Sanganakallu
Sanganakallu Neolithic Complex · Kupgal–Sanganakallu
Southern Neolithic 3000–1000 BCE (Periods I–III) → Megalithic·Southern Neolithic (Bellary) — earliest Deccan farming·🇮🇳 Karnataka, Bellary (Ballari) District, Bellary Taluk, granite hill complex 10 km east of Bellary near Kupgal–Sanganakallu hills (Sanganakallu hillock cluster), India
About
About Sanganakallu
Southern Neolithic type-complex (c.3000–1000 BCE) on the granite hillocks east of Bellary — Sanganakallu–Kupgal cluster (206 ha survey) excavated 1946 by B. Subbarao, Foote and later Boivin and Fuller (2004–12). Sanganakallu combines Neolithic ash-mounds (Hiregudda Hill, burnt cattle dung 3000–2500 BCE 8 m ash), dolerite axe-quarries on Kupgal hill with Neolithic rock art (pitted cupules, bruising), hut floors, grinding stones and pearl millet (Pennisetum) earliest domesticated in South India 2500 BCE. Kupgal hill adjacent has Neolithic rock engravings of humped cattle and human figures with acoustic cupule rocks. UNESCO Tentative Sanganakallu/Kupgal.
Why it mattersSouthern Neolithic type-site with ash-mound — world's largest pastoral dung shrines; earliest South Indian millet (2500 BCE) + dolerite axe export proving Deccan farmers distinct from Harappan.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why huge ash accumulated — ritual fire or pen burning?
Theories
- 01Southern Neolithic independent domestication (Fuller: pearl millet in situ)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3000 BCE ash-mound; axe quarry 2500–1500 BCE
- Period
- Southern Neolithic 3000–1000 BCE (Periods I–III) → Megalithic
- Culture
- Southern Neolithic (Bellary) — earliest Deccan farming
- Builders
- Southern Neolithic cattle herders and axe-makers
- Purpose
- Ash-mound pastoral shrine + dolerite axe factory + millet farming village
- Abandoned
- c.1000 BCE (Megalithic transition)
- Rediscovered
- 1860 Foote discovery; 1946 Subbarao; 2004 Fuller re-excavation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3000–2500 BCE
Hiregudda ash-mound: huge burnt dung heaps 8 m, cattle bone
c.2500–1500 BCE
Dolerite axe quarry on Kupgal with rock art cupules; millet cultivation
2004–12
Cambridge–Karnataka project: Fuller millet domestication 2500 BCE proof
On the ground
Structures & features
15.1800° N · 76.9000° E · 500 m · 2 mapped features
Hiregudda Ash-Mound
mound8 m burnt cow-dung ash-mound with cattle bone and Neolithic grey ware
15.1805° N · 76.9005° EKupgal Dolerite Quarry and Rock Art
quarryNeolithic dolerite axe quarry pits with pecked humped-cattle rock art panels
15.1795° N · 76.8995° E