Historians stumble upon old Indian civilisation

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"Excavations in Angul have thrown up evidence that negates previously held

belief that human culture and civilisation entered Orissa only recently."

Historians stumble upon old civilisationPriya Ranjan SahuSambalpur, March 1, 2005|10:46 IST

The Mahanadi Valley, stretching from Hirakud dam in Sambalpur to the Tikarpada

gorge in Angul, was home to a complete and continuous sequence of ancient

cultures, ranging from the Neolithic phase (2000 BC) to the Early Historic

Period (200 BC).The PG department of history at Sambalpur University unearthed

this. “The result of the investigations, which began in 1993, has nullified the

longstanding hypothesis that this part of hinterland Orissa remained secluded

for a long period from the mainstream cultural development, and that human

culture and civilisation penetrated here only recently,” said P.K. Behera,

Reader in the department, who carried out most of the excavations and

explorations.From February 6 to February 25, a research team led by Behera

camped near Dhalapur Ghat under Atthmallik sub-division of Angul. They dug up

rare Iron Age house foundations, earthern utensils and remains of humans and

animals.On the last day Prof Sadhu Charan Panda,

vice-chancellor of Utkal Culture University, Prof D. Chopdar, head of Sambalpur

University’s history department, and his colleague Prof P.K. Naik, joined them.

After surveying the excavations, they said they had stumbled upon a new chapter

for researchers.Research conducted during 2003 in Sonepur’s Badmal Asurgarh

area, near the Harihar stream, a tributary of the Mahanadi, revealed that the

site was first inhabited by iron-using people dating back to about 1000 BC and

the settlement continued to exist during the Early Historic Period (200 BC),

when the site turned into a very large gemstone bead manufacturing centre in

Orissa.During the period the site was provided with massive earth fortification

walls on all four sides. The stone bead-makers mostly exploited locally

available raw materials like beryls, aquamarine, ruby and other semi precious

stones. “Whether the gem beads of Badmal were exported to the outside world

requires further archio-scientific

investigation, which is under way,” Behera said. According to him, charcoal

samples from the site were sent to the Kiev University of Germany for

radiocarbon dating. The results demonstrated that the site was occupied between

1000 BC and 200 BC.During Iron Age and the Early Historic Period, the ancient

settlers had close socio-cultural interaction with other contemporary cultures

of the middle Mahanadi Valley and beyond. Cultural remains from other sites in

the region confirm this.Unfortunately, most of the sites were badly damaged

during the post-Hirakud dam construction period. This is particularly revealed

from Dhalapur Ghat site, where only 10 per cent of the settlement was available

for archaeological investigation. “Almost 90 per cent has been completely washed

away by the river in the last 50 years,” Behera said.

In the belly of the Mahanadi Valley

Excavations in Angul have thrown up evidence that negates previously held belief

that human culture and civilisation entered Orissa only recently

The excavating team has dug up rare Iron Age house foundations,earthern utensils

and remains of humans and animals

Research conducted in Sonepur in 2003 had revealed that the site was first

inhabited byiron-using people dating back to about 1000 BC. The settlement

continued to exist during the Early Historic Period (200 BC)

Unfortunately, most sites were damagedin the post-Hirakud dam construction period

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