Papers by Ravi Korisettar
Man and Environment, 2024
This article places on record our gratitude to eminent personalities of Indian archaeology who la... more This article places on record our gratitude to eminent personalities of Indian archaeology who laid the foundations for post-Independence archaeology in India. V.D. Krishnaswami was an exceptional individual with a firm commitment to the growth of prehistoric archaeology in southern India in particular and to carrying forward the legacy left behind by Robert Bruce Foote. His professional career was marked by vicissitudes that came in the way of executing his action plan for Indian prehistory. His post-retirement engagements would have helped turn a new leaf in terms of an administrative career and institution building, but for his premature death, he stands tall among his contemporaries.
Devi, 2023
Lajjāgaurī and a plethora of many trans-Indian 1 and local names identify the sculpture of a nude... more Lajjāgaurī and a plethora of many trans-Indian 1 and local names identify the sculpture of a nude goddess or 'shameless woman' lying supine with up-raised hands and up-folded legs in a birthing position. These names describe her physical appearance. They are known from a host of Early Historic and Early Medieval sites in the Indian sub-continent. The best examples are known from Karnataka (Satavahana and Chalukya periods), Andhra Pradesh (Ikshavaku and Eastern Chalukya periods), Maharasthra (Satavahana and Rashtrakuta periods), Uttar Pradesh (Bundhelkhand), Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (Figure 1). The frequency of her sites is very high on the Indian Peninsula (also called the Deccan). They are made of stone, burnt clay (terracotta), steatite and occasionally metal. They are also seen as bas reliefs and engraved images on stone plaques (generally limestone) of varying sizes as opposed to the sculptural representations of Hariti, a Buddhist fertility deity who had royal patronage during the Kadamba, Chalukya and other early Indian kingdoms. Hariti presents in full human form, unlike Lajjāgaurī who appears headless.
Studies in People's History, 2015
Irfan Habib, Prehistory, 9th edition, People’s History of India Series (New Delhi: Aligarh Histor... more Irfan Habib, Prehistory, 9th edition, People’s History of India Series (New Delhi: Aligarh Historian Society, Tulika Books) 2012, pp. x + 76, ₹ 130 (Paperback). Irfan Habib, The Indus Civilization, 7th edition, People’s History of India Series (New Delhi: Aligarh Historian Society, Tulika Books), 2011, pp. x + 111, ₹ 300 (Paperback).
Holocene Climate Change and Environment, 2022
Current Science, 2017
Settlements on river banks are subject to seasonal floods that are recurrent during the peak of m... more Settlements on river banks are subject to seasonal floods that are recurrent during the peak of monsoon over the Indian subcontinent. Though the intensity of monsoon floods varies from region to region, some areas are prone to intense annual floods. The Ganga-Brahmaputra (G-B) Basin is known for such catastrophic events which are triggered by the monsoon system over the subcontinent, particularly during the southwest monsoon season.
Volume1: Prehistory: The early archaeology of south Asia. volume2: Protohistory: The archaeology ... more Volume1: Prehistory: The early archaeology of south Asia. volume2: Protohistory: The archaeology of the Harappan civilization. volume3: Archaeology of the Harappan civilization volume4: Archaeology and historiography: history, theory and method.
Current Science, 2019
Marine archaeological investigations in the Indian waters have made steady progress during the la... more Marine archaeological investigations in the Indian waters have made steady progress during the last four decades, spearheaded by the marine archaeology centre of the CSIR-NIO, Dona Paula, Goa. Wooden and steel hulled shipwrecks have been investigated off Sunchi Reef, St. George's Reef and Amee Shoals in Goa waters. Sunchi Reef shipwreck is datable to the 17th century CE and was part of the Indo-Portuguese trade and commerce network. The St George's Reef shipwreck is dated to the 19th century CE. The name stamped on the firebricks of the Amee shoals shipwreck suggests that it could be of British origin, dating around the 1880s or later. Further, steam engine shipwrecks have been explored and documented in the Minicoy waters. An 18th century CE wooden hulled shipwreck has been explored off Poompuhar, Tamil Nadu. The discovery of Poompuhar shipwreck suggests that the wreck represents a local cargo ship carrying lead ingots from manufacturers in Europe. Similarly, explorations have brought to light, a shipwreck off Konark coast of Odisha, details are awaited.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2015
Local diversity in settlement, demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Ir... more Local diversity in settlement, demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition: site growth and abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal
JOURNAL-GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA, 2003
During the last hundred and fifty years more than 800 Neolithic sites have been documented in the... more During the last hundred and fifty years more than 800 Neolithic sites have been documented in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Andhra Pradesh records the highest number of sites and Tamil Nadu the least. Representative sites in each of these states have been excavated and a general picture of the cultural development during the period from 3rd millennium BC to 1st millennium BC has been reconstructed. During the 1940-70 research into the Southern Neolithic culture was % *Lecture delivered at tile monthly meeting ofthe Geological Society 01India at Barzgalore on 31 July 2002.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014
Significance Mammalian extinction during the past several hundred thousand years has been a major... more Significance Mammalian extinction during the past several hundred thousand years has been a major focus for evolutionary biologists, geologists, and archaeologists, often being linked to climate change and human overhunting. Until relatively recently, study has been largely restricted to the Americas, Europe, and Australasia. We present the oldest well-dated sequence of mammalian faunas for the Indian subcontinent, demonstrating continuity of 20 of 21 identified mammals from at least 100,000 y ago to the present. We suggest that, although local extirpations occurred, the majority of taxa survived or adapted to substantial ecological pressures in fragmented habitats. These results complement data from Africa and elsewhere that demonstrate the necessity of a nuanced ecological understanding of such extinctions in different areas of the world.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013
India has one of the world's largest and most significant bodies of rock paintings and engravings... more India has one of the world's largest and most significant bodies of rock paintings and engravings, yet not a single rock art site or image has been directly and accurately dated using radiometric techniques. Here we report on results from the Billasurgam Cave complex near Kurnool in southern India. Although this cave complex has been investigated archaeologically since the late 1800s, it was not until 2008 that a large petroglyph, consisting of the remains of three nested diamond designs on a stalactite, was noted. In order to determine if this petroglyph had been made recently, flowstone was sampled from on top of and below the engraving. Radiocarbon dating revealed a mid-Holocene age of about 5000 cal BP for the petroglyph, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the engraving is several centuries younger. Similar nested diamond designs at some rock painting sites and on a chert core elsewhere in India have been assumed to be Mesolithic. Our result is consistent with this hypothesis, although we note that it also consistent with the creation of the petroglyph in the early Neolithic. We conclude that the Billasurgam engraved diamond design was probably made by Mesolithic foragers of the Kurnool region and is the oldest surviving form of rock art yet directly dated in southern India.
Petraglia, M., Korisettar, R., Kasturi Bai, M., Boivin, N., B, J., Clarkson, C., Cunningham, K., ... more Petraglia, M., Korisettar, R., Kasturi Bai, M., Boivin, N., B, J., Clarkson, C., Cunningham, K., Ditchfield, P., Fuller, D., Hampson, J., Haslam, M., Jones, S., Koshy, J., Miracle, P., Oppenheimer, C., Roberts, R. & White, K. (2009). Human occupation, adaptation and behavioural change in the pleistocene and holocene of south India: recent investigations in the Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. Eurasian Prehistory, 6 (1-2), 119-166.
Access Archaeology offers a different publishing model for specialist academic material that migh... more Access Archaeology offers a different publishing model for specialist academic material that might traditionally prove commercially unviable, perhaps due to its sheer extent or volume of colour content, or simply due to its relatively niche field of interest. This could apply, for example, to a PhD dissertation or a catalogue of archaeological data. All Access Archaeology publications are available as a free-to-download pdf eBook and in print format. The free pdf download model supports dissemination in areas of the world where budgets are more severely limited, and also allows individual academics from all over the world the opportunity to access the material privately, rather than relying solely on their university or public library. Print copies, nevertheless, remain available to individuals and institutions who need or prefer them. The material is refereed and/or peer reviewed. Copy-editing takes place prior to submission of the work for publication and is the responsibility of the author. Academics who are able to supply printready material are not charged any fee to publish (including making the material available as a free-todownload pdf). In some instances the material is type-set in-house and in these cases a small charge is passed on for layout work. Our principal effort goes into promoting the material, both the free-to-download pdf and print edition, where Access Archaeology books get the same level of attention as all of our publications which are marketed through e-alerts, print catalogues, displays at academic conferences, and are supported by professional distribution worldwide.
Current Anthropology, 2005
The archaeological record of Later Pleistocene South Asia has a crucial role to play in our under... more The archaeological record of Later Pleistocene South Asia has a crucial role to play in our understanding of the evolution of modern human behavior and the dispersal of anatomically modern humans around the Old World. Later Pleistocene records of South Asia are here summarized and placed in the context of the modern-human-origins debate. Aspects of the South Asian record share familiar traits with other regions of the Old World, but South Asia also appears to have its own adaptive features and material culture developments. The fluctuating environment during the Later Pleistocene would have influenced the adaptations of anatomically modern and "archaic" humans, affecting population size, movement, and the usefulness of cultural innovations. On the basis of prevailing genetic, archaeological, and biogeographic information, it is hypothesized that Homo sapiens colonized South Asia as part of an early southern dispersal from Africa. The effect of demographic processes on the rate and direction of cultural change is proposed as an explanation for the lack of a "symbolic revolution" signaling the arrival of anatomically modern humans on the Indian subcontinent. Instead, the Late Paleolithic represents a diversification of adaptive behaviors that may be traced to the Middle Paleolithic. h a n n a h v. a . j a m e s is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biological Anthropology (University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, England) and a member of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies. Born in 1981, she received a B.A. from the University of Oxford in 2002 and an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge in 2003. Her thesis was entitled "Testing Theories of Modern Human Origins: The Middle Palaeolithic of South Asia." 1. Review of the South Asian evidence would not have been possible without the dedication of a large number of scholars working in the region. We thank our Indian colleagues, especially V. N. Misra, K. Paddayya, R. Korisettar, and S. Pappu, for their support and intellectual contributions to our research over the years. We appreciate the comments of C. Clarkson, P. Mellars, and P. Forster on an earlier draft of this article, as well as the comments of four anonymous reviewers. We alone are responsible for any errors and shortcomings in synthesizing and interpreting the South Asian record. m i c h a e l d . p e t r a g l i a is Lecturer in Human Evolution, University of Cambridge, and a member of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies
The Neolithic period in the south Deccan plateau of south India seems to have begun sometime in t... more The Neolithic period in the south Deccan plateau of south India seems to have begun sometime in the 3 rd millennium BC. It is therefore not one of the world's earliest Neolithic transitions, nor indeed the earliest Neolithic culture in South Asia. Nonetheless, the Southern Neolithic, as it is known in India, is of significant interest to Neolithic scholars worldwide because it appears in many significant ways to represent a largely indigenous transformation. This paper will explore the evidence for both internal processes and external influences in the genesis and subsequent transformation of Neolithic society in south India. It will in particular draw on recent studies at the site of Sanganakallu-Kupgal in the Bellary District of Karnataka, as well a larger-scale archaeobotanical project in the south Deccan plateau, in order to examine patterns of exchange, production and ritual in the Neolithic and Megalithic periods in south India.
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Papers by Ravi Korisettar
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Having arisen at the start of the COVID19 pandemic, Conversations in Human Evolution aims to encourage engagement with both human evolutionary studies and the broader socio-political issues that persist within academia, the latter of which is particularly pertinent during this time of global uncertainty. The conversations delve deeply into the study of our species’ evolutionary history through the lens of each sub-discipline, as well as detailing some of the most current advances in research, theory and methods. Overall, Conversations in Human Evolution seeks to bridge the gap between the research and researcher through contextualisation of the science with personal experience and historical reflection.