STONE AGE HUNTER-GATHERERS : AN ETHNO-ARCHAEOLOGY OF CUDDAPAH REGION, SOUTH-EAST INDIA D.R. Raju, Ravish Publishers, Pune 1988, 112 pp. Reviewed by SHEILA MISHRA

South-east India, which includes the area studied in this publication has a rich concentration of stone age sites. It can be considered one of the classical areas for Prehistoric studies, &I 'htdia, and it was from this region th&distinct Upper Palaeolithic phase in Indian Prehistory was established. Raju has tried in his study to go beyond the chronology of cultures and classification of tool types to understand the subsistence and settlement patterns of the past. To achieve this he has undertaken intensive investigation of a relatively small area, systematic collection and study of surface artefact scatters and collection of data on the exploitation of the native flora and fauna by the sunrivers of the aboriginal hunter-gatheren of the region. This approach is definitely new in the context of Indian Prehistory and constitutes an important advance. The greatest number of sites discovered in the area belong to the Upper Palaeolithic period. Raju has studied the variability of artefacts distributed on the surface of three sites. Each of these sites has been divided into loci and artefacts have been collected

systematically from a proportion of each locus. The density of artefacts, finished tools, the ratio of artefacts to debitage, variation in representation of various tool types has been studied. All this has involved a great amount of detailed analysis which has never been attempted beforz. However, the inferences made as to particular activities represented at different loci were not convincing, to this reviewer, for the following reasons 1. There is no consideration of the duration over which the cultural material was accumulating at the sites. It would appear likely that the three large sites selected for intra-site variability all represent repeated short term visits to a favoured locality. Except for the presence of a permanent water source no other factors are discusszd to explain why these locations were ~ttractiveas base camps. Even the individual loci might represent a mixture of tools lost and discarded over a number of separate episodes. 2. Binford has shown that highly curated tools, which some of the backed blades probably were, are rarely discarded at the

Sheila Mishra site where they are used.

3. The attribution of functions to various types of tools is entirely based on guesswork. This remains guesswork even if the guesses are supported by reference to other scholars. No use wear analysis backs up the functional attributions. 4. Disturbance of the sites by natural processes is not considered. While Raju, does succeed in showing an interesting degree of variation in representation of various tool types and amount of debitage over single sites, he has not considered the impact of the site formation processes both artificial and natural on this variation. The attribution of this variation to different activities and the identification of those activities on the basis of guesses as to the tool's functions therefore remains hypothetical. However, the concern with site formation processes is a relatively new phenomenon which was little considered at the time this research was conducted and therefore it shoulA be understood that the reviewer would not like to fault the author unduly. The variation in assemblages seen within one site is documented for the first time and leaves open further attempts to explain it. There is also much else to praise in this book.

1. The evidence of Acheulian culture from the area comes from two sites. Collections from these sites were subjected to typological and metrical analysis. Raju has used Roe's methodology to study the handaxes and is able to show that the assemblages are homogeneous, refined and technologically advanced.

2. The analysis of the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages is important in showing that while there is no abrupt change from the Acheulian, it can be distinguished from it.

3. The typo-technological analysis of the Upper Palaeolithic assemblages shows it to be fairly homogeneous and distinctive, fitting well with the other Southeast Indian Upper Palaeolithic occurences.

4. The finding of bored stones in excavated Upper Palaeolithic context pushes back the antiquity of such finds considerably.

5. The study of Yanadi exploitation of wild plant and animal resources is extremely interesting. The important role of skill and technology in the form of traps, snares, poison etc. to exploit the wild foods is evident.

6. The book is attractively produced with well designed layout, clear clean type and figures and drawings well integrated to the text. 'Stone age hunter gatherers' therefore is a significant contribution to our knowledge of Indian Prehistory and the author is to be congratulated.