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<< News >> 'Rakhigarhi is the largest Harappan site ever found’

Submitted by coldrum on Saturday, 03 March 2007  Page Views: 10810

Multi-periodCountry: India Type: Ancient Village or Settlement

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THE excavations in Rakhigarhi, situated in Hisar, Haryana, have pushed back the history of civilisation by more than 500 years. “It is the largest Harappan site ever found,” said the director of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), New Delhi, Dr Amerendra Nath, while delivering a lecture on ‘Rakhigarhi - A Harappan Metropolis’ at the ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, today. The lecture was organised by the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, PU.

“The site yielded finds of the early Harappan and mature Harappan phase,” said Dr Nath. He said that features like knowledgeof writing, use of wedge-shaped bricks and town planning, earlier thought to be present in the mature phase i.e 2500 BC, were discovered to be present in the early phase i.e 3000 BC. Evidence of well-planned towns were found, he said.

Dr Nath designated two periods in the early Harappan phase — pre-formative and formative. “The pre-formative period yielded circular structures and showed no formal planning. Whereas, the formative period exhibited planned structures. Burnt bricks were much in use during the early Harappan phase,” said Dr Nath.

The mature Harappan phase yielded a granary, with evidence of grain, fire altars and potters kiln. There was evidence of various crafts such as bead- making, bangle making, seal manufacturing, gold making, carpentry and terracotta making, practised by the people. Fish hooks were also discovered, pointing to the fact that the people practised fishing. Mirrors, tops, whistles arrowheads, rattles and tops were found. There is evidence to show that hopscotch was also played.

Dr Nath said this site is very rich in antiquities and extensive excavations in future can throw more light on various debatable issues. He however added that limited excavation was taken up because people are residing on the area.

The ASI has compiled a catalogue of symbols occurring in the Harappan context. The other projects include refurbishing of museums, preparing plans for management of World Heritage sites and undertaking conservation projects. Some projects are also in progress in Cambodia and Pakistan.

Prof Devendra Handa in his presidential remarks stressed on the need to excavate the site on a larger scale, which would acquaint us with detailed picture of this site and broader picture of rich Harappan civilisation.

Chairman of AIHC and Archaeology, Prof Ashvini Agrawal also spoke on the occasion.

expressindia.
Contributor Bio for coldrum: Based in Milkyway, contributing since 2002. Favourite site: Avebury.

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"'Rakhigarhi is the largest Harappan site ever found’" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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TN families fear eviction from 'protected' areas by coldrum on Sunday, 23 October 2011
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TN families fear eviction from 'protected' areas

Thousands of families in the Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts are in a state of panic. They can neither sell nor acquire property here; neither can they make alterations to their houses. They even face the dark prospect of being evicted as many areas have been labelled 'protected' by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The locals are believed to be squatting on 2,000-year-old 'megalithic' sites, with a rich ancient heritage beneath the ground.

There is proof to indicate that at least 24 megalithic sites, with burial chambers and other structures, are located in the region, say archaeological experts. But residents claim they were informed about an 18-year-old legislation freezing constructions in these areas, spread over 24 local bodies, only recently.

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, which was amended in 1992 and again in 2010, prohibits constructions within a radius of 100 metres of protected areas. No-objection certificates are required from a competent authority — the commissioner of the department of archaeology — for constructions, reconstructions, repairs or renovations in the regulated areas, which fall within the further 200-metre radius around the protected area.

"Under the amended law, certain heritage protection bylaws should be put in place and this will happen only after the setting up of the national monument authority. Only then can we take up individual applications," T S Sridhar, commissioner, department of archaeology, told TOI. Under the law, any violation would attract a fine of `1 lakh and imprisonment up to a maximum period of two years. The law is more stringent for officials who fail to take proper action in stopping illegal constructions. They face a jail term of three years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

Read more: TN families fear eviction from 'protected' areas - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/TN-families-fear-eviction-from-protected-areas/articleshow/7026129.cms#ixzz13LLbkUyl
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City archaeologists discover Harappan graves by coldrum on Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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City archaeologists discover Harappan graves

team of archaeologists from the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute
is back from Haryana where they stumbled upon a
record 70 Harappan graves at a site in Farmana, discovering the largest burial site of this civilisation in India so far.

The excavation proved one of the biggest breakthroughs in South Asian history and is now listed for World Heritage status conferred by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

It is an extraordinary archaeological finding. A big housing complex that matured during the Harappan era was discovered by these archaeologists who have been working in this little known village for the past three years.

Speaking to TOI, Vasant Shinde, joint director of Deccan College and project director, said, "The excavation was on for a while, but only this year the magnitude of the site could be understood, expanding from a mere seven graves to 70 graves. Our objective, however, is to find out how development took place among the Harappans. Scholars talk about change in the Harappan civilisation but nobody knows how it happened. Such a large burial will definitely help us find answers to all these questions."

The archaeological team here uncovered an entire town plan. The skeletal remains belong to an era between 2500 BC to 2000 BC. This is when the civilisation prospered the most. "The remains will help us understand where the Harappans came from and why their sophisticated and urbanised culture collapsed. We will also be conducting scientific tests on the remains that we have found which will also give us clues on the Harappan life. In fact, a DNA test will also be conducted on the skeleton which will answer questions on their habitat and what they ate, whether they were vegetarians or non-vegetarians from the amount of zinc, copper, magnese found in the bones through this test."

While Deccan College has a major share in this excavation, two other institutes - the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, have also been involved with this project since inception. In fact, the DNA tests will be carried out in Japan.

A total of 80 to 100 archaeologists and students have been working on this site which includes 40 students. The entire team has so far excavated one complex which has 26 rooms, 3 to 4 kitchens, an equal number of bathrooms and a courtyard in the centre. The size of the rooms vary from 6x6 to 16x20.

Nilesh Jadhav, a Phd student from the Deccan College, involved in this project since the beginning, said, "This particular project will be highly useful for us in our research work. We have learnt a lot during our excavation especially the orientation of the Harappan civilisation, the journey from beginning to the time."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/City-archaeologists-discover-Harappan-graves/articleshow/4376788.cms
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Radiocarbon dating puts Pattanam antiquity to first millennium BC by coldrum on Tuesday, 20 May 2008
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The radiocarbon analysis at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, has put the antiquity of Pattanam to the first millennium BC.

What is more, the studies suggest that the canoe found in a water-logged trench at Pattanam canoe could be the earliest known canoe in India.

The five samples that were analysed include charcoal samples and parts of the wooden canoe and bollards recovered from trenches.

The mean calendar dates of these five samples place the antiquity of ancient maritime activity of Pattanam at about 500 BC.

The artefacts have revealed that the site had links with the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and South China Sea rims since the Early Historic Period of South India.

"Pattanam is the first habitation site of the Iron Age ever unearthed in Kerala. Since previous enquiries were confined to megalithic burials, no firm dates were available for the Iron Age, except a few like Mangadu (circa 1000 BC) and unnoni,” said P.J. Cherian, project director of Pattanam excavations.

The radiocarbon dates from Pattanam is therefore expected to help in understanding the Iron Age chronology of Kerala.

This is for the first time in the state, that radiocarbon analysis was done using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for an archaeological site.

This scientific dating was crucial for understanding the cultural sequence of the multi-cultural site which was active since the Iron Age.

The AMS analysis was undertaken by the scientists of the AMS Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, Orissa led by G.V. Ravi Prasad and Koushik Dutta.

The wood was identified as Artocarpus hirsutus (Anjily wood) and Tectona grandis (Teak wood), by the scientists of Kerala Forest Research Institute, Thrissur.

“The indigenous people seems to have settled on the site during the Iron Age when this area was covered by beach sand. The occupation has been sparse and the sand deposit has mostly black-and-red ware and other typical `megalithic’ pottery,” P.J Cherian.

The Archaeological Survey of India has granted licence to Project Director P.J. Cherian for a second consecutive season and the work is scheduled to begin in February 2008.

Besides the excavation activities at Pattanam, the licences are for archaeological exploration within 50 km around Kodungallur and underwater explorations in the water-bodies within 20 km radius.

The project undertaken by the KCHR in collaboration with the Southern Naval Command and State Archaeology Department will have K.Rajan of Pondicherry University, V.Selvakumar of Tamil University and K.P. Shajan as co-directors.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20080108221834&Page=O&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0
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