Olduvai Gorge Vol. 1 - Fauna and Background by L.S.B. Leakey
The cult of the cow in India has always been difficult to comprehend in the West. For those who are attuned to Indian civilization, however, the ritual practices surrounding the worship of cattle are culture traits of the greatest interest, with hints of continuity over thousands of years in the social and environmental traditions of Indian life.
Dr Alichin’s excavations and explorations of the mounds of cowdung ash in the Bellary and neighbouring districts of South India began as an attempt to establish an archaeological hypothesis; they led him with unexpected facility into the field of modern ethnology. In the present book he describes the theories hitherto advanced to account for the mounds, and then establishes his own discovery that the mounds represent sites of Neolithic cow-pens in which great quantities of dung were accumulated and burnt. ‘At this point Dr Allchin turns to ethno~graphic evidence. Certain place-names suggest a folk memory of the original nature of the ashmounds, and some surviving folk traditions strengthen the evidence. Further, in modern pastoral practice, and in the fire and cattle-festivals of contemporary folk religion, Dr Allchin finds many features which give additional support to the archaeological evidence. Finally, Dr Allchin uses this material to attempt a complete cultural-historical reconstruction of Neolithic pastoral practice in southern India.
This is clearly an important contribution to Indian prehistory; but of equal interest with the result itself is the method of research—from the collection of archaeological data and the formulation of hypotheses, through discoveries in the fields of ethnology, place-name study, and comparative religion, to the final solution.
Cambridge University Press 1665
Condition: Very Good, dustcover worn with marks
MB
The cult of the cow in India has always been difficult to comprehend in the West. For those who are attuned to Indian civilization, however, the ritual practices surrounding the worship of cattle are culture traits of the greatest interest, with hints of continuity over thousands of years in the social and environmental traditions of Indian life.
Dr Alichin’s excavations and explorations of the mounds of cowdung ash in the Bellary and neighbouring districts of South India began as an attempt to establish an archaeological hypothesis; they led him with unexpected facility into the field of modern ethnology. In the present book he describes the theories hitherto advanced to account for the mounds, and then establishes his own discovery that the mounds represent sites of Neolithic cow-pens in which great quantities of dung were accumulated and burnt. ‘At this point Dr Allchin turns to ethno~graphic evidence. Certain place-names suggest a folk memory of the original nature of the ashmounds, and some surviving folk traditions strengthen the evidence. Further, in modern pastoral practice, and in the fire and cattle-festivals of contemporary folk religion, Dr Allchin finds many features which give additional support to the archaeological evidence. Finally, Dr Allchin uses this material to attempt a complete cultural-historical reconstruction of Neolithic pastoral practice in southern India.
This is clearly an important contribution to Indian prehistory; but of equal interest with the result itself is the method of research—from the collection of archaeological data and the formulation of hypotheses, through discoveries in the fields of ethnology, place-name study, and comparative religion, to the final solution.
Cambridge University Press 1665
Condition: Very Good, dustcover worn with marks
MB
The cult of the cow in India has always been difficult to comprehend in the West. For those who are attuned to Indian civilization, however, the ritual practices surrounding the worship of cattle are culture traits of the greatest interest, with hints of continuity over thousands of years in the social and environmental traditions of Indian life.
Dr Alichin’s excavations and explorations of the mounds of cowdung ash in the Bellary and neighbouring districts of South India began as an attempt to establish an archaeological hypothesis; they led him with unexpected facility into the field of modern ethnology. In the present book he describes the theories hitherto advanced to account for the mounds, and then establishes his own discovery that the mounds represent sites of Neolithic cow-pens in which great quantities of dung were accumulated and burnt. ‘At this point Dr Allchin turns to ethno~graphic evidence. Certain place-names suggest a folk memory of the original nature of the ashmounds, and some surviving folk traditions strengthen the evidence. Further, in modern pastoral practice, and in the fire and cattle-festivals of contemporary folk religion, Dr Allchin finds many features which give additional support to the archaeological evidence. Finally, Dr Allchin uses this material to attempt a complete cultural-historical reconstruction of Neolithic pastoral practice in southern India.
This is clearly an important contribution to Indian prehistory; but of equal interest with the result itself is the method of research—from the collection of archaeological data and the formulation of hypotheses, through discoveries in the fields of ethnology, place-name study, and comparative religion, to the final solution.
Cambridge University Press 1665
Condition: Very Good, dustcover worn with marks
MB