Carlyle Coll.Stone Age

Archibald Campbell Carlyle (or Carlleyle) was an assistant to the Archaeological Survey of India from 1871 to 1885. Although employed to record the ancient monuments of the Central Provinces, his personal interest resided in the Stone Age prehistory of the subcontinent. In this sphere, he pursued his research with remarkable independence and at great personal cost, collecting and excavating over 2000 stone artefacts from sites dating from the Palaeolithic to the Chalcolithic ages. A catalogue of his collection is published here for the first time. Assessments of its strengths and weaknesses are provided by a biography of Carlyle and a history of the collections, followed by a survey of the Stone Age archaeology of Central India to place it in context and measure its modern relevance. A glossary describes the types of tools recognised in the catalogue and appendices list Carlyle material held in the other museums in Britain and Ireland, as well as all the lithic collections from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka curated by the British Museum. This paper contains material relevant to those interested in the history of archaeology and Indian prehistory in general and in stone artefacts in particular. It also incorporates much useful source information for those engaged in research on the Stone Age of South Asia. Both text and catalogue are illustrated with maps and line drawings of the artefacts.