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| Archaeological
Excavation |
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| Archaeological
Excavation -Village-to-Village
Exploration, district Mirzapur.. |
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| Project Director |
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Rakesh Tewari,
Directorate of Archaeology Uttar Pradesh, Roshan-ud-daula
Kothi, Lucknow 226 001 |
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P. C. Pant,
Former Prof. in Prehistory, BHU, 10, Amaravati Colony,
Sarvodaya Nagar, Lucknow 226 016 |
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I. B. Singh,
Department of Geology, Lucknow University, Lucknow 226
007. |
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| Collaboration |
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S. Sharma
and M. Sharma, Department of Geology, Lucknow University,
Lucknow 226 007. |
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P. Srivastava,
A. K. Singhvi, and P.K. Mishra, Physical Research Laboratory,
Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 280 009 |
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H. J. Tobschall,
Institute for Geology and Mineralogy, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg,
D - 91054, Erlangen, Germany |
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| Excavation Team |
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R.K. Srivastava,
Ram Vinay, S.K. Dubey, G.C. Singh, Rajiv Trivedi, Ram
Gopal Mishra, Balram Krishna, M.M. Dimri, Directorate
of Archaeology Uttar Pradesh. |
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| Project Phase |
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| Research Aim and Current Resaerch |
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The Ganga
Plain, presently one of the most densely populated areas
of India has a large number of archaeological sites, mostly
dating back to about 2500 - 3500 years before present.
Until about three decades ago it was believed that the
Ganga Plain was unsuitable for the Stone Age human habitation.
The discovery of a series of supposedly epi-Palaeolithic
and Mesolithic sites in Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Jaunpur
and Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh belied the above
observation and the scholars in general seemed to have
accepted the hypothesis that the Stone Age people of the
Vindhyan area migrated towards north in search of food
during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene periods. |
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However, the
occurrence of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic human activity
in the Ganga Plain has been beyond the imagination of
scholars particularly because of the monotonous spread
of alluvium mostly devoid of suitable stones, the raw
material for manufacturing implements. The meticulous
field investigations carried out by the team of the Department
of Geology, Lucknow University into the sediments of the
Yamuna river-section between the railway and road bridges
near Kalpi, District Jalaun during the last five years
have proved beyond doubt that human groups occupied the
region around 45,000 years before present. Moreover, as
per the observations of this team, the stone and bone
implements occur in a definite stratigraphic horizon,
which has been dated by various absolute dating methods.
This artefacts yielding horizon is present in Event II
which also produced a variety of vertebrate faunal remains,
namely elephant tusk, shoulder blade of elephant, molars
of equus, bovids, bos etc. which seem to suggest a humid
climate during deposition of this horizon. |
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The vertebrate
fossil fauna has been reported from the river-sections
of both the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers since the earlier
half of the nineteenth century. Most of these discoveries
may be labelled as stray though significant findings,
not involving any sincere efforts to reconstruct the depositional
history, environment and palaeoecology of the deposits
and their fauna. The age assignments to these deposits
were vague and tentative. Nor any effort appears to have
been made to determine the significance of the fauna in
the wider perspective of the alluvial deposits of the
Ganga and the Yamuna rivers. However, these findings did
indicate a humid climate in the area, supporting rich
vegetation which could sustain diversified and rich fauna
during certain times of Late Quaternary period. |
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On the contrary,
Singh et al. (1999), first reported the discovery of a
sizeable vertebrate fauna assemblage discovered in 1997
from the Kalpi section, and have been working in the area
since then with a view to reconstruct the depositional
processes, palaeoenvironment, and palaeoclimate of this
section and put the succession in a chronological frame-work.
During the last five years the concerted efforts of the
team have yielded not only numerous fossilized bones but
also some small pebble tools, some flakes and chips, as
well as a good number of bone-tools with evidence of partial
burning. This assemblage included elephant tusk and numerous
fossilized bones of bovids, equids, elephants, etc., some
of them showing blackening effect. Realizing the significance
of the presence of bones, bearing deliberate human workmanship
and blackening effect, Singh et al. surmised human occupation
at Kalpi section site. Initially, the chronology of the
artefacts and vertebrate fauna bearing horizon (Event
II) was based on two radiocarbon dates of calcrete nodules.
The calcrete nodules from top of Event I gave an age of
> 40, 000 years, while calcrete nodules from lower
part of Event III gave an age of 28,530 1090 years before
present. The F/P2O ratio of the bones from Event II indicated
age of 20-35, 000 years before present. Thus, the age
of Event II was considered around 30, 000 years. |
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Considering
the apparent archaeological importance of the above finds
Directorate of Archaeology Uttar Pradesh collaborated
with Dr. I.B. Singh and Dr. P.C. Pant for further investigations
in this respect. First of all this team jointly inspected
the site and thereafter carried out a detailed study of
the artefacts collected from the Kalpi-section. These
studies resulted in a research paper entitled 'Middle
Palaeolithic Human Activity and Palaeoclimate at Kalpi
in Yamuna Valley, Ganga Plain', which has been published
in Man & Environment Vol. xxvii, No. 2. These
studies led to a multidisciplinary project for undertaking
archaeological excavations to expose the Kalpi-Section
with the objective to corroborate the surface observations
and to have a better idea of human activity continuing
here for a considerable period of time. The outcome of
the first season's work has not only duly endorsed the
earlier surmises it has also opened many new aspects for
further fieldwork at and around this site. |
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| Publication |
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Tewari, R.,
P. C. Pant, I. B. Singh, S. Sharma, M. Sharma, P. Srivastava,
A. K. Singhvi, P.K. Mishra and H. J. Tobschall 2002. 'Middle
Palaeolithic Human .Activity and Palaeoclimate at Kalpi
in Yamuna Valley, Ganga Plain', Man & Environment XXVII No.2, Pune. |
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Singh, I.B.,
S. Sharma, M. Sharma, P. Srivastava and G. Rajagopalan
1999. Evidence of Human Occupation and Humid Climate of
30 ka in the Alluvium of Southern Ganga Plain, Current
Science 76: 1022-1026. |
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