DRAVIDIAN, a name only applied in Indian usage to the "Southern" group of the Brahmans q.v. But "Dravidian" is applied, unfortunately, to the indigenous peoples of India south of the Vindhyas and the northern half of Ceylon; it should be confined to the languages of this area. At least four different stocks have contributed elements in their population. The earliest is dark, short, with wavy hair, broad noses and long heads, so that some have detected affinities with Negroids. This stock, represented by Kadirs and Kurumbas, is akin to the Veddas and to Australian peoples and to the Semang and Sakai (see FURTHER AsIA). Other elements are physically distinct and we have in the Nambutiri Brahmans the purest Aryan stock. The range of culture is equally wide. The Dravidians occupy the oldest geo logical formation in India, the medley of forest-clad ranges, ter raced plateaux, and undulating plains, from the Vindhyas to Cape Comorin, and among them we find the construction of dolmens, the use of the boomerang, kinship in the female line, totemism and many primitive usages. But in the same are found a high degree of civilization, with a remarkable literature and evidence of artistic skill.