Sanganakallu-Neolithic research and the ash-mound problem

Record summary

The Sanganakallu hill complex was investigated during the growth of South Indian Neolithic archaeology and includes habitation areas, stone-working evidence, cattle-related deposits and surfaces sometimes connected with the region's ash-mound tradition. These sites matter for comparing pastoralism, cereal cultivation, monumentality and the ritual or practical formation of burning deposits. The major unresolved issue is what produced the ash mounds: repeated cattle penning and dung burning, domestic activity, feasting, ritual performance or combinations of these. Early work and later surveys need to be separated because the complex is extensive and interpretations have changed.