122 V. Ball — Stone Implements from Orissa. [June, 



5. On Sto7ie Implements found in the Tributary States of Orissa. — 

 By V. Ball, Esq., M. A., F. G. S. 



It seems to be not improbable that it will be possible, ere long, to trace 

 with a considerable degree of accm'acy, the geographical distribution in 

 India of those early races who employed stone in the manufacture of imple- 

 ments and weapons. In the meantime, with this end in view, it is most 

 important that all discoveries should be recorded. Since the year 1867> 

 when a hst by me was published in the Proceedings, of the then known 

 loeahties where stone implements had been found in India, the number 

 of such localities has been nearly doubled. As of many of these there is 

 no printed record, I have collected the information as far as possible and 

 hope to be able to present shortly before the Society a list revised up to 

 date. 



As an example of the interesting points which a comparison of the 

 special character of these implements from different localities may some- 

 times produce, I need only refer to Genl. Sir Ai'thm' Phayre's remarks* 

 upon the implements of the Burmese type from Singhbhum, which I ex- 

 hibited here last year. Sir A. Phayre shews that the part of Burma in 

 which the stone implements occur — ^the valley and delta of the lower 

 Erawati — is inhabited by a race called Mun whose language presents affini- 

 ties with that of the Mundas of Singhbhum. Hence the probability of an 

 early intercourse having existed, and possibly of an identity of origin be- 

 tween these now widely separated peoples, becomes very great. 



The implements which I now exhibit belong to quite a difOerent type 

 from those just mentioned. They are roughly chipped quartzite axes 

 similar to those which have been found so abundantly in the Madras Pre- 

 sidency and in smaller numbers in the Central Provinces and other parts of 

 India. Excluding one of doubtful artificial character there are only four 

 specimens. These I picked up on the surface at different localities in 

 Denkenal, Ungul, Talchir, and in Sambalpiir. 



Denke7uil. The specimen from this locality is very rudely formed and 

 has the point broken off by a recent fracture. It was found together with 

 the debris from a laterite conglomerate ; and from the fragments of ferrugi- 

 nous matrix still attached to its surface there can, I think, be little doubt 

 that it was at one time imbedded in the laterite. The material is an opaque, 

 slightly granular quartzite. 



Ungul. This specimen was found in the bed of a stream near the 

 village of Kaliakota. Its shape, a broad oval, is unusu.al. The material is 

 a vitreous quartzite. 



* P. A. S. B., Januar>' 1876, p. 3. 



