Kudatini (Ash Mound)
Kudutini Ash Mound · Kudatini Southern Neolithic
Southern Neolithic 2800–1200 BCE → Megalithic 1000 BCE·Southern Neolithic Ash Mound → Megalithic·🇮🇳 Karnataka, Ballari District, Kudatini village near Ballari–Anantapur road (Bellary ash mound band with Sanganakallu and Budihal), India
About
About Kudatini (Ash Mound)
Giant Southern Neolithic ash mound (c.2800–1200 BCE) at Kudatini in Ballari — 15 m high scorched dung heap (120×100 m base), among tallest in Karnataka together with Kupgal–Sanganakallu belt; excavated by T.R. Anil and Deccan College, Kudatini shows three superimposed burnt dung lenses with interspersed Sanganakallu-type pottery and Neolithic grey ware, proving multi-generational repeat burning by same pastoral lineage. Kudatini is unique with outer megalithic stone circle (14 m diameter) on ash mound summit — ash rite re-used as ancestral burial after pastoral abandonment, direct ancestry to Iron Age megalithic.
Why it mattersOne of tallest ash mounds — three-lens sequence + summit megalithic circle proves direct Southern Neolithic→Megalithic ancestry ritual.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why re-use sacred ash hill for Iron Age burial after 300-year gap?
Theories
- 01Lineage ash monument → ancestor hill; pastoral mobility anchor
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.2800 BCE First burn lens; peak 2000–1400 BCE
- Period
- Southern Neolithic 2800–1200 BCE → Megalithic 1000 BCE
- Culture
- Southern Neolithic Ash Mound → Megalithic
- Builders
- Bellary pastoralists → Megalithic clan reoccupants
- Purpose
- Cyclical dung-firing monument and later ancestor-cult summit circle
- Abandoned
- c.1200 BCE pastoral shift; circle added 900 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1970s Ballari ash mound mapping; 2010 Deccan College sondage
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2800–1400 BCE
Three ash burn episodes with vitrified cones
c.900 BCE
14 m megalithic circle erected on summit — ancestry reuse
2010
Deccan College GPR and sampling
On the ground
Structures & features
15.0200° N · 76.7500° E · 450 m · 2 mapped features
Central Three-Lens Ash Cone (15 m)
moundThree superimposed vitrified dung burn lenses 2–3 m thick with grey ware
15.0205° N · 76.7505° ESummit Megalithic Stone Circle (14 m)
megalithic14 m diameter stone circle with 12 megalithic orthostats on ash summit
15.0195° N · 76.7495° E