Prehistoric settlement developments in the multi-period sites of south India, Brahmagiri Hill

Abstract

This paper is focused on the multi-period sites in the core southern Neolithic region of south India to highlight their potential archaeological features and resources to assess land use and settlement patterns adopted by the mid-Holocene societies. Systematic archaeological reworks at the multi-period sites require particular attention to identify the resource locations and non-occupation sites for developing a comprehensive picture of the demographic and social models for explaining how people managed and shared resources within the site environs that continued to exist and operated for more than three thousand years spanning from Neolithic (3000-1200 BCE), Iron Age (1200-300 BCE) and Early History (300 BCE- 500 CE). Published archaeological data on major multi-period sites of south India is reviewed, compiled and attested with exploration findings from the Brahmagiri Hill. Here a fresh approach is made to assess the impact of Ashokan rock edicts on the social fabric and any landscape changes it brought to Isila (Isila is believed to be an early historic townsite at Brahmagiri ).