Utnur Excavations

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Introduction The excavation which forms the subject of this report was done while my wife and I were on a field trip to India and I was on study leave from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The summer months of 1957 were spent in exploration in Raichur. Bellary, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar and neighbouring districts and indicated to us that the ash mound at Utnur was the most promising site of that class for excavation. At this stage I should like to acknowledge my gratitude to the former Director of Archaeology of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. P. Srinivasachar, who who generously suggested that his Department should under- take an excavation at the site under my technical direction. This arrangement was similar to that which we had made for our excavations at Piklihal in 1952. I proposed that the excavation should be of modest scale and an expenditure of about Rs. 1,500 was agreed upon. Accordingly the work was undertaken in the months of August and September, 1957. The peculiar nature of the site had made it all along probable that its interest would not lie in the quantity or quality of finds and our expectation was fully justified. Accordingly the entire study of the materials, drawing and photography was done, at least in preliminary form, while we were in Hyderabad during the autumn and winter of 1957-58.

Acknowledgements Once again I must express my deep gratitude to all members of the staff of the Andhra Pradesh Archaeological Department for their kind and continuing assistance. I must in particular mention Syed Ahmed, the Excavation Assistant, upon whom a great part of the administration and field work fell. Without his help the excavation could not have been so successful. Also I wish to mention the work of Aminuddin who was responsible for the preservation and lifting of the cattle the floor of the carliest level of the site. I should also like hoof-impressions from the floor to express my gratitude to Sri N. Ramesan M.A.1.4.5., the present Director of Archaeology in Andhra Pradesh for the help he has given me in preparing this report for the press. I must also acknowledge the help of the British Museum Laboratory in testing a charcoal sample. Finally I must thank my wife for her continuing help in both field and publication.