DOI issue:
Vol. VI : 4 1991
DOI article:Shinde, Vasant: Two unique agricultural implements from Walki: a chalcolithic farmstead in Western India
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49003#0224
TWO UNIQUE AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS FROM WALKI:
A CHALCOLITHIC FARMSTEAD
IN WESTERN INDIA
By
Vasant Shinde
The excavations carried out at Walki (District
Pune, Maharashtra State) for over two sea-
sons (1985-86 and 1986-87) in Western India,
have produced very significant evidence for
cultivation in the form of two agricultural im-
plements, a bone ard-ploughshare and pos-
sibly an antler seed drill. These implements
have no parallels within the country.
Walki (Lat. 74° 18'E, Long. 18° 35'N) a very
small chalcolithic settlement (c. 1400-1000
B.C.), lies roughly 200 km SE of Bombay and
60 km east of Pune city and 27 km west of
Inamgaon, the largest chalcolithic settlement
in this region. Systematic excavations have
proceeded for over 12 seasons. The ancient
site at Walki is situated on the right bank and
in the inner meander of the River Bhima, a
tributary of the Ghod, one of the major rivers
in the Deccan. The site was occupied during
the latter part of the second millennium B.C.
It is located near a fertile tract of arable land
which is formed by flood alluvium because
the area lies close to the confluence of two
rivers, the Bhima and Mula (Shinde 1987,
Fig. 1). The ancient site is spread over an area
of 2 ha and the total habitation deposit is 60
cm (Shinde in press).
In spite of the fact that Walki was located
near good arable land, the thin habitation de-
bris and its small extent led us to surmise that
it was occupied for either a short period or
seasonally. The excavations carried out led to
the discovery of 106 architectural features,
most of which (97) were circular or oval mud
huts and a few (9) rectangular permanent
structures. The average diameter of these cir-
cular huts was 2.5 m. All have irregular floor-
plans and many do not even have post holes.
They could be distinguished as floors only on
account of the slight differences in their co-
loration from the earth in the surrounding
area. The circular huts were found to form
distinct clusters. Each cluster consisted of five
to six huts and could be differentiated func-
tionally. Altogether twelve clusters formed
by the circular huts, and three by rectangular
structures were identified. One or two huts in
a cluster with slightly better floors could be
identified as dwellings whereas one hut in
each cluster with storage jars in it could be
identified as a storage place. Almost every
cluster had a large roughly circular mud plat-
form (average diameter 3 m) rammed hard,
which, on the basis of ethnographic parallels,
could be tentatively identified as a threshing
floor (Shinde 1989). Two huts had extremely
rough and uneven floors which indicates that
they were probably used to keep animals like
sheep and goats at night. There were also cir-
cular pit-silos for storing grain. The domestic
IMPLEMENTS FROM WALKI:
A CHALCOLITHIC FARMSTEAD
IN WESTERN INDIA
By
Vasant Shinde
The excavations carried out at Walki (District
Pune, Maharashtra State) for over two sea-
sons (1985-86 and 1986-87) in Western India,
have produced very significant evidence for
cultivation in the form of two agricultural im-
plements, a bone ard-ploughshare and pos-
sibly an antler seed drill. These implements
have no parallels within the country.
Walki (Lat. 74° 18'E, Long. 18° 35'N) a very
small chalcolithic settlement (c. 1400-1000
B.C.), lies roughly 200 km SE of Bombay and
60 km east of Pune city and 27 km west of
Inamgaon, the largest chalcolithic settlement
in this region. Systematic excavations have
proceeded for over 12 seasons. The ancient
site at Walki is situated on the right bank and
in the inner meander of the River Bhima, a
tributary of the Ghod, one of the major rivers
in the Deccan. The site was occupied during
the latter part of the second millennium B.C.
It is located near a fertile tract of arable land
which is formed by flood alluvium because
the area lies close to the confluence of two
rivers, the Bhima and Mula (Shinde 1987,
Fig. 1). The ancient site is spread over an area
of 2 ha and the total habitation deposit is 60
cm (Shinde in press).
In spite of the fact that Walki was located
near good arable land, the thin habitation de-
bris and its small extent led us to surmise that
it was occupied for either a short period or
seasonally. The excavations carried out led to
the discovery of 106 architectural features,
most of which (97) were circular or oval mud
huts and a few (9) rectangular permanent
structures. The average diameter of these cir-
cular huts was 2.5 m. All have irregular floor-
plans and many do not even have post holes.
They could be distinguished as floors only on
account of the slight differences in their co-
loration from the earth in the surrounding
area. The circular huts were found to form
distinct clusters. Each cluster consisted of five
to six huts and could be differentiated func-
tionally. Altogether twelve clusters formed
by the circular huts, and three by rectangular
structures were identified. One or two huts in
a cluster with slightly better floors could be
identified as dwellings whereas one hut in
each cluster with storage jars in it could be
identified as a storage place. Almost every
cluster had a large roughly circular mud plat-
form (average diameter 3 m) rammed hard,
which, on the basis of ethnographic parallels,
could be tentatively identified as a threshing
floor (Shinde 1989). Two huts had extremely
rough and uneven floors which indicates that
they were probably used to keep animals like
sheep and goats at night. There were also cir-
cular pit-silos for storing grain. The domestic