https://tinyurl.com/y5m6rbzg
-- Golden anthropomorph, 8 copper anthropomorphs, antenna swords, chariots of Sanauli, furnaces and zebu figurines of 4MSR (Anupgarh)
This is an addendum to:
1. Golden Anthropomorph of Sanauli is Indus Script karaṇa 'dance step, dance posture' rebus karaṇa 'scribe' validated by Baudhāyana Śrautasūtra, and genetic Sarasvati-Balto-Slavic & Indo-Iranian connection
https://tinyurl.com/ya3e5fvj2. Sanauli anthropomorphs are Indus Script hypertexts कर्णिक श्रेष्ठिन् helmsmen, guild-masters signify guilds of metalwork and seafaring merchants https://tinyurl.com/yau69bru
The golden anthropomorph discovered in Sanauli in 2006-7 excavations, compares with four types of bronze anthropomorphs found in many parts of Sarasvati Civilization, including Lothal. The gold anthropomorph dated to ca. 2000 BCE signifies a standing person with spread legs. He signifies a dance-posture.
This golden anthropomorph is an Indus Script hypertext:
karaṇa 'dance step, dance posture' rebus: karaṇa 'scribe'. meṭṭu 'step' meḍ iron, मेधा, धन, मेधः' yajna.
ṭhākur ʻblacksmithsʼ as 8 Sanauli anthropomorphs shown on wooden coffin lids
I suggest that the warriors with chariots of Sanauli are Rajputs of Rajasthan who are ṭhākur ʻblacksmithsʼ of the Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization tradition.
Addenda: lōhakāra -- : WPah.kṭg. (kc.) lhwāˋr m. ʻ blacksmith ʼ, lhwàri f. ʻ his wife ʼ, Garh. lwār m.(CDIAL 11159). Loa 'ficus glomerata' rebus: loha 'copper, iron' is a semantic determinative of the horned bull-faced anthropomorph which signifies a ṭhākur ʻblacksmithʼ(Maithili)
A close-up may be seen in the photograph of the anthropomorphic figure on the coffin lid depicting headgear made of horn and a pipal leaf in the centre. However, another expert view is that the carving is of a bull head. Photo: Archaeological Survey of India. The 'ficus glomerata' leaf between the horns cannot be wished away as related to a bull head. It clearly is a metaphor, a rebus signifier in Meluhha language an Indus Script Hypertext.Eight such copper anthropomorphs decorate the lid of the wooden coffin, signifying a guild.
The face is that of a bull with high horns like those of a zebu, bos indicus.
The decorative hieroglyph between the horns is a ficus leaf which is loa 'ficus glomerata' rebus: loh 'copper, metal'.
The bull's face is an Indus Script hypertext: dhangra 'bull' rebus: dhangar
'blacksmith'. ṭhakkura m. ʻ idol, deity (cf. ḍhakkārī -- ), ʼ lex., ʻ title ʼ Rājat. [Dis- cussion with lit. by W. Wüst RM 3, 13 ff. Prob. orig. a tribal name EWA i 459, which Wüst considers nonAryan borrowing of śākvará -- : very doubtful]Pk. ṭhakkura -- m. ʻ Rajput, chief man of a village ʼ; Kho. (Lor.) takur ʻ barber ʼ (= ṭ˚ ← Ind.?), Sh. ṭhăkŭr m.; K. ṭhôkur m. ʻ idol ʼ ( ← Ind.?); S. ṭhakuru m. ʻ fakir, term of address between fathers of a husband and wife ʼ; P. ṭhākar m. ʻ landholder ʼ, ludh. ṭhaukar m. ʻ lord ʼ; Ku. ṭhākur m. ʻ master, title of a Rajput ʼ; N. ṭhākur ʻ term of address from slave to master ʼ (f. ṭhakurāni), ṭhakuri ʻ a clan of Chetris ʼ (f. ṭhakurni); A. ṭhākur ʻ a Brahman ʼ, ṭhākurānī ʻ goddess ʼ; B. ṭhākurāni, ṭhākrān, ˚run ʻ honoured lady, goddess ʼ; Or. ṭhākura ʻ term of address to a Brahman, god, idol ʼ, ṭhākurāṇī ʻ goddess ʼ; Bi. ṭhākur ʻ barber ʼ; Mth. ṭhākur ʻ blacksmith ʼ; Bhoj. Aw.lakh. ṭhākur ʻ lord, master ʼ; H. ṭhākur m. ʻ master, landlord, god, idol ʼ, ṭhākurāin, ṭhā̆kurānī f. ʻ mistress, goddess ʼ; G. ṭhākor, ˚kar m. ʻ member of a clan of Rajputs ʼ, ṭhakrāṇī f. ʻ his wife ʼ, ṭhākor ʻ god, idol ʼ; M. ṭhākur m. ʻ jungle tribe in North Konkan, family priest, god, idol ʼ; Si. mald. "tacourou"ʻ title added to names of noblemen ʼ (HJ 915) prob. ← Ind.Addenda: ṭhakkura -- : Garh. ṭhākur ʻ master ʼ; A. ṭhākur also ʻ idol ʼ (CDIAL 5488).
Furnaces and zebu of 4MSR (Anupgarh)
Zebu figurines of 4MSR signify पोळ pōḷa, 'zebu, bos indicus' rebus: pōḷa 'magnetite, ferrous-ferric oxide Fe3O4' and associated furnaces of the site affirm the metalwork wealth created by the smiths and seafaring merchants.
A defining discovery of Binjor agnikunda सोमः-संस्था on Sarasvati River basin
A stunning discovery was reported in April 2015 from the excavations at Binjor (near Anupgarh, 4 MSR site) of a yajna kunda with an octagonal pillar.
This excavation was done by the students of Inst. of Archaeology, National Museum, New Delhi.
This is a humble tribute to these young students led by Dr. Sanjay Jha of ASI. who have redefined the roots of Bhāratiya Sabhyatā.
In my view, this is a defining discovery for Bharatiya Itihaas, affirming archaeologically the vedic heritage which emerged on the Vedic Sarasvati River basin.
I request for wide dissemination of a preliminary report on this momentous discovery and on the site.
Binjor agni kunda signifying a Soma yajña with octagonal, अष्टाश्रि yūpa.
Seal and yajna fire altar found at Binjor
Read in the context of the Vedic tradition of Vajapeya as a सोमः [सू-मन् Uṇ.1.139]-संस्था a form of the Soma-sacrifice, the Binjor agnikunda evidences the performance of a Vajapeya yajna or a बहुसुवर्णकम् सोमः [सू-मन् Uṇ.1.139]-संस्था
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यष्ट्वाबहुसुवर्णकम् '(performance of yajna) to possess many gold pieces' is the expression used in one of the 19 yupa inscriptions -- (see yupa inscription B of Mulavarman at East Borneo) -- all 19 yupa are octagonal-shaped echoing the expression by Valmiki in the Ramayana.
It is significant that an Indus Script seal has also been found at the 4MSR site indicating metal-/mint-work providing a framework for approx. dating the soma yaga event at Binjor.
Bālakāṇḍa of Rāmāyaṇa has this citation: nityam pramuditāh sarve yatha kr̥tayuge tathā aśvamedha śatair iṣṭvā tathā bahusuvarṇakaih (Bālakāṇḍa I,95) The referene is to the aśvamedha sattra desirous of possessing many pieces of gold.
In reference to Meghanada's yajna, the reference reads:
agniṣṭomośvamedha ca yajno bahusuvarNakah
rājasūyas tathā yajno gomedho vaishṇavas tathā maheśvare
(Uttrakāṇḍa, XXV, 87-9)
A rajasūya yajna with prayers to maheśvara is also linked to many pieces of gold.
Shapes of Yupa: A. Commemorative stone yupa, Isapur – from Vogel, 1910-11, plate 23; drawing based on Vedic texts – from Madeleine Biardeau, 1988, 108, fig. 1; cf. 1989, fig. 2); C. Miniature wooden yupa and caSAla from Vaidika Samsodana Mandala Museum of Vedic sacrificial utensils – from Dharmadhikari 1989, 70) (After Fig. 5 in Alf Hiltebeitel, 1988, The Cult of Draupadi, Vol. 2, Univ. of Chicago Press, p.22)
The significance of अष्टाश्रिyūpa (octagonal brick as the one found in Binjor) is elaborted in the ancient texts: yūpa is described as being the emblem of the sacrifice in Rigveda: (RV III.8.8 yajñasya ketu; śat. Br. V.2.1.5 aṣṭāśrir yūpo bhavati;Taitt. Sam. I.3.6.1-3; cf. śat. Br. III.7.1.5-6). Details at http://bharatkalyan97.
It will be a privilege indeed to disseminate a preliminary archaeological report on 4MSR excavation for a wide audience to demonstrate the significance of this discovery which is as momentous as the discovery of the ancient channels of Vedic River Sarasvati dated to a period earlier than 3rd millennium BCE.
The presence of a seal in Binjor is also indicative that the date of the site is ca. 2500 to 1900 BCE (related to the mature phase of the civilization) and may open up further researches into the contributions made by Bhāratam janam (RV 3.53.12) to Bronze Age Revolution.
Antennae Sword,
4 5/16 x 3 7/16 in. (36.3 x 8.7 cm) Accession No. 2001.433.53
Royal burial in Sanauli
Print edition : September 28, 2018
A royal wooden coffin and alongside it two chariots adjacent to each other excavated by the ASI at Sanauli.
The chassis of the chariot was made of wood and covered with thick copper sheets.
The frame was made of copper pipes, including one for attaching an umbrella. Photo: ASI.
An aerial view of the excavated site at Sanauli showing some of the burials. Photo: ASI
A close-up of the anthropomorphic figure on the coffin lid depicting headgear made of horn and a pipal leaf
in the centre. However, another expert view is that the carving is of a bull head. Photo; ASI
The royal coffin burial being exposed bit by bit and studied by Sanjay Manjul (standing), Director of the excavation, and Arvin Manual (squatting) Superintending Archaeologist, ASI. Also seen is Ambilly CS (right), Assistan Archaeologist, ASI. The coffin stands on four legs and was made of wood. The entire coffin, including the legs, was sheathed with copper on all sides. The lidhas eight motifs carvedon it (close-up previous photo).
Later stages of the excavation revealed two full-sized chariots, helmets, a copper ladle, big pots and beds as funerary objects.
Photo: TS Subramanian.
One of the two full-sized chariots found near the royal wooden coffin. The chariots are themselves extraordinary finds. The wooden
chariots had wheels with copper triangles fastened on them with copper nails. The triangles emanated in three rows
radiating from the centre. Photo: ASI.
A copper antenna sword and a copper sword (foreground) with a wooden hilt wound with copper wire. Photo: ASI
A copper antenna sword and a copper torch with a long handle. These remarkable artefacts of the copper hoard culture
were found in two different burials. Photo: TS Subramanian
Three big pots with sealed mouths, kept as funerary objects in a coffin burial. Photo: ASI
An almost intact skeleton of a tall woman found in a coffin burial. The coffin does not have copper sheathing around it and
has only a thin antenna sword placed on the ground near the head. An armlet made of agate beads can be made out
around an elbow. The pit boasted a variety of pottery, including pots, red vases, bowls and basins.
Photo: TS Subramanian.
Fragmented bones found in one of the coffin burials. This signifies a secondary burial, in which the body is exposed
to the elements and the bones that remain are buried in a grave. Photo: ASI.
A cylindrical carnelian bead measuring 5 cm. Photo: ASI
Several necklaces made of cylindrical steatite beads found in one of the burials. Photo: TS Subramanian
Gold beads found in a grave. Photo: ASI
A small coffin burial that boasted a full-sized chariot, big pots, red vases with tall necks and flared rims, a copper sheld,
a copper ladle with a long stem, a torch, an antenna sword and hundreds of beads. A helmet made of copper was found
upturned on the ground at the base of the coffin. The artefacts sshow that a warrior tribe thrived here between 2000 BCE
and 1800 BCE. Photo: TS Subramanian
Grave goods such as the decorated comb with a peacock otif on top and a copper mirror are important in understanding
the life of the people of Sanauli in 2000 BCE. Photo: ASI
A heap of 2 cm long copper nails. Photo: ASI
The recent ASI excavation at Sanauli village in western Uttar Pradesh leads to the discovery of several burials, including that of a royal with chariots, swords and helmets, dating to 2000 BCE and belonging to the copper hoard culture.
SANAULI in Baghpat district in western Uttar Pradesh, about 80 km from New Delhi, has been making waves in archaeological circles across the country with spectacular discoveries of coffin burials and chariots with burial goods such as copper helmets, copper antenna swords and red vases with flaring rims. Seven burials have been excavated so far, and spectacular among them is a royal burial with a wooden coffin with a lid that has carvings in high relief with a series of anthropomorphic figures, all of which have headgear that has two horns and a peepal leaf in the centre. Besides the face, the figures have broad shoulders and a torso.
The sides of the coffins have running floral motifs and they are covered by copper plating that runs around the coffins. The wooden coffin, too, has a copper sheet of around 3 mm thickness. It stands on four wooden legs, which too are covered with copper sheathing with carvings, and looks virtually like a sarcophagus. The coffin itself is more than 8 feet (2.4 metres) long and has a height of about 40 cm. Inside the coffin lay the body of a man, probably a royal, oriented in the north-west and south-east direction, with the head facing the north-west. The pit that held the royal coffin also had two full-sized chariots, besides other artefacts.
“For the first time in the Indian subcontinent, chariots have been recovered from any excavation,” said Sanjay Kumar Manjul, Director, Institute of Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Director of the excavation. Arvin Manjul, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch-II, ASI, New Delhi, was co-director of the excavation. The teams that undertook the excavation were from the Institute of Archaeology, the academic wing of the ASI that conducts a two-year programme in archaeology for postgraduates in history and archaeology, and the Excavation Branch II.
One of the discoveries they made in the grave pits with wooden coffin burials was a couple of “antenna swords” that were 40 cm long. One of them had a wooden hilt with copper spiral wiring around it. “In the entire copper hoard culture, this is the first discovery of a sword with a wooden hilt wound around with a copper wire. These are typical objects of the copper hoard culture,” said Arvin Manjul. “They could have made sacrifices, using the sword with full force,” she added. But the most amazing discovery was of three full-sized chariots, two in the royal burial and the third in another burial with a wooden coffin. The chariots were made of wood, which has perished and commingled with mud. The wheels are decorated with three rows of copper triangles radiating from the centre. The whole composition looks like the sun’s emanating rays.
The chassis of the chariot was made of wood and was covered with thick copper sheets. The frame of the seat was made of copper pipes, including a pipe for the attachment of an umbrella (chhatravali), and the seat itself seemed to be semi-circular. Sanjay Manjul called the excavation of the coffin burials and the chariots “a unique discovery in the entire subcontinent”. They could be dated to “around 2000 BCE” and were “contemporary to Harappan culture”, he said.
He claimed that the discovery of chariots put India on a par with ancient civilisations in Mesopotamia and Greece, where chariots were used extensively. “We are now sure that around 2000 BCE, when the Mesopotamians were using chariots, swords and helmets in war, a warrior tribe here was using them as well.”
Sanjay Manjul was sure that it was a royal burial. “Otherwise, it is not possible to have so many intricate carvings on the coffin and other objects. They also show the sophistication and the high degree of craftsmanship of the artisan. Without copper plating around it, it would have been difficult to identify the wooden coffin because wood is 100 per cent decomposed and you cannot see the wood with the naked eye. We have found evidence of a textile impression on top of the coffin. All these show that they performed the rituals first and installed the coffin next.” Besides, the helmets, the triangles on the wheels and the antenna swords, all made of copper, had strikingly beautiful designs and patterns.
The previous excavation in the area, which went on for a year in 2005-2006 about 100 metres from the present site, yielded 116 burials but no coffins. D.V. Sharma of the ASI, who headed the excavation, had associated those findings with the Harappans and the extension of Harappan culture on the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. But Sanjay Manjul asserted that the coffin burials, which he excavated from March to May 2018, did not belong to Harappan culture. These burials, according to him, belonged to ochre-coloured pottery (OCP)/copper hoard culture which had developed in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab. Sanjay Manjul argued that some elements of Harappan culture could be traced in the excavations he had done now due to the site being a contemporary settlement. The process and the belief, he said, in the journey of the departed soul seemed to be the same as that of Harappan culture because the setting and burial process were very similar, but the manufacturing technique and the shapes of artefacts, including pottery, associated with the burials excavated now were different.
(The Harappan civilisation covered an area of about 1.8 million square kilometres in India and Pakistan. There are an estimated 2,000 Harappan sites, with about 500 in India, 1,500 in Pakistan and a few in Afghanistan. The Harappan civilisation can be divided into three periods: the Early Harappan, which lasted from circa 3000 BCE to 2600 BCE; the Mature Harappan, which was extant from circa 2600 BCE to about 1900 BCE; and the Late Harappan phase, which lasted from about 1900 BCE to 1500 BCE.)
One interesting burial pit revealed a small coffin, a chariot, a shield, a torch (mashal), an antenna sword, a digger, hundreds of beads and a variety of pots. A helmet was kept upside down at the base of the coffin, on the ground. There was a channel-like copper object below the coffin. The chariot is identical to the chariots found in the royal burial except for the pole and yoke, which have decorations with copper triangles. The shield is also decorated with geometrical patterns in copper. There were burials for a nobleman, a common man, a woman, a dog and a bird too. Arvin Manjul said, “All the seven have their own qualities. All have their own unique features.”
Sanauli is a typical village situated in a fertile zone of fields abloom with wheat and millets and brick kilns all around, their tall stacks belching smoke. This reporter visited the site on May 18 and 19, when the excavation had reached its peak. That was also when Arvin Manjul delicately brought out three necklaces made of cylindrical steatite beads, and Vinay Roy, assistant archaeologist in Excavation Branch-II, revealed the copper triangles on the wheels of the chariot in the royal burial.
The ASI team applied various scientific methods such as X-rays, computed tomography scan (CT scan), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to study the remains. “This is the first time that such analyses are being done on the site for an excavation,” Sanjay Manjul said. A mud lump upon being scanned under an X-ray revealed a star-like pattern on a copper sheet rivetted with copper nails on a wooden object.
Arvin Manjul said: “In all the seven burials the head was found to be on the northern side. The ritual pottery was placed on the north beyond the head and on the south after the feet. The copper objects were kept below the sarcophagi. Since copper was not available in the surrounding areas, they had used the copper sparingly. We have got a lot of beads.”
The ASI team could unearth the skeleton of a woman, too, and it was almost intact. The woman is wearing an armlet made of banded agate beads around an elbow. Behind her head are 10 red vases with flared rims; four bowls; and two basins, small and big. Two of the vases have lids. This was also a coffin burial but the coffin does not have copper plating around it. A thin antenna sword was placed in the north-western corner of the grave. “It is a symbolic sword. Maybe, she did not have enough wealth. So they kept a symbolic sword [and there was no copper coating around the coffin either],” Arvin Manjul said.
If these are primary burials, there are secondary burials too. Indeed, in this excavation, three types of burials were found: primary, secondary and symbolic. In the primary burial, the full body of the dead man was buried. In the secondary, the body was exposed to the elements and the bones that remained were given a burial in a grave. When the body of a dead person was not available, that is, he had lost his life in a battle or a wild animal had killed him and carried away his body, he was given a symbolic burial. A grave was dug for him and it featured funerary pottery and objects he was fond of. In a secondary burial at Sanauli, the bones of a dead man had been placed haphazardly and three garlands, made of cylindrical steatite beads, were found placed on the western side of the grave. A series of terracotta pots were found on the north-western side. The royal burial and the woman’s burial are examples of primary burials.
Interestingly, the ASI archaeologists located a dog’s burial and a bird’s burial, too, at the site. It must have been a pet dog because it had been buried with care and affection. On the eastern side, they found big-sized pots covered with lids.
The burials could possibly be dated to circa 2000 BCE, said Sanjay Manjul. “After we do a scientific dating, we will be able to tell you the actual date. But there are no iron implements. So it is certainly a pre-Iron Age culture,” he argued.
K. Rajan, Professor of History, Pondicherry University, assessed that the site belonged to the Late Harappan period. “In western Uttar Pradesh, we get ochre-coloured pottery, which is contemporary to the Late Harappan period.” It should be first decided whether the custom of burying the dead belonged to the non-Vedic period or the Vedic period, he said. Normally, burials were not available during the Vedic period.
Rajan said: “In the Indus Valley civilisation, we have come across several graves that belong to the Late Harappan period. We have hardly found graves that belonged to the proper Indus Valley period, that is, the Mature Harappan period, because we concentrated more on excavating the settlements.”
Sanjay Manjul said: “This type of pottery with elongated legs and flaring rims, found along with the coffin burials at Sanauli, are not available in the Harappan context. Copper objects such as the antennna swords and the ladle were not found in Harappan sites. An interesting feature of this culture is the elaborate burial process with coffins. Coffins have been reported from Harappan culture, but there is no plating around Harappan coffins. These coffins are different from the Harappan coffins. This is actually advanced, expert craftsmanship at Sanauli. This is sophisticated craftsmanship.... This excavation has thrown new light on Indian archaeology.” He asserted that the rituals relating to the Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals.
According to Sanjay Manjul, while he “appreciated and acknowledged the excavation conducted by Dr Sharma” in 2005-06, his (Manjul’s) observation was that the remains found at Sanauli during the 2018 excavation “belong to the OCP/copper hoard culture and not to the Late Harappan phase” as believed earlier. A trial dig was done in Sanauli village, about 800 metres from the site of the coffin burials, to locate the habitation site. The earliest levels in the trial excavation yielded pottery and habitational deposits such as chulas, or hearths. But these were yet to be dated.
Sanjay Manjul said: “It is yet to be confirmed whether the habitation site is contemporary to the burial site of the coffins.”
From the Bara culture: R.S. Bisht
Print edition : September 28, 2018
Ravindra Singh Bisht (right), former Addl. DG, ASI, studying a burial during one of his visits to the excavation site between March and May. Along with him are Sanjay Manjul and Disha Ahluwalia, research scholar in the ASI. Photo: ASI
THE discovery of wooden coffin burials “with ideologically driven motifs” at Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh was a “strong indication” of the then people’s faith “in a belief system”, and so it was a “significant discovery”, said Ravindra Singh Bisht (74), former Additional Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
“The eight beautifully crafted motifs, which are stylistic bull heads, form a new chapter in the history of art in India,” he said. If the string of motifs provided an insight into the then people’s “belief system”, the discovery of three full-sized chariots, copper helmets, copper antenna swords, big terracotta pots and red vases with flaring rims threw light on the burial customs prevalent then. Bisht, who visited the Sanauli excavation three times between March and May this year, praised the “scientific temperament”, the “artistic skill” and the “patience” of Sanjay Manjul and Arvin Manjul, both of the ASI, in uncovering the wooden coffin burials. He congratulated the Manjuls and their team for their discoveries.
Wooden coffins were first discovered at Harappa, now in Pakistan, by Mortimer Wheeler, then ASI Director General, when he was directing an excavation there in 1944. Later, the American archaeologists Richard H. Meadow and Mark J. Kenoyer also found wooden coffins at Harappa.
At Dholavira, a Harappan site in Kutch district in Gujarat, where Bisht led the ASI excavation for 13 field seasons from 1990 to 2005, he found imitiations of the coffins there. They were found inside a cist in the Harappan cemetery at Dholavira. They were symbolic/memorial burials because there were no skeletons inside the imitation-coffins. “Thus the discovery of the wooden coffin burials at Sanuali is not new,” he said.
However, Bisht argued: “The importance of the wooden coffin burials at Sanauli is that the burials have been done in a very elaborate manner and the coffins are crafted with ideologically directed motifs on wood and then covered with copper sheets. The wood has disintegrated and the copper remains. Near the head of the skeleton was a different motif which cannot be figured out properly because of the disturbed condition of the burial now. All the motifs are strong indicators of their belief system.”
The discovery of three chariots in two of the coffin burials was important because it would help in providing a date to the burials, he said. The chariots formed part of the entire burial. He was confident that a lot of organic material, including charcoal, which had been found during the excavation, would help in dating the burials.
In Bisht’s assessment: “Culturally, the coffin burials excavated at Sanauli do not belong to the Harappan civilisation. They belong to the Bara culture, which was prevalent in Haryana, Punjab and the Ganga-Yamuna Doab.” The Bara culture was basically contemporaneous with the Harappan culture of the late phase. Since the Bara culture lasted for a longer time, it was after the Late Harappan phase. “The phase you see in Sanauli is post-Harappan. Whatever you see at Sanauli is posterior to Harappa,” Bisht said.
Telltale furnaces
Print edition : June 23, 2017
An oval furnace with a hub in the middle for keeping the crucible where artisans kept the copper ingots before fashioning them into artefacts. The furnace has holes for aeration and for inserting tuyeres to work up the flames. Photo: VV Krishnan
The star discovery of the year at 4MSR, the ASI’s site in Rajasthan, was this oval-shaped furnace lined with mud bricks
.It was in furnaces such as these that the laborious process of making copper artefacts began.The furnace was used
to smelt copper from the copper ore. It had a hole for inserting the tuyere for fanning the flame and holes on its sides
for aeration. Beside the furnace is an anvil where the sheeted ore was hamered into ingots. Photo: TS Subramanian
Sanjay Kumar Manjul, ASI’s director of excavation, studying storage jars adjacent to furnaces built on brick platforms.
Photo: VV Krishnan
In 4MSR, trench after trench threw up furnaces and hearths in different shapes, clearly indicating that it was a thriving industrial centre. The picture shows a long, oval-shaped furnace and a circular furnace built on a mud-brick platform. Photo: VV Krishnan
A circular hearth with charcoal pieces and ash. Harappans made beads out of steatite, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli and
so on here. Photo: TS Subramanian
A yoni-shaped furnace found at 4MSR. Photo: TS Subramanian
This terracotta vessel with a pronounced knob at the centre has engaged the attention of archaeologists as a ‘unique find’ and is probably used in rituals or ceremonies. Similar vessels have been depicted on Harappan seals and copper plates. Photo: ASI
The copper plate with the engraving of the knbbed ceremonial vessel similar to the one found in the 2017 round of excavations.
Photo: Vasant Shinde
At the ASI’s 43GB site, Sanjay Kumar Manjul (Right) and K. Rajan, professor of history, Pondicherry University.
Photo: VV Krishnan
An inverted pot, probably of the Mature Harappan period, found in situ in a trench at 4MSR. Photo: VV Krishnan
A portion of the enclosure wall that has been excavated in different areas around the mound. The wall, made of mud bricks, is thoughto run around the settlement, and this one is in the south-east coner. Photo: ASI
A painted terracotta pot. Photo: ASI
A view of the sunset from the mound at 4MSR surrounded by wheat fields. Photo: TS Subramanian
Harappan beakers for measuring liquids. Photo: VV Krishnan
Boards announcing the names of 4MSR village near Bijnor. 4MSR is, as the crow flies, 7 km from the border with Pakistan.
After Partition, Rajasthan irrigation department officials gave names such as 4MSR, 43GB to newly created
settlements for refugees from across the border. Photo: TS Subramanian
The ASI’s Arvin Manjul (third from left), co-director of the excavation at 4MSR, 43GB and 68/2GB, and other archaeologists
examine a human skeleton found in the trench at 68/2GB. Photo: ASI
On the mound at 43GB around 50 km from 4MSR, Unlike 4MSR, the mound is heavily built up with houses and other structures, making excavation a challenge. People of the Mature Harappan period settled on a big sand dune at 43GB, which became a mound after they abandoned it. Photo: TS Subramanian
The trial trench at 68/2GB near 4MSR. It yielded Early Harappan ceramics, beads made of semi-precious stones, terracotta bangles and pestles. Photo: ASI
Gold rings, pieces and foils found in the 2017 excavations testified to the fact that the 4MSR
Harappans made gold products too. They sourced gold from the present-day Karnataka. Photo: ASI
The seal with a perfectly carved figure of a unicorn. It has been scooped out with precision on a thin
slate of white steatite- belongs to the Mature Harapppan period.. The ceremonial vessel in front of the
unicorn is a puzzle. The seal has one Harappan sign on top and other signs that seem to have been
scraped off. It has a perfectly made kob with a hole on the reverse and is a good example of seals of
the Mature Harappan period. Photo: ASI.
Seven different seals were found at 4MSR in the 2017 round of excavations and they provide insights
into the gradual development in the production of seals. The seal with triangular designs and a crudely
made knob, with a hole through which to string a thread, belongs to the transitional phase between the
Early Harappan and Mature Harappan phases. Photo: ASI
Arrowheads, spearheads, celts and fish hooks, all made of copper, were found in the trenches at
4MSR, affirming to the industrial nature of the site. Archaeologists found copper bangles, rings,
beads, and so on. Photo: ASI
Hundreds of oblong (popular among archaeologists as idli-shaped), triangular terracotta cakes have
been found at 4MSR and the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Haryana, 340 km away. While the oblong
cakes were used to retain heat in domestic hearths and chulas for keeping milk and water warm, the
painted triangular cakes were embedded as decorative pieces on walls and floors of houses.
Photo: ASI
Humped bulls, made of terracotta, found in the trenches at 4MSR. Photo: ASI
The shell of a tortoise in one of the trenches. Two such shells were found in different trenches along
with charred bones, indicating that the Harappans consumed tortoise meat. Photo: ASI
The latest round of the Archaeological Survey of India’s excavations at 4MSR in Rajasthan gives valuable insights into how the Harappans made the transition from an agricultural society into an industrial one.
A CIRCULAR flat-bottomed terracotta vessel with a pronounced knob at the centre is among the artefacts that are engaging the attention of archaeologists at 4MSR, a Harappan site about 10 kilometres from Anupgarh town in Rajasthan. They found not one but two such vessels, but in the second one the knob had broken off. “This is a unique find,” says Sanjay Kumar Manjul, director of the excavation for the 2017 field season, the third so far, at 4MSR. (No one seems to know what 4MSR stands for.) “It is probably a ritualistic vessel. Similar type of pot depictions have been found on seals from Harappan sites in India and Pakistan,” he added. The vessel has been depicted on Harappan seals, placed in front of a unicorn, and on copper plates along with a seated “yogi” with a horned headdress. Manjul, who is also Director of the Institute of Archaeology, the academic wing of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), New Delhi, and other scholars make intelligent guesses that it may be a ritual/ceremonial vessel, an incense burner, or a massive dish that is placed on a stand.
The bowl takes pride of place in the huge tent pitched on the dry bed of the Ghaggar river near 4MSR that houses all artefacts excavated at the site. Another exciting find was two tortoise shells amid charred bones of the tortoises. This suggested that tortoises formed an important part of the food of the Harappans who lived at 4MSR about 5,000 years ago.
Among the artefacts discovered were seals; fragments of gold foils and gold beads; miniature beakers probably used for measuring liquids; painted pottery; perforated jars; goblets and storage pots; beads made of steatite, agate, jasper, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and other semi-precious stones; earrings; fish hooks; spear-heads and arrowheads made of copper; bangles made of conch shells; and terracotta figurines. The trenches also yielded hundreds of terracotta cakes in shapes that ranged from oblong (popular among archaeologists as idli-shaped) to triangle and similar to a clenched fist (mushtika). They also yielded 10 pieces of weights made of banded chert stones.
But the most important discovery this year was a massive wall built of mud bricks stacked to a width of 8 metres, in the south-eastern corner of the excavation mound. The wall showed clear evidence of having been built during two successive phases of the Harappan civilisation, and it turns right at one point perhaps indicating that it could have run around the settlement, thus demolishing the assumption that 4MSR did not have a fortification or enclosure wall. In fact, the remains of the wall have been found on the western and northern sides of the mound.
K. Rajan, professor of history, Pondicherry University, who gave a series of lectures to students of the Institute of Archaeology at the site, confirmed that it was an enclosure wall, a feature found in many Harappan sites. The paleo-channels of the Ghaggar river were just 500 metres away from the site, to the north and the south. The wall could have been built to prevent flooding of the site. While fortification/enclosure walls at Harappan sites in Gujarat were made of stones, as one travelled towards Mohenjo-daro or Harappa (both in Pakistan now) they began to be made of burnt bricks. In Rajasthan, the walls, be they at 4MSR or Kalibangan, were built of mud bricks that were made with fine clay, which gave the bricks a fine texture, that is, they had been well levigated, as Disha Ahluwalia, a superviser at 4MSR, explained.
Besides the wall, the lower levels of this Harappan industrial complex showed evidence of streets having been there, belying the assumption that the settlement had no organised streets.
Industrial secrets
The trenches excavated in 2015, 2016 and 2017 revealed the industrial secrets of 4MSR, which lasted from circa 4000 BCE to circa 2000 BCE through what is called the Early Harappan (3000-2600 BCE) and the Mature Harappan (2600-2000 BCE) phases. Possibly the Late Harappan phase settlements may also be visible. At the time Frontline visited the mound in March, more than 15 trenches, each 10 metre x 10 metre, had been dug jointly by students of the Institute of Archaeology and archaeologists of the Excavation Branch-II of the ASI. Arvin Manjul, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch-II was the co-director of the excavation.
The mound itself offered a spectacular sight, with trench upon trench bristling with furnaces, hearths and kilns that confirmed the industrial nature of the site. The furnaces, hearths and kilns were situated on mud-brick platforms at various levels and presented insights into the activity during the various periods. Close to the furnaces and hearths were big storage pots, twin pots and broken perforated jars. Beads lay scattered on a few furnace floors. In the kilns, there were terracotta beads and broken terracotta bangles. This year’s excavation threw up furnaces and hearths of different shapes: oval, circular, yoni-shaped and even a squarish one.
One of the trenches had a big, oval-shaped furnace lined with mud bricks. It had a short mud-brick wall, with the inner side of the bricks blackened from the searing heat of the furnace and the furnace floor rammed with mud. The furnace had a hole for blowing air into it with tuyeres to fan the flames. There was a central hub too for placing crucibles in which to smelt copper from the copper ore. “This furnace was for extracting copper from the copper ore. It was periodically plastered. That meant it was used for a long time,” Manjul said.
In a furnace in a nearby trench, copper ingots recovered from the copper ore in the previous furnace had been converted into workable pieces. This furnace had a passage for blowing air with bellows and charcoal pieces were found strewn on the furnace floor. An anvil was found nearby, which was obviously the place where the copper ingots were beaten into workable pieces. There was also a channel for bringing fresh water that the smiths used for strengthening the workable pieces.
In the third furnace, the Harappan artisans converted the copper ingots into tools and artefacts Manjul summed up the process: “The first furnace was probably for smelting copper from the ore. Here, high temperature was required. In the second, normal temperature was required because the smiths had already made copper. In the third, the artisans made a variety of copper artefacts such as bangles, beads, rings, fish hooks, arrowheads, spear heads, and so on.”
In one trench was a big, circular kiln, with potsherds lying on its floor. There were white patches on the floor, which had apparently resulted from the intense heat worked up in the kiln. Explaining the difference between a furnace and a kiln, Rajan said: “If you are working a metal like copper, it is called a furnace. If you are firing/baking ceramic products, it is called a kiln.” It is in these kilns that the Harappans fired a variety of pottery, including storage pots, big jars, perforated jars, goblets, beakers, dish-on-stands and terracotta figurines.
With such a variety of furnaces, hearths and kilns, it was not surprising that Manjul called 4MSR “an important industrial settlement” that is “at present the only example in the Harappan context which shows a major industrial activity”. The series of furnaces in trench after trench and at different levels indicated that multiple artisans had worked simultaneously and that the site had been occupied continuously and industrial activity was also continuous, he said. There were many sites of a similar nature in the vicinity. Manjul added: “The region was a major industrial hub. There is no doubt about it. These varieties of artefacts cannot be consumed here itself. This was one of the industrial centres that catered to urban settlements such as Kalibangan, Rakhigari and Ganweriwala.”
Indeed, the three seasons of excavation have provided a tremendous insight into how 4MSR evolved from an agricultural settlement into a major industrial centre that manufactured copper artefacts, beads from semi-precious stones and a wide variety of terracotta products and exported them to Harappan sites nearby and far away.
Manjul said: “In the lower levels [of trenches], there is evidence of agriculture because there are domestic hearths within residential complexes. In the transitional phase from Early Harappan to Mature Harappan, there are furnaces within house complexes. Later, during the Mature Harappan phase, there was a complete transformation into an industrial site. Thus, there was a gradual transformation from agriculture to industry.”
The third season of excavation at 4MSR had a clear objective: to understand the nature of the industrial activity that had been observed during the second field season in 2016. Manjul said: “In this season, we have some clear evidence of copper smelting, melting and craftsmen working on the metal. Along with that, we have excavated anvils, storage jars, dish-on-stand, etc. We have found copper slag, terracotta crucibles and terracotta moulds and finished copper artefacts such as fish-hooks, spearheads, arrowheads, beads, copper strings, copper rings and bangles. It was observed that the entire process of copper working, from smelting to making finished products, was done here. This site revealed manufacturing of artefacts from steatite. In the smaller hearths, along with steatite we noticed charcoal and ash.
“The industrial activity started during the transitional stage from the Early Harappan phase to the Mature Harappan stage. Full-fledged industrial activity took place during the Mature Harappan stage and the late Mature Harappan phase.” Shubha Majumdar, Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, said that at least four major structural phases were noticed during the Mature Harappan phase.
There were signs of agricultural activity in the lower levels of the trenches because the weather at that point of time was conducive to farming. When the weather changed for the worse, the region became semi-arid. “So people switched over from agriculture to industrial activity to sustain themselves,” Manjul said.
What facilitated the change to industrial activity in a big way was the availability of copper ore, possibly from the Khetri belt situated about 150 km away, in Rajasthan. Similarly, gypsum, which was used in the flooring of homes, was available in the nearby area, while steatite, which was used for making beads, was available in plenty within a 200 sq km area. On the other had, lapis lazuli, gold, shell and semi-precious stones were not available nearby, and artefacts made from them showed clear evidence of 4MSR’s linkage with distant shores and contemporary settlements, Manjul said.
The Harappans at 4MSR exploited a variety of stones available in the Aravalli hill range for making pestles, mortars and anvils. Chert stones were available in the Rohri hills in Pakistan. The artisans made both small and big chert blades. The chert blades were used for manifold purposes, including skinning of animals and making sickles. The Harappans also fashioned modular chert blades for making different tools, besides tools of copper, bones, antlers and stone. Stone-hammers were made with a wooden handle. In the early stages of development, the Harappans made tools by driving the stone inside the wood. In subsequent stages, they drove the wood inside metal for they had learnt the art of metal working.
The settlement pattern 10 to 20 km around 4MSR showed that there were separate Early Harappan sites, Mature Harappan sites and sites with the late phase of the Mature Harappan civilisation. “After that, in this same region, we had painted grey ware (PGW) settlements, and they continued up to post-Gupta period followed by the Rang Mahal culture. This is the complete cultural sequence of this area,” Manjul said.
Seals
Another important feature of the latest round of excavation is the discovery of seven seals, which confirmed that 4MSR belonged to the Early Harappan, then transitional and the Mature Harappan phases.The seal that belonged to the transitional phase has a geometric design on the one side and a little knob on the other side. Since it has a knob on the obverse side, it could have been used to stamp the geometric pattern on a piece of clay tied to a bag to signal that duty had been paid on the goods kept in the bag. Of the two seals that belong to the Mature Harappan phase, one had the engraving of a unicorn with a ceremonial vessel in front of it. There is a Harappan sign above the unicorn. There were more Harappan characters, but they had been scraped off. This seal showed superb workmanship because the artisan had not merely carved the unicorn on the tiny steatite slab but had unerringly scooped out the outline of the entire animal within the narrow confines of the seal.
This seal has a knob on the obverse with a hole in it for a string to pass through. Perhaps, the owner of the seal wore it around his neck. Another seal portrays a unicorn, but the seal’s top portion is broken off. It was found embedded in the mud and the impression of the unicorn can still be seen on the mud.
Animal treasures
What excited the archaeologists was the discovery of two tortoise shells amid charred remains of tortoises. Vijay Sathe, a professor in the Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute, Pune, who studied the tortoise shells, antlers and other animal remains, said: “This site has a good representation of skeletal evidence of animals. They include cattle, sheep, goat, antelope and similar small-sized mammalian fauna. The inhabitants of 4MSR used a good blend of wild and domesticated animals for food and farming. An interesting thing noticed here was the inhabitants’ preference for animals such as tortoise and fish. The presence of a couple of varieties of tortoises was noticed in the form of their carapace and their charred bones, which are potential indicators of the food habits of the inhabitants. That is, they roasted and consumed the tortoise. Besides tortoises, the remains of a variety of freshwater fish have been found in charred condition.”
If one were to look at the composition of both wild and domesticated animals that the Harappans of 4MSR ate, it appears that a variety of animals, especially small-sized animals, such as chinkara, antelope and barking deer, besides cattle, goat and sheep, did have their share in their food economy, Sathe said. The science of archaeo-zoology had important role in archaeology, he added. Once a detailed analysis was completed, it would be possible to talk about the animal population found around 4MSR, the contribution of the cattle to agricultural and other practices and the attitude of the Harappans towards these animals as a whole.
Contrasting mounds
Print edition : June 23, 2017
An innovative chula with a vessel inside for heating water in the compound of a house at 43GB, about 50 km from 4MSR. This kind of chula has been extant from the Harappan times. Photo: TS Subramanian
THE Harappan sites of 4MSR and 43GB situated 50 km apart in Rajasthan present contrasting pictures as far as their mounds go. While the mound in 4MSR is more or less intact and without habitation, thus facilitating excavation in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the one at 43GB has numerous houses making it impossible for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to undertake a systematic excavation. However, in March the ASI excavated two trial trenches in the mound in an attempt to understand the cultural linkage between 4MSR and 43GB.
A two-hour drive on a broad, unpaved road over much of the 50 km distance takes one from 4MSR to 43GB. The village has a primary school, and tractors were parked in front of several houses. Bulls were roaming around on the unpaved streets. The mound itself was surrounded by wheat fields, as at 4MSR. The Ghaggar river, now dry, flowed about 500 metres away on the southern side of the mound.
Sanjay Kumar Manjul, director of the excavation at both sites, said Rakesh Tewari, Director General, ASI, inspired him “to do a detailed investigation of the sites surrounding 4MSR in order to understand the complete picture of the region”. After extensive exploration, 43GB was taken up for trial excavation. The site belongs to the Mature Harappan and late Mature Harappan phases.
V.P. Yathees Kumar and M. Prasanna, Assistant Archaeologists, ASI, were supervising the excavation. The trial trenches revealed mud-brick structures and potsherds that belonged to the later phase of the Mature Harappan civilisation. Bangles made of terracotta, beads fashioned out of semi-precious stones such as carnelian and steatite, and painted pottery were found. A steatite seal showing a unicorn and Harappan signs was found on the surface of the mound. “We began the excavation at 43GB to understand the cultural sequence of the site and its relationship with 4MSR and other sites nearby,” said Manjul. “We are trying to understand the paleoclimate of this region with the evidence provided by the archaeological finds and the settlement pattern of Harappan sites in this region,” he added.
Manjul and his team from the Institute of Archaeology visited several Harappan sites in the region, which had been earlier explored by scholars such as Aurel Stein, A. Ghosh and K.N. Dikshit. But unlike 4MSR, 43GB had no Early Harappan phase at all, Manjul said. When the Harappans settled down at 43GB, a dry climate seemed to have prevailed during the transitional phase from the Early Harappan to the Mature Harappan stage.
Manjul said the Mature Harappan people dispersed to many places because of the climatic conditions and the availability of more resources in those places. “That is how the settlement came up here at 43GB. Tarkhanewaladera, a site that is about 7 km from 4MSR, witnessed dispersal during the Mature phase. The ASI had excavated it earlier,” he said.
On why the Harappans abandoned these sites, he said the setting in of a dry climate and aridity could have driven them towards the upper reaches of the Ghaggar river. This held good for almost all Harappan sites in the region, including Baror and 68/2.
Even as this discussion was under way, Yathees Kumar and Prasanna unearthed a small hearth with ash and charcoal pieces in one of the two trenches. Nearby was a triangular stone. Rajan was sure that it was a domestic hearth for cooking and the triangular stone was meant for grinding.
During the exploration at68/2,which is around 13 km from Anupgarh on the way to Suratgarh, some Early Harappan ceramics were found. The villagers had cut the ancient mound, but some portion was left intact which was investigated by the ASI team in 2017. During the excavation, it was observed that the pottery and other artefacts were similar to those of the Early Harappan phase of 4MSR, Kalibangan, Sothi and Kunal. A disturbed human burial was exposed along with pottery. Manjul said: “We have collected samples down to the natural soil for scientific dates and other analysis to understand more about the contemporary settlements in this region as well their connection with other settlements on the ancient Sarasvati basin.”
T.S. Subramanian
A complete sequence
Print edition : June 23, 2017
THE Harappan site of 4MSR witnessed a continuous cultural sequence from the Early Harappan to the late phase of the Mature Harappan civilisation. Evidence of this can be found in the gradual development in the seals of these periods.
The excavation in the lower levels of the trenches yielded small seals with concentric circles on both sides or animal motifs on both sides. During the transitional phase from Early to Mature Harappan, the seals were a little bigger and had geometric patterns and each had a knob on the reverse.
Seals of the Mature phase had engravings of animals and the Harappan script, and the knob on the reverse was a well-developed one, according to Sanjay Manjul, director of the excavation at 4MSR. Seals of the late phase of the Mature Harappan had only the Harappan script and a protruding knob.
The excavations at 4MSR unveiled data on climate changes that occurred from circa 4500 BCE to circa 2000 BCE, which was cross-checked at 43GB.
Radiocarbon dating done at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, on rice, barley, charcoal and sediments excavated at 4MSR revealed dates varying from 2200 BCE to 2488 BCE to 4249 BCE.
“At the moment, we can safely say that the site was extant from circa 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE. We are awaiting more dates. Then we can say whether we can go beyond these dates,” Manjul said.
T.S. Subramanian