Tokwa
Tokwa Belan Neolithic · Tokwa Mirzapur
Neolithic (5500–3500) → Chalcolithic–copper (3500–1300 BCE)·Vindhyan Belan Neolithic–Chalcolithic (Tokwa culture)·🇮🇳 Uttar Pradesh, Mirzapur District, Lalganj Block, Belan River gorge near Belan–Tons confluence (Vindhya plateau edge), India
About
About Tokwa
Southern Belan Neolithic–Chalcolithic site (c.5000–1300 BCE) at the Vindhya–Ganga junction near the Belan–Tons confluence in Mirzapur district — Tokwa excavated 2000–02 by J.N. Pal and M.C. Gupta (Allahabad University), yielded threefold sequence: early Neolithic cord-impressed hand-made ware with microliths and cattle, then Chalcolithic copper-microlith (4000–1300 BCE) with wheel-made red ware. Famous for charred rice grains with husk (4500 BCE), human burials with micaceous red ware, and evidence of Vindhyan sandstone quarry near rock shelter art, linking rock art hunter foragers to Belan farming.
Why it mattersSouthernmost Belan Neolithic — links Vindhyan rock shelters (Bhimbetka) to Ganga rice villages; shows microlith-rock art forager to farmer continuity.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Rock art–Tokwa contemporaneity?
Theories
- 01Vindhya corridor for Ganga Neolithization (Pal model)
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.5500–5000 BCE earliest Neolithic
- Period
- Neolithic (5500–3500) → Chalcolithic–copper (3500–1300 BCE)
- Culture
- Vindhyan Belan Neolithic–Chalcolithic (Tokwa culture)
- Builders
- Vindhya Neolithic farmers near Belan gorge
- Purpose
- River gorge farming hamlet and microlith-rock art transition node
- Abandoned
- c.1300 BCE (Chalcolithic end)
- Rediscovered
- 2000–02 J.N. Pal Allahabad excavation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.5500–3500 BCE
Neolithic cord-impressed ware with microliths and earliest rice
c.3500–1300 BCE
Chalcolithic copper, red ware, burials
2000–02
Pal excavation; Vindhya quarry sourcing study
On the ground
Structures & features
25.0200° N · 82.4500° E · 115 m · 2 mapped features
Neolithic Hut Levels
settlementCord-impressed ware levels with rice grains and hut floors
25.0205° N · 82.4505° EChalcolithic Burial Area
cemeteryHuman burials with micaceous red ware and copper pin on mound edge
25.0195° N · 82.4495° E