India. 4000-year-old skeleton dug out

Second such find after Golabai

A team of archaeologists and anthropologists has stumbled upon the remains of an adult human being who lived around 4,000 years ago. The discovery is expected to throw light on the emergence of early farming communities in coastal Odisha.

The team, led by Professor Kishore Kumar Basa of the department of anthropology, Utkal University, and Professor R.K. Mohanty of Deccan College, Pune, found the skeleton while undertaking excavations at a site south of Banga village near Harirajpur on the outskirts of Jatni, around 15km from here.

The chalcolithic (copper stone age) site has also yielded pottery, stone artefacts, animal bones, copper fragments and living floors indicative of an ancient habitation.

According to Basa, who is a former director of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalay, Bhopal, and National Museum, Calcutta, the skeleton could be between 3,500 and 4,000 years old.

The artefacts recovered from the site bear close resemblance to the discoveries made by the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) at Golabai, 30km from Harirajpur, in the 90s.

“The finding of skeletal remains of this kind is the second such occurrence in the state after Golabai. The skeleton of a child (without head) was found at Golabai about 20 years ago. That site was excavated by the ASI,” said Basa. [...] telegraphindia.com/ / Link 2