Ancient Harappan-era skeletons found in Haryana

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...d-treasures-in-ap-village/article22916450.ece


Megalithic site in West Godavari will be flooded by Polavaram

A small village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh is yielding clues to life in the region some 3,000 years ago. The State Archaeology department has dug up artefacts from burial sites here dating back to 1000 B.C. and the megalithic era. However, it faces a challenge: to complete the excavations early because the area will be flooded by the Polavaram project.

Rudramkota in Velperupeta mandal of West Godavari district has so far yielded human figures, terracotta figurines, and red and black pottery, from a dolmen burial.

There are over 150 graves here, and the area first came to prominence in 1992. The excavations gathered pace last year when the A.P. government said it wanted to complete the Polavaram project in 2019. Rudramkota is scheduled to go underwater.

The Commissioner, Department of Archaeology and Museums, G. Vani Mohan, said the objects would be sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology to determine their antiquity through carbon dating. Closer study would yield insights into the lifestyle of the megalithic period, she said.

The artefacts found include charred bones, seeds, beads of crystal and stones like chalcedony, carnelian and steatite. There are pointers to social life, such as a dagger, broken parts of a javelin, two ploughs, legged pottery and urns, besides red and black pottery.

More in store

The quest for antiquities covers many villages, promising a bigger trove. Besides Rudramkota, there are Rayanapeta, Chinamettapalli and Jinnelagudem (all in East Godavari).

Partnering the department is Deccan College, Pune. The current excavations launched in November will go on till April 2018, the Commissioner said.

Rudramkota is one of the biggest megalithic excavations, said Deputy Director (Technical) at the Archaeology department N. Mallikarjuna Rao.

The government gave ₹50 lakh for excavation, ₹2 crore to shift two temples, and ₹60 lakh to move idols.

 

[Hindustani78]

Photos: Excavation at Purana Qila unearths new chapter in Delhi history
Mar 19, 2018 11:06 IST

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A sampling of the simple grey and simple red ware pottery unearthed recently. Although PGW artefacts were found this time also, a stratified PGW layer remains elusive. Even if discovered, historians say that it would link Purana Qila to the other sites in a shared material culture rather than prove Indraprastha’s existence or the veracity of the Mahabharata texts. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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With archaeology concerned more about the textures of everyday culture and not usually individuals or specific events, the discovery of the fabled-city remains to be seen. What the team digging at Purana Qila is managing to do though is add another incremental chapter to Delhi’s long history –in itself cause for excitement. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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Where Delhi is often described as a city going back to the Mahabharata, the remains seen in the shape of architectural evidence are mostly from the medieval era onwards. The citadel of Purana Qila or Old Fort attributed to Sher Shah is one site in the city where archaeologists observe a continuous history of 2500 years. Fresh finds here now push the history of Delhi back another 300 years. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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Excavations by archaeologist BB Lal in the 1950s at sites mentioned in the Mahabharata revealed painted grey ware (PGW) pottery dating to 1200 – 800 BCE, tying the sites culturally, and evidence of a flood that destroyed Hastinapur around 800 BCE like the Mahabharata legend. While odd pieces of the pottery were found at Purana Qila, no specific PGW layer has been found to date it back to the Puranic Indraprastha. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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Previous digs in the 1970s and 2013-14 reached as far back as the Mauryan Era – 4th to 2nd century BCE. The ongoing excavations this year have uncovered a layer of simple grey ware and simple red ware, below the layer of Mauryan-era artefacts, which shows the presence of a pre-Mauryan settlement here at the time of the 16 Mahajanapadas or kingdoms. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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Each period in history is identified by its pottery and other associated ware or structural forms. The Mauryan era is identified by its Northern Black Polished Ware and the typical Mauryan-era ring wells seen here at Purana Qila. Though the newly unearthed pottery hasn’t been carbon dated, early estimates peg it to 6th to 4th century BCE adding another 300 years of established settlement. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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Histories of Delhi usually count seven cities beginning with Indraprastha and jump nearly 2,000 years to the 8th century AD Tomara Rajput settlements of Anangpur and Lal Kot. Finds like this and older Stone Age evidence from Delhi Ridge help fill the gaps in charting that while not always a political capital, human settlements, if only rural in nature, have dotted the region. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)

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A sampling of the simple grey and simple red ware pottery unearthed recently. Although PGW artefacts were found this time also, a stratified PGW layer remains elusive. Even if discovered, historians say that it would link Purana Qila to the other sites in a shared material culture rather than prove Indraprastha’s existence or the veracity of the Mahabharata texts. (Arvind Yadav / HT Photo)