOSHI, R. S. PAPPU, A. R. MARATHE and R. P. PANDEY

The excavation revealed that:

1. The total thickness of exposed gravelvaries from 0.50 to 1.50 m.

2. The Middle Palaeolithic cultural mate·rial is confined to the tOp 30 to 40 cmof the gravel while the rest of the depositis culturally sterile.

3. Size analysis of the gravel has shownthat 45-50% of the gravel material isbelow pebble grade (smaller than 4 ern).This gravel, therefore, can be classifiedas sandy pebbly gravel (Fig. 3).

4. The gravel is poorly sorted, polymodal,crudely stratified and ungraded.

5. Gravel analysis has indicated that thereare two se~s of components in the coarsegrade. The bigger components in thecoarse grade, (greater than 4 em) aremainly of silica family minerals likechen, jasper and chalcedony and aresubangular to subrounded in shape.These have been COntributed to the mains~ream by northerly flowing tributariesof the Godavari, originating at a distanceof 35-40 kIn from Paithan. The smallercomponents of the size range 2-4 ern aremostly composed of trap pebbles andare subrounded to rounded in shape.These seem to have been contributed bythe main stream and also by its SOUth­erly tributaries.

6. These siliceous pebbles show intensebrown patination and high gloss whichis also apparent on the tool.

7. The gravel is strongly weathered asevidenced by :

(i) obscure lamination,

(ii) decalcification,(iii) weathering of trap sand into

murum,

(iv) relative high proportion of finecomponents of sand, silt and claygrade,

(v) alteration of zeolites into powderyform and

(vi) presence of weathering rind of 4-5mm thickness in majority of ba­salt pebbles.

f Lithic IndustryAs has been stated above the excavation

was carried OUt at the higheSt point on theextenisvely gullied terrace on which aresituated the villages Wadoli and Waghodi.The 1500 ft contour lies slightly east ofthese villages.

Due to intense erosion the tooi-bearinggravel has been considerably disturbed. Theoverlying sediments had been washed Out

exposing the tools in clUSters. The largestcollection was obtained from such sPOts onthe terrace. But to understand the distri­bution of artifacts in the gravel deposit,trenches were dug. A few lOols were foundhaving the same characters as displayed bythe tools occuring in dusters on the surface.In lithology, physical condition and thetOOl-types there was complete identity inthese twO sets of collections.

a. Wadoli-Waghodi assemblageLike at all the sites of Middle Palaeo­

lithic Cultures in India, the industries at thislocality also are non-standardized. Thereis a high proportion of scrapers (31%)and still higher percentage of simple flakes

(44%). The majority of the tools are thusworked on flakes and as such it is a flal<e­based industry. Points and borers aresimple in nature and show little workman­ship. The proportion of blades is very in­significant (less than 3%). The tools aregenerally larger in size (average length4.5 ern). No true bifaces or cordiform

~~~\ ..

EXCAVATlON AT WADOLt-WAGHODI S3

handaxes were found. Majority of the toolsare made on multicoloured silica family~ninerals (Table: 3). By and large theindustry shows fine workmanship which isnoticed in the late Acheulian stage, and inthis respect the Wadoli-Waghodi tools recallthose encountered in the WaingangaValley - The Wainganga - A Industry,(JOSHI, 1966).

b. Naugaon-Borgaon assemblage

The tools along with the animal fossilswere obtained from the river section 10 kmdownstream of the sites described in (a).They occur in gravel-fill set into a lowerterrace about 15 m high above the river bed.In the raw material and tool types thisindustry is similar to that from Wadoli­Waghodi. There is however, a marked de·crease in the size of tools (average length3 cm) and increase in the blade-forms.Some of the fluted cores are reminiscent ofthe succeeding Mesolithic stage. The toolsare less weathered and less rolled than thosefrom the high level gravel upstream. Thesefeatures are comparable to the Wain­ganga-B Industry which shows late MiddlePalaeolithic phase.

The Wainganga belongs to the Godavaribasin. In this valley the Middle Palaeo-

lithic lndustries-Wainganga-A and Wain­ganga-B were obtained from the stratitiedriver deposits in the upper reaches of Wain­ganga. The Lower Palaeolithic tools, how­ever, were found from the middle reachesnear Paoni in Vidarbha region of Maha­rashtra (JOSHI, 1972). A somewhat simi­lar situation exists in the central Godavarivalley described in this paper. Here alsoLower Palaeolithic industries are absentand the prehistoric cultures begin from theMiddle Palaeolithic stage. The Waingangahad not yielded any fossils or radiocarbonmaterial which could have facilitated thedating of the Middle Palaeolithic cultures.The fossiliferous sediments in the centralGodavari valley containing the MiddlePalaeolithic tools have to some extent solvedthis problem. The Wainganga and ::hecentral Godavari Middle Palaeolithic indus­lries can now firmly be placed in latePleistocene.

The results of the typological analysis ufboth these assemblages are given in tables4 and 5. The representative tools fromWaghodi-Wadoli have been illustrated anddescribed while those from Navgaon andBorgaon have been illustrated.

TABLE 3: DISTRIBUTION OF RAW MATERIAL

Wadoli-Waghodi Naugaon-BorgaonNo. Raw material No. of tools % No. of tools , %

I. ChertGreen

67} :nRed 73Yellow 5 153 63.49 129 86.00Brown 6Black 2

2. Chalcedony andagate 81 33.61 18 12.00

3. Quartz 7 2.90 3 2.00._._. ----._-

TOTAL .. 241 100.00 150 100.00._---

54 R. V. JOSHI, R. S. PAPPU, A. R. MARATHE and R. P. PANDEY

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'Figure 4.Description of tools from Wadoli-Waghodi

Fig. 41. A sub-triangular thick tabular piece of

chocolate brown chen has been workedalong all the three sides. The tool hasa fonn of a cleaver and could have beenused as a chopper-cum-scraper. Pati-

nated but unrolled (7.4 X 5.8 X 2.6em.) (PI. III-I).

2. A scraper made on irregular brownchalcedony flake. On the front two largeflakes intersect to form a median ridge.

EXCAVATION AT WADOLI-WAGHODT 55

The tool is fresh and shows glossy ap­pearence (5.7 x 4.5 x 1.7 cm).

3. A notched scraper on a tabular piece ofa green chert. Steeply worked on themargin producing twO deep notches(5.3 x 4.3 x 2.2 cm) (PI. III·5).

4. A sub-triangular end flake of green chertpebble is thick at the bulber end. Thetwo adjacent sides converging on to apoint are little worked and the tool couldhave been used as a point-cum-sidescraper (6.2 x 4.3 x 2.3 cm) (PI.III-2) .

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56 R. V. JOSHI, R. S. PAPPU, A. R. MARATHE and R. P. PANDEY

5. A small bifacial discoidal core-chopperon brown chen, partially flaked on theupper surface while the other side isflaked all over (4.0 x 3.5 x 1.7 ern) .

6. A scraper on a sub-triangular flake ofgrey chen obtained from a preparedcore, as a result of which the upper sur­face shows flake-scars all over the area.The under or primary flake surface isworked along the margin (5.8 x 5.2 X2.0 cm).

7. A small core carrying shon and shallowflake-scars on milky quartz (4.0 x 2.7X 1.7 cm).

reverse side has facilitated the forma­tion of an awl-like point (3.4 x 2.9 ;<1.5 cm).

7. ' A pointed tool on a small end-flake ofgreen chert. Two deep scars on thebasal bulbar side have produced a tang.A little retouch is seen on the opposi~e

side. The tool has no sharp point andit could have been used as a notchedscraper. (3.6 x 2:2 ,x 0.9 cm) (PI.III-7).

8. A brown coloured chen flake has beenworked into a leaf-shaped point. Atthe base is a pronounced tang. How-

Fig. 5 ever, the point is thick and rather blunt.1. A sub-triangular point on a red chert To some extent it recalls the Aterian

nodule finely worked on two sides con- unifadally worked points (5.0 x 3.0 xverging into a point. The tool is highly 1.3 cm) (PI. III-3).patinated but is unrolled (7.7. ,x 5.2 x 9. A thick large flake of green chen block2.2 cm) (PI. 111-4). has been limitedly worked on the front.

2. A small simple point on a light grey The under surface is a plain primarychert flake ('3.3. x 2.4 x 0.9 em) . flake surff~e. (5.9 x 4.9 x 1.8 em)

3. A sub-triangular point on a flake of (PI. III-8) .chalcedony, retouch on tWO sides nearthe tip. Little rolled resulting glossy 10. An avoid flake of brown chert struck

f (3 5 2 9 1 1 ) from a prepared core has been exten-'sur ace . x . x . em.4. A round scraper on a flake of yellowish sively retouched along al~o?t the entire

brown chen obtained from a prepared margin. There is an inCIpIent tang a.tcore. Finely retouched all around the the base. (3.5 x 2.7 x 0.8 cm) (PI.periphery (4.2 x 4.5 x 4.4 cm). III-6) .

5. A borer on a small green chen flake 11. A subtriangular end flake of brown(3.3 x 2.2 x 0.8 cm). chert has been steeply retouched along

6. A borer on a rectangular greenish chen two lateral sides to form double-sidedflake. The oblique deep scar on the scraper. (4.5 >< 3.5 x 1.5 cm).

TABLE 4: DISTRIBUTION OF TOOL·TYPES IN WADOLI-WAGHODI, ASSEMBLAGE

No. Tool-Type On Flakes Total On Total %End Side Intennediate Cores

."--'-'l. Scrapers 52 10 5 67 8 75 31.122. Points '5 1 6 6 2.493. Borers 7 2 9 9 3.734. Burins 1 1 2 0.835. Flakes 90 Hi 106 43.99

EXCAVATION AT WADOLI-WAGHODI 57

6. Blades 7 7i 7 2.907. Cores 26 26 10.79

8. Miscellaneous 2 2 8 10 4,15

TABLE 5: DISTRIBUTION OF TOOL-TYPES IN NAUGAON-BORGAONASSEMBLAGE

On Flakes Total On Total %No. Tool-Type End Side Cores

1. Scrapers 26 6 32 2 34 22.67" ./ _ 2. Points 2 2 2 1.33'C ' 3. Borers 2 2 2 1.33

./ 4. ' Flakes 54 11 65 '65 43.335. Flake-bladed 4 14 14 9.336. Blades 8 8 8 5.347. Cores 1'8 ' 18 12.008. Miscellaneous 2 2 5 7 4.67

._---_.

Discussion

The high level gravel resting on bed rockbasalts at an elevation of 15 to 20 m abovethe present channel represents the aban­doned channel of the ancient Godavari.It is thus, the earliest depositional phase ofthe Godavari. The channel of the Godavariwas then widely shiftin~ in a broad shallowvalley. Middle Palaeolithic.man arrived inthe valley probably at the end of the a~~·dational phase of the Godavari. This highlevel ~avel served as a rich source of rawmaterial for the early man in this region.

In larger as well as smaller pebbles. theoroportion of subangu1ar siliceous pebblesis much hi~her than basalts, thereby indi­cating'that the siliceous pebbles are deriv~d

trom neatby local sources. These l.refairly abundant in the nonhern tributariesof the Godavari. It aooears.therefore. thatGodavari waS' rer.eiving major contributionfrom northern tribUtaries during the timeof depOSition of hi~h level gravel. Fairlyhigh proPOrtion of' subrounded to round2dnebbles of compact basalt and chen, modp­rate sorting and slight grading of deposit

and geomorphic position of this high level \gravel indicate that it was deposited by fre- \quently changing channel of the Godavariin a shallow basin. This gravel, therefore,is a point-bar or channel-bar deposit.

Subsequently, because of the mild earthmovements and possibly more humid cli­mate, the Godavari got rejuvenated andhigh level gravels were strongly eroded.The Godavari deepened its valley into thehard rock basalt Upto a depth of 15-20 mbelow the modern bed level. The rejuve­nation phase was followed by ubiquitousaggradational phase when the Godavariagain started filling its entrenched valleyboth with coarse as well as fine sedimentsand built up a broad alluvial surface at anelevation of 10-15 m above the present bedlevel. This change in the behaviour of theriver, from dominently erroding stage toconspicuously aggrading stages is probablydue to the shift of climate towards dry orsemi-arid conditions. A single :we date(19,025+ 600) on shells obtained pre­viously from the alluvial fill at Paithan(RAJAGURU, 1970) and the presence of

ExcAvATioN AT WAbotI-wAGHoDl 59

tions, in the Central Godavari valley havepushed back the antiquity of Middle Palaeo­lithic culture in this part of PeninsularIndia.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratefulthanks to Prof. S. B. Deo for providing llS

all facilities for work from the camp atApegaon. Our sincere thanks are due to

REFERENCES

Dr. G. L. Badam for identifying animalbones and to Dr. S. N. Rajaguru for valu­able suggestions.

This work was carried Out as one of theprojects approved by the University GramsCommission (India) under the programmeof Special Assistance to the Department ofArchaeology of the Deccan College and weexpress our thanks to the UGCauthorities.

Butzer, K. W. 1972. Environment- and Archaeology, London.

Corvinus, G. 1970. The Acheulian workshop at Chirki on Pravara, Maharashtra. IndianAntiquary, Vol. 4, No. 1-4, pp. 13-22.

Joshi, R. V. 1966. Middle Stone Age in India, ATTI, del. VI Congresso lnternazionaleDelle Science Prehistoriche-Protohistoriche, Rome, pp. 276-80.

Joshi, R. V. 1972. A note on the Stone Age sites around Pauni, in Archaeological Congressand Seminar Papers, Ed. S. B. Deo, Nagpur, pp. 43-46.

Joshi,. R. V., Bopardikar, B. P. and Sali, S. A. 1966. Animal fossil and Early Stone AgeTools from Gangapur on the Godavari river, Current Science, Vol. 35, No. 13, pp. 344.

Rajaguru, S. N. 1970. Studies on the late Pleistocene of the Mula Mutha Valley, Ph.D.thesis, unpublished. University of Poona, Pune.

Sankalia, H. D. 1956. Animal fossils and Palaeolithic industries from the Pravara basinin Nevasa, Dist. Ahmednagar, Ancient India, Vol. 12, pp. 35-53.

Sankalia, H. D. 1974. The Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan, Deccan.College, Pune.

PI. I (a) High level gravel at Wadoli-Waghodi.

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PI. Ill. Middle Palaeolithic tools. Wadoli-Waghodi.

PI. IV. Middle Palaeolithic tools, Naugaon-Dorgaon.