Stone-Age Existence in Arpa River Landscape, Bilaspur Division, Chhattishgarh, India

Priya Sharma

Arpa River is one of the tributary rivers of Shivanath flowing into the Chhattisgarh territory, which has been addressed by many names in Indian mythology. Scholars have promulgated that Arpa, which is cited in the Purana by various names originates from the Shuktimata mountain. People have resided near the banks of the rivers in Dakshin (south) Kosala since the Maurya era till the British era. There have not been many efforts to comprehend the ancient cultural presence in the area. Due to the area's ongoing human habitation, it's possible that no unaltered stratigraphically cultural deposits exist to help us understand the historical arrangement. The authors have attempted to present an elementary cultural sequence in the region based on the recent exploration and data collection obtained from the area of Smriti van (22° 4′ 30.882″ N, 82° 11′ 19.112″ E) located within Bilaspur City. Most of the conclusions provided decent support to establish the foundation for the statement regarding the definite presence of humans in the land, at least from the period of the Middle Palaeolithic. During the exploration, a reasonable number of stone tools have been obtained. The verdict of an ample quantity of microliths in various raw materials also makes it certain about the occurrence of humans. This finding creates a chance for the finding of supplementary such tools in stratigraphic deposits from the non-habitational vicinity of the district.