SETTLEMENT PATTERN AND THE SPATIAL-ORGANIZATION OF SUBSISTENCE AND MORTUARY PRACTICES IN THE MESOLITHIC GANGES VALLEY, NORTH-CENTRAL INDIA

This article evaluates a cross-cultural archaeological model linking t he rise of formal cemeteries among hunter-gatherers to subsistence and settlement patterns, using the Mesolithic of the Ganges valley as a c ase study. Faunal data, including ageable deer teeth, and grave orient ation in relation to solar variation suggest that the sites of Mahadah a and Damdama were logistically organized and residentially stable. Th e archaeological evidence thus supports the Saxe-Goldstein formulation on the interrelationship between cemeteries and corporate group right s to crucial resources (aquatic resources in the Gangetic case). It is suggested that this economic appoach should be complemented by an und erstanding based on cultural beliefs of past societies.