Mahabubnagar: Neolithic period grooves found in Devakonda

Mahabubnagar: Grooves dating back to the Neolithic period were noticed at Basvaipalli village in Devakonda mandal in the district during the archaeological explorations conducted by noted archaeologist E Sivanagireddy on Sunday. Four grooves formed out of sharpening of cutting edge of the stone axes made of basalt stone by the Neolithic people are located on […]

Mahabubnagar: Grooves dating back to the Neolithic period were noticed at Basvaipalli village in Devakonda mandal in the district during the archaeological explorations conducted by noted archaeologist E Sivanagireddy on Sunday.

Four grooves formed out of sharpening of cutting edge of the stone axes made of basalt stone by the Neolithic people are located on a huge low profile hillock, on which a Venugopala temple was built in 18th century.

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The grooves measure four to eight inches in length; three to four inches in width and one to two inches in depth. These grooves were found very close to the temple Mandapa towards the northeast corner during the course of identification of granite stone quarries to extract new stone needed for restoration works of medieval temples at Kolanupaka taken up by Yadadri Temple Development Authority.

Sivanagi Reddy said the areas around Basvaipalli might have served as a habitation to the Neolithic man, which was congenial for hunting and agriculture.

There are a good number of serpent hood-shaped granite rocks and natural caverns in the hills at Manyamkonda, Choudarapalli, Tatikonda, Rachala, Asnapur and Moosapet, which yielded Neolithic evidences. They also include prehistoric rock paintings, which indicate they might have been temporary shelters before they moved to other areas.

Based on the evidences, the grooves found on the Basvaipalli hillock indicate they date back to the Neolithic grooves to a period between 4000 to 2000 BCE. This is a new find and adds to the existing data on the prehistoric remains in Mahabubnagar district in southern Telangana, he said.

Sarath Chandra, Heritage and Conservation architect of Heritage Matters and Vadde Mogilayya of the same village participated in the explorations.