|
 |
|
 |
|
|
| Archaeological
Explorations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Archaeological
Explorations -Exploration
in district Chandauli... |
|
| Introduction |
|
• |
Ancient sites
of the area: Location and Documentation |
|
|
| Project Director |
|
• |
RakeshTewari
assisted by G.C. Singh, Directorate of Archaeology, Lucknow |
• |
Purushottam
Singh (1999-2000) . Vibha Tripathi, Ravindra N. Singh,
Department of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology,
Banaras Hindu University |
|
|
| Objective of the Project and Outcome |
|
• |
The objectives
of this project are to review the antiquity of the previously
reported sites in the light of the results of the Malhar
excavation which has revealed a habitation deposit of
about 2200 BC and evidence for iron smelting dating back
to about 1800 BC; to locate ancient sites which may have
similarities with Malhar; to have an idea of the present
condition of the previously reported sites, and to locate
and record the left out sites of the area. |
• |
The investigations
carried out during the first season (1999-2000) have revealed
that the southern part of Chandauli district comprising
Vindhyan plateau was inhabited by the Epi-Palaeolithic
or Upper Palaeolithic people. Chalcolithic and early Iron
Age human activities were confined to the river banks
in the plain area plateau area . Evidence for smelting
of iron has been found at a site called Phakkada Baba
located within the Moosakhand dam. On comparative basis
it appeared contemporary to that of Period II of Malhar
(c. 1800 BC). An extensive site extending over an area
of about one km was located a tNaugary on the left bank
of Karamnasa River. This site is especially notable for
comprising hundreds of heaps of iron slags, which often
show plans of damaged earthen furnaces. Apparently this
place would have been a workshop site for the large-scale
production of iron and its export to other areas. However,
it was not as early as Malhar. The presence of black slipped
ware and NBPW in association of iron slag indicates that
it may be placed somewhere around BC 700. Some small sites,
however, of later periods also showed evidence for iron
smelting. |
• |
An extensive
huge mound, located at Nindaur in Bihar in the area bordering
Chandauli district in the east, is very significant in
the context of ancient routes because it is on the alignment
of ancient Varanasi and Pataliputra. Its extent, height
and other features show that it would have been, in all
probability, an administrative and trade centre. A settlement
of such extent, at a distance of only about 60 km to the
south east of Varanasi, needs further investigations because
at the present state of knowledge we have no idea about
any ancient city existing in the vicinity of Varanasi. |
|
|
| Research Aims and Emerging Results |
|
• |
The
Gangetic plain is more than half-a-million
sq. km of alluvium below the outer arc of
the Himalayas and to the north of the northeastern
segment of the geologically old Indian Peninsula.
The aim of this project is to understand
the long-term settlement history of the
valley with reference to the locations of
sites and the inferences which may be drawn
on that basis about land-use, plateau-valley
interaction, routes and textually known
ancient political territories. There is
now a greater urgency for recording the
archaeological details of the Indian countryside
where population pressure is increasingly
leading to disappearance / destruction of
archaeological evidence. Some of these sites
have not been explored since the nineteenth
century. |
• |
The
still overwhelmingly pre-industrial character
of agriculture in the valley offers some
scope for inferences regarding the general
character of ancient land use. Current day
cultivation / crop patterns and related
information available from Revenue records
provide some basis for inferring earlier
land use patterns. For instance, we now
know that farmers in the third and second
millennia B.C. in the West Bengal and Bihar
sections of the valley showed a preference
for locations either on river-banks or in
close proximity of low-lying lands. The
nature of interaction between the valley
and the adjoining plateau sections can be
appreciated from the study of surface scatters
of valley sites. This opens up the issue
of trade and it has been possible to infer
that this trade was both at the local level
extending up to distances of 300--400 km.
During the historic period in the deltaic
portion of West Bengal this trade included
maritime contacts with the Mediterranean
and southeast Asia, leading to the establishment
of more than ten major urban centres in this section. The mode of investigation
of ancient routes is the location and alignment
of sites in an area and the historical and
ethnographic documentation of the routes
of that area. Political units have been
mentioned in ancient texts, and this survey
tries to understand the major geographical
markers which could have served as delimitations
to such political constituencies. |
|
|
| Publications |
|
• |
Singh, P.,
R. Tewari, R.N. Singh 2000.' Exploration in Chandauli
District (U.P.) 1999-2000: A Preliminary Report'Pragdhara .10, pp. 135-48. |
• |
Tewari, Rakesh
1998. 'In Quest of Early Iron Age Sites in Karamnasa Valley', Pragdhara .8, pp. 57-67. |
• |
2000. 'Phakkada
Baba: Another Protohistoric Site in Karamnasa Valley', Pragdhara. 10, pp. 99-107. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
