Author: IANS
Publication: The New IndianExpress
Date: February 17, 2004
URL: http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEP20040216105137&Page=P&Title=States&Topic=0&
A town dating back to the ancient
Indus Valley civilisation has come to light during excavations in the Kutch
district of Gujarat.
The Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) claims the artefacts found here may be of greater importance than
the nearby Dholavira site, where relics of the Harappan civilisation were
unearthed a few years ago.
As part of the Saraswati Heritage
Project, ASI in December last year began excavation work at a spot known
as "Martyrs' Fort" near Kuran village, close to the border outpost of Khawda
in Kutch, more than 450 km from here.
"The major find here is a surprise
for us. We had started off to find traces of the river Saraswati, but the
initial vertical digging itself has revealed so much that we feel much
more could be on offer," Subra Pramanik, superintending archaeologist in
charge of excavations at ASI's Vadodara circle, was quoted as saying.
"The excavation has revealed a number
of interesting artefacts, which would be useful in our research," she told
reporters.
A Harappan town probably dating
back to earlier than 3,000 BC -- with three fort-like structures, an outer
fortification wall, sewage system, an elaborate water conservation system
of inter- connected reservoirs and a graveyard -- has come to light.
The graveyard, said to be a first
for any Harappan site, has also aluman skeletons in a sitting posture,
ASI sources said.
Relics of various earthen utensils
and jewellery have also been uncovered.
The site was spotted with the help
of satellite imagery provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO), they said.
About 125 to 130 labourers are working
at the site measuring 410 metres long and 350 metres wide, helping Pramanik's
team of three technical assistants and four supervisors.
The ASI team was originally looking
for traces of the mythical river Saraswati that some believe flowed through
the desert of Kutch.
Tourism and Culture Minister Jagmohan
had given a green signal for the Sarawati Heritage Project after visiting
the Dholavira site last year.
"We are now planning to take up
excavation along the entire (Saraswati) stretch from Adi Badri in Haryana
to Dholavira in Gujarat," he had announced.
A number of archaeological sites
of the Harappan civilisation, also known as the Indus Valley civilisation,
have been found in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions of the state in the
last half century.
