Senuwar Bihar Neolithic Mound
Senuwar Neolithic Site · Kaimur Senuwar
Neolithic 2300–1500 → Chalcolithic 1500–600 BCE → NBPW 600 BCE·Kaimur Neolithic–Chalcolithic — Vindhyan–Gangetic transition·🇮🇳 Bihar, Rohtas District, Kaimur Range southern Bihar plateau, Senuwar village near Mohania, Son River valley, India
About
About Senuwar Bihar Neolithic Mound
Senuwar Bihar Neolithic Mound — Neolithic–Chalcolithic village (2300–600 BCE) on Kaimur plateau edge near Son River, excavated 1986–91 by B.P. Singh (BHU). Senuwar revealed Neolithic Period I (cord-impressed ware, rice phytoliths) → Chalcolithic Period II (Black-and-Red, copper, ring-pit houses) → NBPW Early Historic 600 BCE. Evidence of Neolithic rice agriculture (Oryza sativa) earliest in mid-Gangetic, with double crop and animal domestication. Ring-pit and post-hole houses, hearths, and 3-m deposit control strategic Son–Kaimur ecotone linking Gangetic to Vindhyan Neolithic.
Why it mattersGangetic Neolithic rice type-site — earliest mid-Gangetic rice phytoliths linking Vindhyan and Gangetic Neolithic
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Single or double rice domestication at Senuwar?
Theories
- 01Kaimur ecotone as rice diffusion corridor
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.2300 BCE Neolithic Senuwar I
- Period
- Neolithic 2300–1500 → Chalcolithic 1500–600 BCE → NBPW 600 BCE
- Culture
- Kaimur Neolithic–Chalcolithic — Vindhyan–Gangetic transition
- Builders
- Kaimur Neolithic farmers (rice cultivators)
- Purpose
- Ecotone farming hamlet documenting rice domestication in mid-Gangetic Kaimur
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.2300 BCE
Neolithic cord-impressed farming hamlet founded
c.1500 BCE
Chalcolithic Black-and-Red with copper
1986–91
Singh (BHU) excavations reveal ring pits and rice
On the ground
Structures & features
25.1500° N · 83.5800° E · 110 m · 2 mapped features
Northern Neolithic Ring-Pit Cluster
settlementNeolithic ring-pit houses with cord-impressed floor on northern mound
25.1510° N · 83.5810° ESouthern Chalcolithic Hearth Area
hearthChalcolithic Black-and-Red hearths and copper working on southern toe
25.1490° N · 83.5790° E