PSC Chronicles Team

The Kurnool Caves (Billasurgam caves) are series of ancient limestone caves located on the right bank of the Kunderu river near Kurnool are among the most important prehistoric sites in Andhra Pradesh.

• They are associated with Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cultures.
• The caves yielded tools like microliths (tiny stone tools characteristic of the Mesolithic), along with animal bones and evidence of fire use.
• Robert Bruce Foote first systematically studied prehistoric sites in South India including Andhra.

Nagarjunakonda is located on the banks of the river Krishna  in the Palnadu district (formerly Guntur district) of Andhra Pradesh.

Apart from its famous Buddhist remains, the site has also yielded evidence of Neolithic occupation. The Neolithic people of the Krishna valley used ground and polished stone tools and practised settled agriculture. The site is important for understanding the transition from prehistoric to early historic cultures in the Andhra region.

Microliths are the characteristic tools of the Mesolithic Age (Middle Stone Age).

These are tiny, geometric-shaped stone blades made from chert, flint, or jasper. In Andhra Pradesh, Mesolithic sites with microliths have been found at Kurnool caves, Muchchatla Chintamanigavi, and along river valleys.

Mesolithic people were hunter-gatherers who also began domesticating animals. The period is roughly dated between 10,000 B.C. and 4,000 B.C.

Robert Bruce Foote (1834–1912), a British geologist working with the Geological Survey of India, is considered the ‘Father of Indian Prehistory’.

In 1863, he discovered the first Palaeolithic tool at Pallavaram near Chennai. He subsequently discovered numerous prehistoric sites across South India including in Andhra Pradesh, and wrote extensively about the Palaeolithic and Neolithic cultures. His work ‘The Foote Collection of Indian Prehistoric and Protohistoric Antiquities‘ remains a landmark.

The Megalithic culture (roughly 1000 B.C. – 200 B.C.) is characterized by the burial of the dead with grave goods including iron implements, Black and Red Ware (BRW) pottery, beads, and sometimes horse equipment.

In Andhra Pradesh, Megalithic burial sites have been found at Nagarjunakonda, Tadpatri, and many other places.

These burials were marked by large stone monuments (megaliths) like dolmens, cairn circles, and stone cists.

The Chalcolithic Age (Copper-Stone Age) is characterized by the use of both copper and stone tools. This was the first metal age in human prehistory. This period acted as a bridge between the Neolithic (New Stone Age) and the Bronze Age

In Andhra Pradesh, Chalcolithic sites are found in the Krishna valley and adjoining areas. The people of this period used copper tools alongside stone implements, made pottery, and practised agriculture and animal husbandry. The Chalcolithic period broadly falls between 2000 B.C. and 700 B.C. in the Deccan.

Black and Red Ware (BRW) pottery is the most characteristic pottery associated with Megalithic burials in Andhra Pradesh and South India. This pottery has a distinctive appearance — black on the inside and on the rim, and red on the outside — produced by a special firing technique (inverted firing). It is found abundantly in Megalithic burial sites across Andhra Pradesh.

Megalithic burials in Andhra Pradesh, dating primarily between 1500 BC and 300 BC, represent Iron Age funerary practices featuring stone structures like cairn circles, dolmens, and cists, particularly concentrated near the Krishna and Godavari rivers

The Stone Age is the earliest and longest period of human prehistory, spanning from about 3.3 million years ago to roughly 2000 BCE, when humans primarily used stone tools for survival. It is divided into three key phases based on tool technology and lifestyle changes-Paleolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age),Neolithic (New Stone Age).

The Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) is characterized by polished and ground stone tools, settled agriculture, domestication of animals, and the making of pottery. This represents a major revolution in human history — the ‘Neolithic Revolution’. In Andhra Pradesh, Neolithic sites have been found along the Krishna valley (Nagarjunakonda, Amaravati area), Godavari valley, and in the Bellary-Kurnool region. The Neolithic period in South India is roughly dated between 3000 B.C. and 1000 B.C.

The site of Gudor (or Gudur) in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, is linked to the Mesolithic tool industry, featuring microliths—small, finely crafted stone tools used by hunter-gatherers during this transitional phase.

Muchchatla Chintamanigavi (also spelled Chintamani Gavi) cave is a key prehistoric site in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, near Betamcherla, associated primarily with the Upper Paleolithic and Mesoloithic period

The site is known for its microliths, animal bones, and evidence of early human habitation.

The Krishna and Tungabhadra river valleys are the most important regions for Palaeolithic sites in Andhra Pradesh. These rivers cut through ancient rock formations containing the gravels and river terraces where Palaeolithic tools were deposited.

While the Krishna basin is the broader primary region, several specific sub-valleys and districts are of critical archaeological importance:

• Kurnool Region: Notable for its limestone caves like Billa Surgam and Muchchatla Chintamanu Gavi, which have provided rare evidence of bone tools and animal fossils alongside stone artifacts.
• Gundlakamma Valley: This valley is famous for sites like Jwalapuram, which show evidence of human occupation around the time of the Toba volcanic catastrophe approximately 74,000 years ago.
• Paleru River Valley: Recent research at sites like Hanumanthunipadu has pushed back the timeline for advanced Middle Palaeolithic tool technology in the region to as early as 247,000 years ago.
• Nagarjunakonda: A major site located on the banks of the Krishna River that has yielded significant artifacts from both the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic phases

Utnur (in Adilabad district, now Telangana) is famous for its ash mounds — large mounds of burnt cattle dung ash.

The Megalithic culture is distinctly characterized by:

(1) Use of iron tools — making it an Iron Age culture;

(2) Construction of large stone burial monuments called megaliths (dolmens, cairn circles, stone cists, menhirs);

(3) Black and Red Ware (BRW) pottery found in graves;

(4) Presence of grave goods like iron weapons, horse equipment, and beads.

Peddabankur in Karimnagar district is famous for the discovery of Kotilingala coins, including seven coins belonging to Simuka, the founder of the Satavahana dynasty. However, this site also has prehistoric (Megalithic) cultural remains.

Rock paintings (cave art) in India, including those found in parts of Andhra Pradesh, are primarily associated with the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. These paintings typically depict animals (deer, bison, wild boar), human figures, hunting scenes, and geometric patterns.

A dolmen is a type of megalithic burial monument consisting of two or more upright standing stones (orthostats) supporting a large flat horizontal capstone, creating a chamber-like structure. They served as burial chambers. In Andhra Pradesh and South India, dolmens are found in the Deccan plateau region.

Other types of megalithic monuments found in AP include:

• Cairn circles (stone circles over burial pits),
• Cist burials (stone-lined rectangular burial chambers),
• Urn burials (large pottery urns containing burials), and
• Menhirs (single standing stones).

Lower Palaeolithic traditions feature two main tool-making cultures: the Soanian pebble-tool tradition (choppers from river pebbles, common in northern India) and the Acheulean handaxe-cleaver tradition (bifacial tools like handaxes and cleavers from flakes, widespread in peninsular India)

Robert Bruce Foote first identified and reported Palaeolithic stone tools from the Kurnool region and other parts of Andhra Pradesh (then Madras Presidency). He conducted extensive surveys and discovered tools from river gravels and surface sites across South India starting from the 1860s.

He identified the Kurnool caves as important prehistoric sites. His discovery of the Palaeolithic at Pallavaram in 1863 sparked the systematic study of Indian prehistory, and his work in AP established the region as a major area of prehistoric habitation.

Neolithic sites in the Krishna valley including the Nagarjunasagar area showed evidence of a mixed agro-pastoral economy — both agriculture (cultivation of millets like ragi and horsegram) and cattle herding. The cattle herding aspect is particularly emphasized by ash mound sites in the broader Deccan Neolithic tradition.

The Neolithic people of Andhra practised cultivation of crops like horsegram (kulthi), ragi (finger millet), and wheat-barley, alongside keeping cattle, sheep, and goats. Their economy was self-sufficient and based on village-level production.

The Kurnool Caves (Billasurgam), located on the right bank of the Kunderu river, have yielded rich evidence of Mesolithic habitation. Excavations in these caves by various scholars including Robert Bruce Foote found microliths (tiny geometric stone tools), animal bones including bones of deer, ox, wild pig, and other fauna, indicating a hunting and gathering economy. The caves also showed evidence of fire use. These are among the most significant Mesolithic sites in South India and have provided crucial information about prehistoric life in Andhra Pradesh.

Urn burial is a funerary practice where the dead body (or skeletal remains after excarnation) is placed inside one or more large pottery urns and then buried in the ground. In Andhra Pradesh, urn burials are a common type of Megalithic burial, often found alongside other burial types like cist burials and dolmens. These urns are typically made of Black and Red Ware (BRW). The urn burials sometimes contain grave goods like small pots, iron tools, beads, and occasionally copper or bronze objects, providing evidence of belief in an afterlife.

The Neolithic people of the Krishna-Tungabhadra doab region (covering parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) primarily cultivated ragi (finger millet) and horsegram . These crops are well suited to the semi-arid conditions of the Deccan plateau. Evidence for these crops comes from carbonized grain remains found at Neolithic sites. Other crops cultivated included wheat, barley, and various pulses. The subsistence base of the Deccan Neolithic was different from the wheat-barley economy of the Indus valley civilization.

Cairn circles are a type of Megalithic burial monument in which a burial pit (often containing a stone cist burial within) is surrounded by a circle of stones on the surface. The stone circle marks the sacred space of the burial.

In Andhra Pradesh, cairn circles are found alongside dolmens, stone cists, and urn burials in Megalithic burial grounds. They are found in the Kurnool, Nellore, Anantapur, and Prakasam districts.

Cairn circles, along with other megalithic structures, indicate the elaborate funerary practices and social organization of Iron Age communities in Andhra.

Giddalur is located in the Markapuram (earlier Prakasam district) of Andhra Pradesh. It is an important Palaeolithic site where Acheulian tools (hand-axes and cleavers) have been found. Giddalur lies along the river valleys that provided the gravel deposits where Palaeolithic tools were made and used.

Neolithic (New Stone Age) tools are distinctly characterized by grinding and polishing — a major technological advancement over the chipped tools of earlier periods. Neolithic tools found in AP include polished stone axes (celts), chisels, adzes, picks, and querns (grinding stones). The polished stone axes (sometimes called Neolithic celts) are the most common and diagnostic tools of this period. Polished tools are more efficient for woodcutting, agriculture (clearing land), and construction. In AP, polished Neolithic axes have been found at sites along the Krishna valley and at several locations in Kurnool and Anantapur districts.

Ramapuram in Kurnool district is known for its Megalithic burial sites. The Kurnool district, in general, is one of the richest areas for prehistoric finds in Andhra Pradesh, spanning multiple periods — from Palaeolithic (Billasurgam caves) to Megalithic burials. Megalithic burial sites in the Kurnool region contain the characteristic Black and Red Ware pottery, iron implements, and structural burial features like stone cists and dolmens. These sites provide evidence of the Iron Age Megalithic communities that inhabited this region between roughly 1000 B.C. and 200 B.C.

A menhir (from Breton: ‘men’ = stone, ‘hir’ = long) is a single large upright standing stone that was erected as a memorial or marker.

In South India and AP, menhirs are found associated with Megalithic burials and are believed to have been erected as memorial stones for the dead or as territorial markers. Unlike dolmens (burial chambers), menhirs are solid standing stones with no internal chamber. In AP, menhirs have been found at various Megalithic sites in the Deccan region and are part of the broader repertoire of Megalithic monuments.

The Megalithic culture in Andhra Pradesh is broadly dated from around 1000 B.C. to 200 B.C. However, some scholars extend the dates from 1500 B.C. to as late as 300 A.D. in some regions. The Megalithic period in AP is characterized by iron-using communities who buried their dead in elaborate stone monuments. The Megalithic culture overlaps with the end of the prehistoric period and the beginning of the early historical period (Satavahana era begins around 271 B.C.). By around 200 B.C., the Megalithic tradition was gradually replaced by the urban culture of the Satavahanas.

The Lower Palaeolithic (or Early Stone Age) is the earliest subdivision of the Palaeolithic period, spanning from roughly 2.7 million years ago to 200,000 years ago. It is defined by the emergence of the first stone tool industries and the evolution of early human ancestors like Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

Archaeologists primarily categorise this era by its distinct stone tool-making “industries” or traditions

• Oldowan Tradition features Simple “pebble tools”
• Acheulean Tradition featuresbifacial tools, meaning they were worked on both sides.
• Soanian Tradition primarily focuses onchopper-chopping tools

The Palaeolithic tools found along the Tungabhadra river in the Kurnool district of AP belong primarily to the Acheulian tradition of the Lower Palaeolithic. These include bifacially flaked hand-axes, cleavers, and scrapers made from quartzite, chert, and other locally available rocks.

The Acheulian tradition represents a major phase of Lower Palaeolithic tool-making across India. The Tungabhadra-Krishna river system in AP is one of the richest regions for Acheulian finds in South India, comparable to sites in Karnataka (Hunsgi valley).

Before the Nagarjunakonda valley was submerged by the Nagarjunasagar reservoir in the 1960s, extensive excavations were carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). These excavations, involving scholars like A.H. Longhurst, R. Subrahmanyam, and others, documented not only the famous Buddhist remains but also Megalithic burial sites and Neolithic habitation.

A stone cist is a rectangular box-like burial chamber constructed from stone slabs (both as side walls and as a capstone lid). The dead were placed inside these cists, often with grave goods.

Cist burials are one of the most common types of Megalithic burials found in Andhra Pradesh. They range from small single-burial cists to large cists that could accommodate multiple burials. Stone cist burials have been found at numerous sites in Kurnool, Nellore, Anantapur, Guntur, and Prakasam districts of AP, often associated with Black and Red Ware pottery and iron objects.

The earliest clear evidence of animal domestication in Andhra Pradesh — including cattle, sheep, goat, and pig — is associated with the Neolithic period. Neolithic sites in AP have yielded animal bone assemblages showing domesticated species. The ash mound sites like Utnur (Adilabad in Telangana) show large-scale cattle keeping. The Neolithic pastoral communities in the Deccan were primarily cattle herders. Unlike the Indus Civilization which domesticated animals earlier, the South Indian Neolithic independently developed a cattle-based pastoral economy around 3000-2000 B.C.

Rock shelter paintings in India, showing hunting scenes, wild animals (deer, bison, rhinoceros), human figures with bows and arrows, and geometric designs, are primarily associated with the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. These paintings were made using natural mineral pigments — ochre (red iron oxide), white (kaolin or chalk), and occasionally black (charcoal or manganese dioxide).

In AP, rock paintings have been found in various locations including Ongole area and Nellore district. These paintings provide a window into the beliefs, lifestyle, and artistic abilities of prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities.

Yelleswaram in Nalgonda district (now in Telangana) is well known for its Megalithic burial sites. It is one of the significant Megalithic sites in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana region. The site has yielded typical Megalithic finds including Black and Red Ware pottery, iron implements (axes, swords, arrowheads), and structural burial monuments like stone cists.

The Kurnool caves have yielded evidence of multiple prehistoric occupations. Among these, a blade tool industry characterized by small flake tools, backed blades, points, and burins represents the Upper Palaeolithic phase. Upper Palaeolithic blade technology — where long, narrow blades are struck from prepared cores — is more refined than earlier Palaeolithic tools. This tradition shows greater standardization and efficiency in tool production. The Kurnool caves thus preserve an archaeological sequence that runs from Upper Palaeolithic through Mesolithic periods, making them extremely valuable for understanding South Indian prehistoric cultural sequences.

Most Palaeolithic tools in Andhra Pradesh are found in river terrace gravels and lateritic red soils/formations. River terrace gravels are sediment deposits left by ancient rivers at higher levels — indicating that Palaeolithic people lived and worked near active rivers. The presence of Palaeolithic tools in such deposits indicates:

(1) the environment was wetter with active river systems;

(2) Early humans used river cobbles/pebbles as raw material;

(3) Tools were washed into and preserved in these river gravels.

Secondary burial refers to the practice of first exposing or storing the corpse (primary deposition) and then, after decomposition, collecting the bones and reburying them in a final resting place — often a megalithic structure. Evidence for secondary burials in South India includes disarticulated skeletal remains (bones not in anatomical position) found in Megalithic cists and urn burials in AP. This practice suggests a two-stage funerary ritual — first disposal of the flesh, then collection and formal burial of the bones with appropriate grave goods. This practice has been identified at several AP Megalithic sites.

The ‘Southern Neolithic’ is distinguished from North Indian Neolithic cultures by several unique features:

• (1) Ash mound sites — large deposits of burnt cattle dung representing seasonal cattle kraals (unique to South India);
• (2) Primarily a cattle-herding economy with agriculture as secondary;
• (3) Cultivation of millets (ragi/finger millet, horsegram) rather than wheat and barley;
• (4) Use of ground stone axes (celts) without pottery in the earliest phase;
• (5) Absence of the Indus script or copper tools in the early phase. These features make the Southern Neolithic a distinct cultural tradition that evolved independently in the Deccan plateau.

Neolithic ground stone axes (celts) in South India including AP were predominantly made from fine-grained igneous rocks like dolerite (trap rock), basalt, and various ‘greenstone’ rocks. In AP, Neolithic celts made from dolerite/basalt have been found at sites in Kurnool, Anantapur, and Krishna districts.

Piklihal (in Raichur district, Karnataka, bordering AP) is one of the most important Neolithic sites in the Deccan, excavated by F.R. Allchin. It is famous for its ash mound — a large deposit of burnt cattle dung — along with evidence of domesticated cattle, sheep, and goat.

Piklihal shows evidence of a two-phase occupation: an early aceramic Neolithic phase (without pottery) focused on cattle herding, followed by a ceramic phase with handmade pottery. This site is crucial for understanding the Southern Neolithic tradition that influenced prehistoric communities in adjacent AP regions.

Iron smelting requires very high temperatures — above 1200°C — to reduce iron ore (primarily magnetite or hematite) to metallic iron. Megalithic iron-using communities in AP developed furnace technology capable of achieving these temperatures using forced air (bellows). Archaeological evidence of iron smelting includes: iron slag (waste product), tuyères (clay blow-pipes used to direct air into furnaces), and iron ore. Iron smelting sites have been identified in AP. The production of iron tools (axes, hoes, swords, arrowheads) transformed the economy and warfare capabilities of Megalithic communities, facilitating forest clearance and agriculture.

The Jorwe culture of Maharashtra (c. 1400–700 B.C.) represents a Chalcolithic culture in the northern Deccan that shows connections with cultures in adjacent regions. In Andhra Pradesh, Chalcolithic cultural influences from the Malwa culture (Central India) and Maharashtra’s Chalcolithic cultures are seen in the Krishna valley region. The AP region shows a transitional Chalcolithic phase between the Deccan Neolithic and the Megalithic Iron Age. Painted pottery traditions from these cultures have parallels in AP sites. Understanding these connections is crucial for reconstructing the cultural geography of prehistoric Deccan.

Stratigraphic evidence — the principle that lower layers are older than upper layers — at Nagarjunakonda reveals that Megalithic remains (Black and Red Ware pottery, iron tools, burial structures) underlie the Buddhist period remains (c. 3rd century A.D.). This means: (1) The Megalithic Iron Age communities inhabited the area first (c. 1000–200 B.C.); (2) This was followed by the early historical (Satavahana) and then Ikshvaku Buddhist period occupation. This stratigraphic sequence at Nagarjunakonda provides one of the clearest demonstrations of cultural continuity and change in the Krishna valley of AP from prehistoric to historical times.

Among the Black and Red Ware (BRW) pottery types found in Megalithic burials in AP, bowls and jars with a carinated (sharply angled) shoulder profile are diagnostically Megalithic. The carination creates a distinct angular shoulder between the upper and lower parts of the vessel. Other characteristic BRW vessel forms include dish-on-stand, bowls with incurved rim, lids, and ring-stands. The BRW itself is made using an inverted firing technique — the vessels are fired upside-down in reducing conditions to create the distinctive black interior/rim and red exterior. These pottery forms are found across Megalithic sites from Kerala to AP to Karnataka.

Modern scholarship, based on linguistic, genetic, and archaeological evidence, largely identifies the Megalithic builders of South India (including AP) as Proto-Dravidian speakers — the ancestors of modern Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam-speaking communities. Key evidence includes: (1) Geographical distribution of Megalithic cultures precisely overlaps with modern Dravidian language areas; (2) Genetic studies show continuity between Megalithic populations and modern South Indians; (3) Some Megalithic site names preserved in the landscape correspond to early Dravidian roots. The Megalithic culture thus represents the Iron Age phase of the people who would later become the historical Andhras.

Tadpatri in Anantapur district is notable for having both rock paintings (prehistoric art) and Palaeolithic (Acheulian) stone tools. The Anantapur district in general is archaeologically rich, lying in the Tungabhadra basin which is one of the primary zones of Lower Palaeolithic occupation in South India. The rock paintings at Tadpatri and surrounding areas depict animals and geometric figures typical of Upper Palaeolithic/Mesolithic art traditions. The combination of Acheulian tools and rock art makes sites in this region particularly important for reconstructing a long sequence of prehistoric human occupation in the AP-Karnataka border region.

Radiocarbon dating (C-14) is the most commonly used absolute dating method for organic materials (charcoal, burnt bone, seeds, shell) from prehistoric sites in AP. It is based on the decay of radioactive carbon-14 isotope in organic materials. Its effective range is approximately up to 50,000 years before present. For AP prehistoric sites: Neolithic charcoal samples from ash mounds have been C-14 dated to 3000–1500 B.C.; Megalithic charcoal from burial contexts is dated to 1000–200 B.C. Other methods used include: Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) for sediments; K-Ar for very ancient geological contexts (Palaeolithic); Thermoluminescence (TL) for pottery.

Nagarjunakonda in the Krishna valley (Nalgonda district) showed the clearest cultural overlap between Megalithic and early historical (Satavahana) periods through stratigraphic evidence. The excavations revealed layers where Megalithic Black and Red Ware pottery was found in association with early Satavahana period materials. This overlap demonstrates the cultural transition from the Megalithic Iron Age to the early historical Satavahana period in the Krishna valley — showing that Megalithic communities did not disappear abruptly but gradually transitioned into the Satavahana cultural milieu. Such evidence of cultural continuity across the prehistoric-historic boundary is crucial for understanding AP’s cultural history.

Based on archaeological evidence from Mesolithic sites like the Kurnool caves (Billasurgam) and Muchchatla Chintamanigavi in AP, the subsistence strategy was broad-spectrum foraging: (1) Hunting — evidenced by animal bones of deer, pig, buffalo, and smaller mammals found in caves; (2) Gathering — plant foods including tubers, berries, and seeds (plant remains rarely preserve, but inferred from ethnographic parallels); (3) Fishing — fish bones found at some sites; (4) Beginning of animal taming — possibly taming dogs. The microliths (composite tools fitted into wood or bone handles) were used for hunting (as arrowheads), butchering, and plant processing. Mesolithic people were mobile foragers with seasonal movement patterns.