Northeast Rajasthan

It was Jodhpura a large mound on the bank of the non perennial Sabi or Sahibi River which first yielded evidence of Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture belonging to the fourth and third millennia BC. Wheelmade orange to deep red color, decorated with incised designs and possessing shapes including dish on stand was found at Ganeshwar in a small Aravalli valley on the Delhi-Jaipur railway line. A large number of copper artefacts including a distinct type of arrowhead were found in the Ganeshwar excavations. Ganeshwar has been re-excavated and a large number of sites have been located in various parts of northeast Rajasthan especially in Sikar, Jaipur and Churu districts.

These Copper Age graves are marked by in-flexed burials and urn burials after cremation. Grave sites and associated settlements have been investigated at a large number of sites including Loebanr, Aligrama, Birkot Ghundai, Kherari, Lalbatai, Timargarha, Balambat, Kalako-Deray and Zarif Karuna located in the valleys of Chitral, Swat, Dir and Buner etc. In Kashmir more than 30 Neolithic sites have been found scattered but most of them are in the Baramula, Anantnag and Srinagar regions. This distribution points out that this was not a culture isolated from the plains. Handmade grey pottery with a mat impressed base is a distinguishing feature of the ceramic phase of the Kashmir Neolithic at both its excavated sites - Gufkral and Burzahom. The Neolithic phase in Kashmir merged into a megalithic phase around the middle of the second millennium BC. Handmade grey pottery with a mat impressed base is a distinguishing feature of the ceramic phase of the Kashmir Neolithic at both its excavated sites- Gufkral and Burzahom. The Neolithic phase in Kashmir merged into a megalithic phase around the middle of the second millennium BC.

1. Ladakh and Almora
2. Northeast Rajasthan
3. South India
4. Eastern India
5. Malwa