pottery and underlying this culture escape the fact AUTHORS OF EARLY TAMIL CULTURE 21 race went so far unchallenged, the theory had almost become accepted as a fact. The task of challenging this theory had fallen to me. Even those who believe in the theory of Dravidian immigrants to South India cannot escape the fact of the unity underlying this culture. In two things, pottery and burial types, more than others, this unity is well reflected. I crave your indulgence to place these before you as briefly as possible. First, take pottery. Of all the industrial arts which enriched South Indian culture from lithic times is the ceramic, which forms a foothold to start with. Four ages can be distinguished: the Neolithic, the overlap of the Stone and Iron Ages, the Iron Age proper and post-Iron Age (generally called Proto-historic Age.) The typical neolithic pottery is dull in colour, and rough in surface, The pottery of the Iron Age proper shows fast colour and polished surface, with artistic mouldings. One peculiarity of early South Indian pottery was absence of paintings of human figures on vessels and the vases. But in the Nilgiris, a number or earthenware figures were found. These constituted human as well as animal figurines. The barrows of the Nilgris show evidence of wheel thrown with round or conical bases, bearing unpressed marks, moulded bands and ribs. In the Deccan, pots with leaf patterns, melon bowls, vessels with floral designs were recovered. We have both plain and decorated pottery. We have also hand-made and probably rarely wheel-made ones. It has been admitted that before the impact of Sanskrit
