Stone age hammer discovered on the outskirts of Hyderabad at Athvelly in Medal district | Express photo
HYDERABAD: What do we know about Hyderabad’s or Telangana’s ancient history, beyond stories of Qutb Shahis, Nizams, Kakatiyas or Satavahanas? Maybe reports of megalithic burials from iron age being discovered in the State.
But now, archeologists have found a hand axe and hammer stone from a place just outside Hyderabad that they believe is from the stone age—the paleolithic era. The tools, that were found at Athvelly which lies about 35 km away from the city in Medchal district, indicate that there’s much left to be explored about Telangana’s history.
The tools were found by E Sai Krishna of Hyderabad, a Ph.D scholar in Archaeology from Deccan College in Pune and an Assistant Archaeologist with Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) in the Amravati circle. Krishna showed his findings to Dr K Padayya, Emeritus Professor at Deccan College, a Padma Shri awardee and expert in Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures of the Deccan.
When contacted by Express, Dr Padayya said: “Findings of Krishna are actually stray discoveries as they do not belong to a regular site. However, it is an important beginning because these findings hint at fact that the area is rich in paleolithic archaeology. Speaking to Express, Krishna said, “I am interested to find out more about the prehistory of Hyderabad and surrounding districts.”
