Pr ade e p k. Be h e r a an d Pr an a b k c h at toPadh YaY

Iron Age – early historic period in Eastern 
India. A study in material culture and 
technology: evidence from the site of 
Badmal-Asurgarh, District Sambalpur, 
Orissa, India 
Pradeep K. Behera and Pranab K. Chattopadhyay
ABSTRACT
:
 
Badmal-asurgarh is a fortified settlement of the iron age-early historic period (c. early 1
st
millennium B.c. 
to 2
nd
century B.c.) located in the middle Mahanadi valley region of orissa highlands in eastern india. Situated on the left 
bank of the 
Harihar
stream, which is a minor tributary of the river Mahanadi, the site spreads over an area of about four 
hectares and is bounded by a lozenge-shaped earth rampart-and-moat with three passage ways. the available radiocarbon 
dates, stratigraphic contexts and a careful study of changes in the ceramic and other cultural assemblages, revealed two 
broad periods of human habitations, viz. iron age and early historic. the earliest settlers, whose subsistence economy 
was mainly based on limited farming, animal husbandry and hunting-gathering, had definite knowledge of iron technology, 
though its use was restricted to a few hunting weapons. after a brief period of settlement desertion, the site was reoccupied 
during the early historic period and rose to prominence as a bead manufacturing centre in this part of the orissa highlands. 
domestic trade was perhaps one of the important factors in this process of development. our study has revealed that, in 
addition to locally available gem resources for manufacturing beads for regional and extra-regional trade or exchange, the 
bead workers of Badmal also imported 
cowry
shells and finished items of onyx and coral from more distant places. iron 
played a catalytic role in the development of the specialised bead industry at the site, as attested to by the iron tools that 
were employed to craft the beads. the present study appears to suggest that, in exchange for finished beads, the settlers 
were importing iron objects of improved quality, as well as other raw materials, such as banded-hematite-red-jasper, agate, 
etc. from multiple sources for facilitating large-scale bead production. however, it is much too early to arrive at any firm 
conclusions on the basis of this preliminary study. More intensive investigations from multidisciplinary perspectives are 
required to understand the formation processes at Badmal and its spatio-temporal roles in the middle Mahanadi valley 
region and beyond. 
Keywords
: Badmal, middle Mahanadi Valley, iron technology, beads, PiXe, trade, micro-alloy.

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i ron age – e ar LY h i Stor i c Pe r i od i n e a Ste r n i n di a . a St u dY i n M ate r i aL c u Lt u r e an d tec h n o Lo gY: 
eV i de n c e FroM th e Site oF B adM aL -a Su rgar h, di Str i c t Sa MB aL P u r , or i SSa , i n di a 
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delta and the rusikulya river system; and the littoral areas. 
thus, the region of orissa included distinct environments 
to which the early historic settlers adapted. the distribution 
pattern of these settlements appears to suggest that, in addition 
to the latter two environmental zones, highlands were also 
preferred; obviously due to the availability of rich and varied 
mineral resources and a wide spectrum of subsistence-related 
forest products. our survey in the middle Mahanadi Valley 
alone identified thirty-four early historic sites associated with 
black-and-red ware pottery. Most of these also contain iron 
age deposits (Behera, 2002-2003).