1883.] 
J. H. Rivett-Carnac —Stone Implements. 
223 
right hand an implement which closely resembles a stone celt fixed in a 
wooden handle. Likewise one of the most interesting of the Sanchi carv- 
ings figured by Mr. Fergusson, in his well known work on Tree and Serpent 
Worship, represents, what is believed to be, a Dasyu with an axe fixed on to 
the handle by cross bands, in a manner in which it is known this stone im¬ 
plement was liafted. There would then seem reason to believe that 
the stone implements found in the wild country of Banda are the remains 
of aboriginal tribes of India, who driven out from the fertile delta, by the 
wave of invasion from the North, sought refuge in the hills and jungle, in 
the manner that the aboriginal tribes of Britain are known to have receded 
to the hilly country of the island before the Saxon and the Dane. 
All over the immense jungle tract of Central India, Cromlechs, Kist- 
vaens, stone circles closely resembling those to be found in Britain and on 
the continent of Europe are to be found. The similarity between the stone 
implements, now to be described, and those of Europe, is equally remarkable, 
and there would seem to be little doubt, that these implements were long, 
and up to a comparatively recent date, in use amongst these tribes, who have 
as yet made little progress in civilization. 
So far as I have yet been able to learn, none of these implements have 
been found in use at the present day, even among the most backward of 
these tribes. No one I have met with on my tours had been able to explain 
the use of any of these implements. They are regarded as wonderful, mys¬ 
terious, often as holy. Turned up by the plough at some depth below the 
soil, the celt is supposed to be a thunderbolt, driven deep into the earth from 
on high, and the finder places it under the village pipul tree, sometimes 
sanctifying it with a daub of red paint, and constituting it a Mahadeo or 
Phallus. Stone implements, especially the smaller ones, flakes and arrow¬ 
heads, have been found by European officers on the surface of the soil, or in 
the beds of streams, and notably by Mr. Cockburn, on what would appear 
to be the sites of old manufactories or encampments. But the village pee- 
pul tree is generally the best and surest find. There the villagers, acting 
unconsciously as valuable coadjutors in the interests of Archaeological re¬ 
search, have collected together, and piled up from time immemorial, these 
curious relics of a bye-gone age, preserving them with that mysterious awe 
that attaches in their eyes to everything that is old and rare. Save 
perhaps to what may be the largest and central celt, daubed with red paint, 
and from its shape worshipped as a Mahadeo, and which they will not part 
with, the villagers attach no more importance to these implements left there 
for centuries, than to the other piles of offering stones which surround a 
jungle shrine. A little good-humoured persuasion, or a few rupees will 
easily secure them for the collector of antiquarian relics. 
Some idea of the abundance of these implements on these shrines may 
