Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Context_1 : Megalithic markings, Megalithic graffiti marks, Megalithic symbols or Non-Brahmi symbols are terms used to describe markings found on mostly potsherds found in Central India, South India and Sri Lanka during the Megalithic Iron Age period. They are usually found in burial sites but are also found habitation sites as well. They are tentatively dated from 1000 BCE to 300 CE marking the transition of the proto-historic period into the historic period of South Asia. A number of scholars have tried to decipher the symbols since 1878, and currently there is no consensus as to whether they constitute un-deciphered writing or graffiti or symbols without any syllabic or alphabetic meaning. From archaeological stratigraphy, potsherds with and without symbols are usually found at the lowest level, followed by potsherds with mixed symbols and Brahmi or Tamil Brahmi and eventually at the highest level potsherds are only found with Brahmi or Tamil Brahmi etchings. From around 300 CE, they disappear from grave sites. Scholars such as Iravatham Mahadevan have tried to link the symbols directly to Indus Valley script or as derived due to lingering influence, whereas others such as K. Rajan see the symbols as the genesis of the later Brahmi script. Yet many others see no particular alphabetic value in them only as graffiti symbols used for socio-religious purposes. Context_2 : The history of Kalahandi goes back to the primitive period where a well-civilized, urbanized, and cultured people inhabited this land mass around 2000 years ago. The world's largest celt of Stone Age and the largest cemetery of the megalithic age have been discovered in Kalahandi. This shows the region had a civilized culture since the pre-historic era. Asurgarh near Narla in Kalahandi was one of the oldest metropolises in Odisha whereas the other one was Sisupalgarh near Bhubaneswar. Some other historical forts in the region includes Budhigarh (ancient period), Amthagarh (ancient period), Belkhandi (ancient to medieval period) and Dadpur-Jajjaldeypur (medieval period). This land was unconquered by the great Ashoka, who fought the great Kalinga War, as per Ashokan record. In medieval period the region had played a prominent role to link South India, Eastern India and Central India region and witnessed the battle ground for Somavamsi, Chola, Kalachuris of Kalyani and Eastern Ganga dynasty. Kalahandi region was the main route for Chola to attack Subarnapur. Context_3 : Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales and London Museum, Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, and the founder and Honorary Director of the Institute of Archaeology in London, further writing twenty-four books on archaeological subjects. Context_4 : Hire Benakal (or Hirebenakal) is a megalithic site in the state of Karnataka, India. It is among a few Indian megalithic sites dated 800 BCE to 200 BCE which are located 10 km west of Gangavati town in Koppal district and 35 km from Hospet city. It contains roughly 400 megalithic funerary monuments, dated to the transition period between Neolithic and the Iron Age periods. Known locally in the Kannada language as "elu guddagalu," their specific name is "Moryar Gudda" ("gudda", meaning "hill"). Hire Benakal is reported to be the largest necropolis among the 2000 odd megalithic sites found in South India, mostly in Karnataka. Since 1955, it has been under the management of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) within the Dharwad circle. Hire Benakal has been proposed for recognition as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Context_5 : V. D. Krishnaswami (18 January 1905 - 15 July 1970) was an Indian archaeologist who served as Director of the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, the Indian Museum and as Deputy Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India. He is known for his pioneering work in unearthing Stone Age and megalithic sites in South India, especially those around Madras city in the 1940s and 1950s along with Mortimer Wheeler. Context_6 : David Hilary Trump (1931 – August 31, 2016) was a British archaeologist known for his work in the area of Maltese prehistory. In 1954, Trump helped John Davies Evans excavate at Ġgantija. He took part in the excavation of many important sites in Maltese prehistory, including the Skorba Temples and Xagħra Stone Circle . From 1958-1963, he was a curator at the National Museum of Archaeology, Malta. He retired in 1997. He was awarded the National Order of Merit by Malta in 2004. Context_7 : The South Asian Stone Age covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in South Asia. Evidence for the most ancient anatomically modern "Homo sapiens" in South Asia has been found in the cave sites of Batadombalena and Belilena in Sri Lanka. In Mehrgarh, in what is today western Pakistan, the Neolithic began c. 7000 BCE and lasted until 3300 BCE and the first beginnings of the Bronze Age. In South India, the Mesolithic lasted until 3000 BCE, and the Neolithic until 1400 BCE, followed by a Megalithic transitional period mostly skipping the Bronze Age. The Iron Age began roughly simultaneously in North and South India, around c. 1200 to 1000 BCE (Painted Grey Ware culture, Hallur). Context_8 : The simple dolmen (German: "Urdolmen" , literally "ancient dolmen") or primeval dolmen is an early form of dolmen or megalithic tomb that occurs especially in Northern Europe. The term was defined by archaeologist, Ernst Sprockhoff, and utilised by Ewald Schuldt in publicising his excavation of 106 megalithic sites in the north German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The simple dolmen emerged in the early days of the development of megalithic monuments of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK) and around 3,500 BC they appeared across almost the entire region covered by the stone cult structures of Nordic megalith architecture, but not in the Netherlands, in Lower Saxony west of the River Weser nor east of the River Oder and only once in Sweden (Lejeby Laholm). Context_9 : Bejsebakke or Sorthøj is a locality in Ansgar Parish, Fleskum Herred, Aalborg Municipality, Denmark where traces of prehistoric settlements from both the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age were found. The area have been archaeologically excavated two times. In 1958 an excavation was conducted by the National Museum of Denmark and in the years 1999 and 2000 by the Aalborg Historical Museum. This excavation was found among other traces more than 350 pit houses and 40-50 large houses from the Iron Age. The area is also rich in relics of the Stone Age flint mines. Context_10 : Kodayanallur Vadamamalachery Soundararajan (born 17 February 1925) is an Indian archaeologist who served as Superintendent of the Chennai circle and later, a Joint Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. He was known for his pioneering work in excavating Stone Age and megalithic sites of South India along with Mortimer Wheeler and V. D. Krishnaswami in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Some of the sites excavated by Soundararajan include Sanur (near Chengalpattu) (1950), Kundrathur (1955–56), Perur (1970–71), Malayamputtu (1970–71) and Poompuhar (1970–71, 1973–74). fact_1 :  He was known for his pioneering work in excavating Stone Age and megalithic sites of South India along with Mortimer Wheeler and V. D. Krishnaswami in the late 1940s and the 1950s. fact_2 : Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Question: Who was this British archaeologist and officer in the British Army contributed to the excavation of Stone Age and megalithic sites of South India with K. V. Soundararajan?
Output (English): Mortimer Wheeler