Latest Harrappan Discovery

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UP village offers a fresh clue to solve a Harappan puzzle -

ASI says it hopes this just tip of the history iceberg ');

//--> '); //--> Posted online: Friday, November

18, 2005 at 0219 hours IST

 

SINAULI, NOVEMBER 17: For thousands of years, the fields of Sinauli

in western Uttar Pradesh hid their secret well. But now its past is out in the

open. Beyond the village’s brick lanes and lounging buffaloes, a burial site of

the Harappans dating back to about 2,600 BC has finally given up its dead. A

skeleton lies in one of the trenches, the copper bangles on its hands intact

though twisted with time. A few tiny beads are scattered around. Another was

probably not fortunate enough to be buried whole, its bones lie in a heap. The

Archaeological Survey of India’s excavations in Sinauli in Bagpat district, over

80 km from Delhi, have found 18 such skeletons. All of them have seven terracota

vases and bowls buried near their heads. ‘‘One of the graves also had a dog’s

head. Perhaps it was a favourite pet and was buried along with the dead

person,’’ says superitendent archaeologist at the ASI, Dharam Vir Sharma. The

beginning of this historical discovery, like always, was

accidental. A farmer decided to level his wayward field. The labourers from the

village found some pots while digging and took them home. That could have been

the end of the story but for a villager with a keen interest in history.

Twenty-eight year Tahir Hussain, the only graduate among his seven siblings,

runs an agriculture implements shop in Barhot—the tehsil under which Sinauli

falls. But his heart has always been in history, especially in the pyramids of

Egypt. ‘‘Whenever I am in Delhi I make it a point to visit the National

Museum,’’ says Tahir. So when he saw some of these pots in his relatives house

in Sinauli last year, he was sure of their worth. ‘‘I thought the best way was

to tell the local press,’’ says Tahir. The article was published and officials

at the ASI read it. They recovered the pots from reluctant villagers and on

August 17, 2005, the ASI began its excavations. Digging up the past is a

delicate business. About twenty people work at the

site, scrapping the mud of with a needle like instrument, lest anything be

damaged. At any time there are at least two guards at the site. The ancient

ghosts have caused much excitment among historians. ‘‘It is the first Harappan

burial site to be found in Uttar Pradesh,’’ says Sharma. Previously Harappan

cemetries have been unearthed at Kalibanga and Lothal. Says Upinder Singh,

reader in the department of history at St Stephen’s College, Delhi: ‘‘This is

just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much new evidence coming in that

archaeologists may have to re-think on many counts.’’ The burial ground could

shed new light on the funeral practices of the Harappans. ‘‘It could also point

to a larger habitation. Also the pots found here are all unpainted. These should

be co-related to the pots found in other burial sites. That exercise is yet to

be done,’’ says Singh. At Sinauli, the skeletons lie with their arms crossed

and feet close to each other, head facing north-west. The

burial site has many layers. ‘‘In archaelogical terms it means it was in

constant use,’’ says Sharma. Evidences of the Harappan civilisation have earlier

been found in UP in Saharanpur and Alamgirpur but Sinauli’s haul is much richer.

Sinauli has also marked another first. Says Sharma: ‘‘There is a copper hoard

culture that is presumed to be late Harappan or said to follow it. But no one is

sure of its authorship. Now two antenna swords belonging to this culture have

been found next to a corpse. This could mean that the copper hoard was a

contemporary or belonged to the mature Harappan period. An ancient riddle will

be solved and historical chronology will change.’’ ‘‘What is also interesting

is that the soil found here shows that this site was on the banks of the Yamuna.

The river now flows 8 km away,’’ says Sharma. It will take a while to tie up all

these threads blown astray by time. At present, a team from Kolkata’s

Anthropological Survey of India is conducting DNA and other

tests on the ancient bodies. The excavations, says Sharma, will go on for

another year. After the burial ground, the team aims to move towards the

habitation. ‘‘This is a big burial ground so there could be a buried town around

too.’’

 

 

 

 

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