India. New archaeological evidences reveals 5,000-year-old Harappan Civilisation in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: A large collection of archaeological evidences, which can throw light into the 5,000-year-old Harappan civilisation in India, has been found in Khirsara in western Kutch region in Gujarat.

The antique objects, showing how advance the trade from this part of Gujarat used to be around 4,600 years ago, was recovered after three years of extensive excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

Lies about 85 km Northwest of Bhuj on the Bhuj-Narayan Sarover State Highway, Khirsara has emerged as one of the most prominent mature Harappan settlements in Western Kutch after Dholavira and Junikuren, ASI’s Superintendent Archaeologist, Vadodara, Dr Jitendra Nath said.

“The evidences found over last 3 years of excavation there show how advance trade used to be from this part of Gujarat around 4,600 years ago,” he said.

“The prime reason for Harappans to settle at Khirsara was perhaps the availability and easy accessibility to raw materials and minerals in the vicinity,” Nath said.

The antique remnants recovered indicate that Khirsara produced a variety of objects for export such as various types of beads of semiprecious stones, steatite and gold, shell bangles, inlays etc, he said.

Discovery of a large number of drill bits and shells debitage indicates that these items were meant for export, the officer said.

“During excavation, we have discovered a unique warehouse, a factory site, a citadel, seals, antiquities from the Indus Valley settlement at Khirsara, which is fortified and measures roughly about 310 x 230 metres,” Nath said.

The presence of big furnaces, tandoor, storage jars, small water tanks and discovery of a hoard of gold beads, semi-precious and steatite beads, copper implements, seals, weights, shell objects and debitage indicate that this area (factory site) was once utilised for manufacturing activity, he said.

The analysis of botanical remains done by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow reveals that the carbon dates for samples collected from the site fall in the range of 2600-2200 BC approximately, which is roughly 4,600 years old, Nath said.

Khirsara was first reported by the Department of Archeology, Gujarat government in 1969-70.

The site was revisited by a team of Excavation Branch of ASI Vadodara in July 2009 for a survey during which they observed a variety of Harappa artifacts and carried out further digging.

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