Tryst with Mesolithic past

Patna, Aug. 24: Recent excavations at Kutumba village of Aurangabad have thrown up evidence of Mesolithic dwellings around 10,000 to 12,000 years back.

Bijoy Kumar Chaudhary, the executive director of Bihar Heritage Development Society, a wing of the art, culture and youth affairs department, said: “Archaeological works in Bihar were rare.”

Society co-director D.P. Sinha was assisted by members Priyanka Chandra and Shankar Jaykishan in the discovery. “Most of the pre-historic sites fall in Jharkhand now. Archaeological works in Bihar were rare. In such a situation, discovering a pre-historic site dating back to the middle stone age is interesting,” Chaudhary said.

According to him, the society plans to work at the site for the next five years, and added that it is for the first time in the history of Bihar that excavations have led to findings from Mesolithic history.

The diggings were carried out at three sites — Kutumba (KTB) I, KTB II and KTB III, around 130km south of Patna. [...]  telegraphindia.com