Archeological Finds From 2008 and After
QUSEIR-AL-QADIM, EGYPT, February 20, 2008: A broken storage jar with inscriptions in an ancient form of Tamil script, dated to the first century BCE., has been excavated in Egypt.
Dr. Roberta Tomber, a pottery specialist at the British Museum, London, identified the fragmentary vessel as a storage jar made in India. Iravatham Mahadevan, a specialist in Tamil epigraphy, has confirmed that the inscription on the jar is in Tamil written in the Tamil Brahmi script of about the first century.
Earlier excavations at this site about 30 years ago yielded two pottery inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi from the same era. Additionally, a pottery inscription was found in 1995 at Berenike, a Roman settlement of the Red Sea coast of Egypt. These discoveries proved material evidence to corroborate the literary accounts by classical Western authors and the Tamil Sangam poets about the flourishing trade between the India and Rome, via the Red Sea ports, in the early centuries CE.http://www.ifpindia.org/ecrire/upload/press_ifp_website/tamil_brahmi_21nov07.jpg
3. Ancient Camel Bones Found in Arizona
Sat. March 15, 2008
Workers digging at the future site of a Wal-Mart store in suburban Mesa have unearthed the bones of a prehistoric camel that's estimated to be about 10,000 years old.
Arizona State University geology museum curator Brad Archer hurried out to the site Friday when he got the news that the owner of a nursery was carefully excavating bones found at the bottom of a hole being dug for a new ornamental citrus tree.
"There's no question that this is a camel; these creatures walked the land here until about 8,000 years ago, when the same event that wiped out a great deal of mammal life took place," Archer told The Arizona Republic.
I thought most of he extinctions look place well before 8k
http://www.google.
Dr. Roberta Tomber, a pottery specialist at the British Museum, London, identified the fragmentary vessel as a storage jar made in India. Iravatham Mahadevan, a specialist in Tamil epigraphy, has confirmed that the inscription on the jar is in Tamil written in the Tamil Brahmi script of about the first century.
Earlier excavations at this site about 30 years ago yielded two pottery inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi from the same era. Additionally, a pottery inscription was found in 1995 at Berenike, a Roman settlement of the Red Sea coast of Egypt. These discoveries proved material evidence to corroborate the literary accounts by classical Western authors and the Tamil Sangam poets about the flourishing trade between the India and Rome, via the Red Sea ports, in the early centuries CE.http://www.ifpindia.org/ecrire/upload/press_ifp_website/tamil_brahmi_21nov07.jpg
2. Ancient City Discovered in India
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, February 20, 2008: Indian archaeologists say they have found remains which point to the existence of a city which flourished 2,500 years ago in eastern India. Discovered at Sisupalgarh, near Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa, the items found during point to a highly developed urban settlement. The population of the city could have been in the region of 20,000 to 25,000, the archaeologists claim.
The excavations include 18 stone pillars, pottery, terracotta ornaments and bangles, finger rings, ear spools and pendants made of clay.
R.K. Mohanty of the department of archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who is one of the two researchers involved in the excavations, said "The significance of this ancient city becomes clear when one bears in mind the fact that the population of classical Athens was barely 10,000." Mr. Mohanty, along with Monica Smith of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, has been carrying out limited excavations at the site every year since 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7250316.stmThe excavations include 18 stone pillars, pottery, terracotta ornaments and bangles, finger rings, ear spools and pendants made of clay.
R.K. Mohanty of the department of archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who is one of the two researchers involved in the excavations, said "The significance of this ancient city becomes clear when one bears in mind the fact that the population of classical Athens was barely 10,000." Mr. Mohanty, along with Monica Smith of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, has been carrying out limited excavations at the site every year since 2005.
Sat. March 15, 2008
Workers digging at the future site of a Wal-Mart store in suburban Mesa have unearthed the bones of a prehistoric camel that's estimated to be about 10,000 years old.
Arizona State University geology museum curator Brad Archer hurried out to the site Friday when he got the news that the owner of a nursery was carefully excavating bones found at the bottom of a hole being dug for a new ornamental citrus tree.
"There's no question that this is a camel; these creatures walked the land here until about 8,000 years ago, when the same event that wiped out a great deal of mammal life took place," Archer told The Arizona Republic.
I thought most of he extinctions look place well before 8k
Mar 16, 2008 11:26 pm (PDT)
Anil K. Pokharia
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53, University Road,
Lucknow 226 007, India
Investigation of botanical remains from an ancient site, Tokwa at the confluence of Belan and Adwa rivers, Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh (UP), has brought to light the agriculture- based subsistence economy during the Neolithic culture (3rd-2nd millennium BC). They subsisted on cereals, viz. Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum and Hordeum vulgare, supplemented by leguminous seeds of Lens culinaris, Pisum arvense and Vigna radiata.
Evidence of oil-yielding crops has been documented by recovery of seeds of Linum usitatissimum and Brassica juncea. Fortuitously, an important find among the botanical remains is the seeds of South American custard apple, regarded to have been introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The remains of custard apple as fruit coat and seeds have also been recorded from other sites in the Indian archaeological context, during the Kushana Period (AD 100-300) in Punjab and Early Iron Age (1300-700 BC) in UP. The factual remains of custard apple, along with other stray finds discussed in the text, favour a group of specialists, supporting with diverse arguments, the reasoning of Asian€ ¦’¶American contacts, before the discovery of America by Columbus in 1498. Further, a few weeds have turned up as an admixture in the crop remains."
Full article at: http://www.ias. ac.in/currsci/ jan252008/ 248.pdf
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, 53, University Road,
Lucknow 226 007, India
Investigation of botanical remains from an ancient site, Tokwa at the confluence of Belan and Adwa rivers, Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh (UP), has brought to light the agriculture- based subsistence economy during the Neolithic culture (3rd-2nd millennium BC). They subsisted on cereals, viz. Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum and Hordeum vulgare, supplemented by leguminous seeds of Lens culinaris, Pisum arvense and Vigna radiata.
Evidence of oil-yielding crops has been documented by recovery of seeds of Linum usitatissimum and Brassica juncea. Fortuitously, an important find among the botanical remains is the seeds of South American custard apple, regarded to have been introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The remains of custard apple as fruit coat and seeds have also been recorded from other sites in the Indian archaeological context, during the Kushana Period (AD 100-300) in Punjab and Early Iron Age (1300-700 BC) in UP. The factual remains of custard apple, along with other stray finds discussed in the text, favour a group of specialists, supporting with diverse arguments, the reasoning of Asian€ ¦’¶American contacts, before the discovery of America by Columbus in 1498. Further, a few weeds have turned up as an admixture in the crop remains."
Full article at: http://www.ias. ac.in/currsci/ jan252008/ 248.pdf
5. Ancient weapons dug up in India
By Amitabha Bhattasali
BBC News, Calcutta
Archaeologists in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal have discovered small weapons made of stone which are around 15,000-20,000 years old. The artefacts - dating to the Stone Age - were found during excavations in Murshidabad district, near Bangladesh. Archaeologists say the find is potentially significant as it suggests man's presence in the area dates back much earlier than previously believed.
Finds such as this on the floodplains of the River Ganges are very rare. However, there is ample evidence of stone age activity in India's upland
regions.
'Raw materials'
The weapons - which include small axes - were discovered at Ekani-Chandpara village near Sagardighi, which is an ancient site. Archaeologists say the weapons were found from a soil layer belonging to the mid-Pleistocene period - much below the Holocene layer where present human habitation takes place.
"We have not only discovered the weapons at this site, but raw materials and the scraps were also found," Dr Gautam Sengupta, director of the State Archaeology Department, told the BBC. "This proves that the weapons were made at this place itself."
Another reason why the find is so significant, archaeologists say, is because Stone Age weapons are not normally found at such an old soil layer
in the Gangetic alluvial plains. However it is well known that raw materials for making weapons are easily found in the plateau region and most Stone Age discoveries are from this area.
Chance
So far, no human fossils or remains other than some charcoal have been found at the site. Scientists have yet to confirm how old the charcoal is.
"The history of civilisation in this region has suddenly gone back by around 20,000 years," one archaeologist said. After the discovery, two eminent geo-archaeologists - Prof SN Rajguru and Dr Bhaskar Deotare - visited the excavation site and confirmed that the weapons date back to the smaller Stone Age. The discovery was made by chance, Dr Sengupta said.
"We were digging the site for some archaeological evidence of the Sultanate period. We were expecting some ancient artefacts related to Sultan Hussein Shah," he said - referring to a former ruler from the area.
"We did find those, but our archaeologists kept on digging to unearth some more historical evidence of that period and now we have found these Stone Age weapons," Dr Sengupta said. After winding up the excavation at Ekani Chandpara in a couple of weeks, archaeologists are planning to launch a search for ancient human habitation in a wider area.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7315386.stm
By Amitabha Bhattasali
BBC News, Calcutta
Archaeologists in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal have discovered small weapons made of stone which are around 15,000-20,000 years old. The artefacts - dating to the Stone Age - were found during excavations in Murshidabad district, near Bangladesh. Archaeologists say the find is potentially significant as it suggests man's presence in the area dates back much earlier than previously believed.
Finds such as this on the floodplains of the River Ganges are very rare. However, there is ample evidence of stone age activity in India's upland
regions.
'Raw materials'
The weapons - which include small axes - were discovered at Ekani-Chandpara village near Sagardighi, which is an ancient site. Archaeologists say the weapons were found from a soil layer belonging to the mid-Pleistocene period - much below the Holocene layer where present human habitation takes place.
"We have not only discovered the weapons at this site, but raw materials and the scraps were also found," Dr Gautam Sengupta, director of the State Archaeology Department, told the BBC. "This proves that the weapons were made at this place itself."
Another reason why the find is so significant, archaeologists say, is because Stone Age weapons are not normally found at such an old soil layer
in the Gangetic alluvial plains. However it is well known that raw materials for making weapons are easily found in the plateau region and most Stone Age discoveries are from this area.
Chance
So far, no human fossils or remains other than some charcoal have been found at the site. Scientists have yet to confirm how old the charcoal is.
"The history of civilisation in this region has suddenly gone back by around 20,000 years," one archaeologist said. After the discovery, two eminent geo-archaeologists - Prof SN Rajguru and Dr Bhaskar Deotare - visited the excavation site and confirmed that the weapons date back to the smaller Stone Age. The discovery was made by chance, Dr Sengupta said.
"We were digging the site for some archaeological evidence of the Sultanate period. We were expecting some ancient artefacts related to Sultan Hussein Shah," he said - referring to a former ruler from the area.
"We did find those, but our archaeologists kept on digging to unearth some more historical evidence of that period and now we have found these Stone Age weapons," Dr Sengupta said. After winding up the excavation at Ekani Chandpara in a couple of weeks, archaeologists are planning to launch a search for ancient human habitation in a wider area.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7315386.stm
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44522000/jpg/_44522477_203remains.jpg Stone age weapons are not usually found in such an old soil layer
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44522000/jpg/_44522478_203pot.jpg This is one of a number of pots found at the site
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44522000/jpg/_44522479_203dig.jpg The archaeologists were surprised by what they found
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44522000/jpg/_44522478_203pot.jpg This is one of a number of pots found at the site
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44522000/jpg/_44522479_203dig.jpg The archaeologists were surprised by what they found
July 29, 2008
History will be re-written. If the proposed archaeological site in Garo Hills, excavated in 1992 is to be believed as one of the biggest cities, a religious centre cast out of mighty Bramaputra River from the fourth century AD. Some scholars believe that Wadagokgre in West Garo Hills was an ancient kingdom of Kamrupa.
Is Guwahati the site where the ancient kingdom of Kamrupa
Hold your eyes as we take you to this remote archeological site that once shot into fame following excavation finding in 1992, but later on slipped into the back burner.
Wadagokgre is the site of an ancient civilization; believe to be cast out of the mighty majesty Bramaputra River
In 1992, AK Sharma of ASI, Nagpur
But the prominent and the most impressive discovery of the site is this Octagonal Temple
"Further excavations are likely to reveal further remains of an earlier habitation, besides unravelling the historical antiquity of the plains-belt of the State of which very little is known from recorded history," Williamson Sangma Museum curator Dr. Julius Marak said.
The Township viewed to be well fortified, has a large number of tanks inside and on the other prestigious heights is located a number of burn bricks temple. This is another thrilling unexpected discovery, the site of a structure associated with Buddhism, which is commonly known as stupa. The stupa belongs to a category of stupa, which is structurally termed as mud stupa. However, nothing is definitely known at present about the history of the site including the era it flourished.
Scholars believe that nearly 20 temple sites which have been there might have been palatial complexes and habitational areas for the population of the town. "Government will tie up with ASI North East circle to carry out further excavations of the entire Bhaitbari site, which is about 20 sq km" Dr. Marak said.
The archaeological findings which have yet to be adequately unraveled and carbon-dated are reported to be of considerable antiquity. The finds are of artifacts, which reveal the existence of planned places of worship with exquisitely designed masonry oil lamps.
In Williamson Sangma museum, Shillong deities of Ganesh, Parvati, Kubera and Yaksha have been preserved. The terracotta tiles and their stylistic taste and the existence of the stupa in Bhaitbari has forced the scholars somehow to conclude that this ancient fortified city may be contemporaneous to the reign of Harsha Vardhana, i.e., to the first half of the 7th Centry A.D.
The sites still stand as a challenge for those historians and scholars who have the will and courage to dig out its historic truth for the knowledge of the present and the benefit of the future. The site has not been properly promoted hence very few devotees, tourist and scholars visit this area. It demands an immediate attention, recognition, publicity and research.
It is only after the excavation of the 'inhabited' or 'residential' area can anything concrete be said about the history of the place.
7. 1400-yr-old Monastery Unearthed
22 Aug 2008, 0220 hrs IST, Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey,TNN
KOLKATA: A 30-foot-high mound in a nondescript Bengal village, which has spawned many a legend and mystery, may yield one of the biggest archaeological finds in the country. The remains of a huge yet exquisite monastery are emerging from the sands of time.
Archaeologists believe it is one of the missing monasteries mentioned in Hiuen Tsang's memoirs that was yet to be found. The monastery reportedly dates back to the seventh century - the time when the Chinese Buddhist monk made his 17-year walk across India.
The site of the find is in Moghalmari village, five kilometres from Dantan in West Midnapore. The excavation is being carried out by the archaeology department of Calcutta University, partly funded by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Hiuen Tsang had visited Bengal during the reign of King Sasanka and wrote in detail about Tamralipta and a monastery he saw here. But later records do not mention the existence of monasteries in this region. It has remained a matter of great interest among archaeologists and a source of many a debate. However, archaeologists feel that the Moghalmari excavation will finally set the record straight.
The 30-foot-high mound, which had hidden the monastery for centuries, was locally called Sakhisena and is the stuff of local legend. Local people attach a large number of myths to it, linking it to Sasanka and the pre-Pala times.
A couple of years ago, a team from the department had spent quite a few months in Moghalmari as part of a project backed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The experts were tracking an ancient navigation route passing through Dantan but stumbled on something much bigger.
"Our attention was quickly drawn to the mound by the local people, who showed us hundreds of artefacts and statuettes of stone, stucco and terracotta that they had collected for generations. These precious relics adorn homes, libraries, schools and other buildings in the village," said Asok Datta, a faculty member who led the team of archaeologists.
This team then prepared a project report on the possible existence of a mastic site under the mound and sent it to ASI which immediately gave the permission for excavation.
Seals, terracotta remains, bricks, pottery and the like tumbled out of the dirt. Experts say it is turning out to be one of the largest monasteries in eastern India and certainly one of its kind in the country, owing to the fact that all the ornamentation on the walls and domes are made of stucco. "This is interesting because in the other monasteries, even those at Gaya, stucco designs are only in the sanctum sanctorum. But here, the entire monastery has stucco decorations all over. This is not all. We have excavated the eastern flank of the monastery and were amazed to find that the length of one side is 61 metres - comparable with the largest in the country," Datta added.
The excavated portions of the monastery show cells that served as residences for monks lined on the sides of the building that opened into a central courtyard. "What has excited us most is the discovery of a rare Buddha stone sculpture from stratified context, representing the Buddha in the well known Bhumisparshamudra. Two stone heads, presumably of the Buddha, have also been found but we are waiting for ratification. So have a large number of terracotta seals," Datta said.
The university sent the artefacts to Bratindranath Mukherjee, an expert in ancient seals. He dated the seals "unmistakably" to the seventh century and also deciphered them. "They are of the post-Gupta era, which dates them to the late 6th to early 7th century. Some of them bear sentences like, 'propagation of dharma does not happen without a lot of self sacrifice," Mukherjee said. The ornamentation on the monastery resembles Buddhist designs that were popular in the North West, especially Gandhar, say experts.
The Asiatic Society is documenting the excavation. "It is an amazing discovery. The first part of the publication is complete and will be released on Saturday during President Pratibha Patil's visit," said Ramkrishna Chatterjee, publications secretary of the society.
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/WB_1400-yr-old_monastery_unearthed/articleshow/3391273.cms)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391287&width=460&resizemode=4)
Reconstructed figure of the Buddha found under the mound (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391286&width=460&resizemode=4)
Pillar basements that once held up the massive monastery (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391285&width=460&resizemode=4)
Trenches excavated in the north-west corner of the mound (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391281&width=460&resizemode=4)
Lotus motif in stucco overlying the brick of the same design (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391279&width=460&resizemode=4)
Exquisite composite motifs in stucco (TOI Photo)
22 Aug 2008, 0220 hrs IST, Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey,TNN
KOLKATA: A 30-foot-high mound in a nondescript Bengal village, which has spawned many a legend and mystery, may yield one of the biggest archaeological finds in the country. The remains of a huge yet exquisite monastery are emerging from the sands of time.
Archaeologists believe it is one of the missing monasteries mentioned in Hiuen Tsang's memoirs that was yet to be found. The monastery reportedly dates back to the seventh century - the time when the Chinese Buddhist monk made his 17-year walk across India.
The site of the find is in Moghalmari village, five kilometres from Dantan in West Midnapore. The excavation is being carried out by the archaeology department of Calcutta University, partly funded by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Hiuen Tsang had visited Bengal during the reign of King Sasanka and wrote in detail about Tamralipta and a monastery he saw here. But later records do not mention the existence of monasteries in this region. It has remained a matter of great interest among archaeologists and a source of many a debate. However, archaeologists feel that the Moghalmari excavation will finally set the record straight.
The 30-foot-high mound, which had hidden the monastery for centuries, was locally called Sakhisena and is the stuff of local legend. Local people attach a large number of myths to it, linking it to Sasanka and the pre-Pala times.
A couple of years ago, a team from the department had spent quite a few months in Moghalmari as part of a project backed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The experts were tracking an ancient navigation route passing through Dantan but stumbled on something much bigger.
"Our attention was quickly drawn to the mound by the local people, who showed us hundreds of artefacts and statuettes of stone, stucco and terracotta that they had collected for generations. These precious relics adorn homes, libraries, schools and other buildings in the village," said Asok Datta, a faculty member who led the team of archaeologists.
This team then prepared a project report on the possible existence of a mastic site under the mound and sent it to ASI which immediately gave the permission for excavation.
Seals, terracotta remains, bricks, pottery and the like tumbled out of the dirt. Experts say it is turning out to be one of the largest monasteries in eastern India and certainly one of its kind in the country, owing to the fact that all the ornamentation on the walls and domes are made of stucco. "This is interesting because in the other monasteries, even those at Gaya, stucco designs are only in the sanctum sanctorum. But here, the entire monastery has stucco decorations all over. This is not all. We have excavated the eastern flank of the monastery and were amazed to find that the length of one side is 61 metres - comparable with the largest in the country," Datta added.
The excavated portions of the monastery show cells that served as residences for monks lined on the sides of the building that opened into a central courtyard. "What has excited us most is the discovery of a rare Buddha stone sculpture from stratified context, representing the Buddha in the well known Bhumisparshamudra. Two stone heads, presumably of the Buddha, have also been found but we are waiting for ratification. So have a large number of terracotta seals," Datta said.
The university sent the artefacts to Bratindranath Mukherjee, an expert in ancient seals. He dated the seals "unmistakably" to the seventh century and also deciphered them. "They are of the post-Gupta era, which dates them to the late 6th to early 7th century. Some of them bear sentences like, 'propagation of dharma does not happen without a lot of self sacrifice," Mukherjee said. The ornamentation on the monastery resembles Buddhist designs that were popular in the North West, especially Gandhar, say experts.
The Asiatic Society is documenting the excavation. "It is an amazing discovery. The first part of the publication is complete and will be released on Saturday during President Pratibha Patil's visit," said Ramkrishna Chatterjee, publications secretary of the society.
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/WB_1400-yr-old_monastery_unearthed/articleshow/3391273.cms)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391287&width=460&resizemode=4)
Reconstructed figure of the Buddha found under the mound (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391286&width=460&resizemode=4)
Pillar basements that once held up the massive monastery (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391285&width=460&resizemode=4)
Trenches excavated in the north-west corner of the mound (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391281&width=460&resizemode=4)
Lotus motif in stucco overlying the brick of the same design (TOI Photo)
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb.cms?photoid=3391279&width=460&resizemode=4)
Exquisite composite motifs in stucco (TOI Photo)
8. New finds take archaeologists closer to Krishna
India Times
27 Dec 2008, 0330 hrs IST, Bhama Devi Ravi, TNN
CHENNAI: The conch and the Sudarshana Chakra are unmistakable. Although the figures do not match popular images of Kirshna sporting a peacock feather, archaeologists are convinced that the coins are of Krishna, revered as an avatar of Vishnu.
"These square coins, dating back to 180- BC, with Krishna on one side and Balram on the other, were unearthed recently in Al Khanoun in Afghanistan and are the earliest proof that Krishna was venerated as a god, and that the worship had spread beyond the Mathura region," says T K V Rajan, archaeologist and founder-director, Indian Science Monitor, who is holding a five-day exhibition, In search of Lord Krishna,' in the city from Saturday.
Having done extensive research in Brindavan, Rajan is convinced that a lot of the spiritual history of ancient India lies buried. "Close to 10,000 Greeks, who came in the wake of Alexander the Great, were Krishna's devotees. There is an inscription by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador at Takshila , which reads Deva, deva, Vasudeva. Krishna is my god and I have installed this Garuda Pillar at Bes Nagar (now in Bihar),'" says Rajan.
According to him the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed many sites that throw fresh light on the era of Krishna. "ASI is expected to release the full findings next year. Many of the unearthed artifact have a close resemblance to materials of what is believed to be the Harappan civilization. The findings may show that Krishna's life was the dividing line between India's spiritual history and the society's gradual shift towards a materialistic one," says Rajan.
Interestingly, a lot of what has been uncovered closely resemble the narration in the texts of Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatham," he adds. Both the spiritual works are revered by the Hindus as their holy books.
It has been over five years since the discoveries were made at Tholavira near Dwaraka, close to Kutch. Much progress has been made due to the application of thermoluminous study (TL) in ascertaining the age of artifact. "It is possible to get the diffusion of atomic particles in the clay pottery unearthed and arrive at an accurate date," points out Rajan. Tholavira itself is believed to be the capital city as detailed in the opening chapters of Bhagavatham. Rajan points to an image of a plough, made of wood, which is mentioned in the Bhagavatham.
The findings could lay a trail to understanding Krishna's life (said to be 5,000 years ago) and times, as a historical fact, says Rajan. The exhibition will be open till December 31 at Sri Parvathy Gallery, Eldams Road.
India Times
27 Dec 2008, 0330 hrs IST, Bhama Devi Ravi, TNN
CHENNAI: The conch and the Sudarshana Chakra are unmistakable. Although the figures do not match popular images of Kirshna sporting a peacock feather, archaeologists are convinced that the coins are of Krishna, revered as an avatar of Vishnu.
"These square coins, dating back to 180- BC, with Krishna on one side and Balram on the other, were unearthed recently in Al Khanoun in Afghanistan and are the earliest proof that Krishna was venerated as a god, and that the worship had spread beyond the Mathura region," says T K V Rajan, archaeologist and founder-director, Indian Science Monitor, who is holding a five-day exhibition, In search of Lord Krishna,' in the city from Saturday.
Having done extensive research in Brindavan, Rajan is convinced that a lot of the spiritual history of ancient India lies buried. "Close to 10,000 Greeks, who came in the wake of Alexander the Great, were Krishna's devotees. There is an inscription by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador at Takshila , which reads Deva, deva, Vasudeva. Krishna is my god and I have installed this Garuda Pillar at Bes Nagar (now in Bihar),'" says Rajan.
According to him the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed many sites that throw fresh light on the era of Krishna. "ASI is expected to release the full findings next year. Many of the unearthed artifact have a close resemblance to materials of what is believed to be the Harappan civilization. The findings may show that Krishna's life was the dividing line between India's spiritual history and the society's gradual shift towards a materialistic one," says Rajan.
Interestingly, a lot of what has been uncovered closely resemble the narration in the texts of Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatham," he adds. Both the spiritual works are revered by the Hindus as their holy books.
It has been over five years since the discoveries were made at Tholavira near Dwaraka, close to Kutch. Much progress has been made due to the application of thermoluminous study (TL) in ascertaining the age of artifact. "It is possible to get the diffusion of atomic particles in the clay pottery unearthed and arrive at an accurate date," points out Rajan. Tholavira itself is believed to be the capital city as detailed in the opening chapters of Bhagavatham. Rajan points to an image of a plough, made of wood, which is mentioned in the Bhagavatham.
The findings could lay a trail to understanding Krishna's life (said to be 5,000 years ago) and times, as a historical fact, says Rajan. The exhibition will be open till December 31 at Sri Parvathy Gallery, Eldams Road.
9. Discovery of Older City than Mohenjodaro
SUKKUR, Jan 22: An archaeological site, about 5,500 years old, has been found in Lakhian Jo Daro near Goth Nihal Khoso in the district of Sukkur. The find is said to be of the era of Kot Diji.
A team of 22 archaeologists headed by the chairman of Shah Abdul Latif University's archaeology department and Lakhian Jo Daro project director Ghulam Mustafa Shar found some semi-precious and precious stones and utensils made of clay, copper and other metals during excavation on Thursday. The remains are said to be older than those of Mohenjodaro.
Mr Shar told Dawn that remains of a 'faience' mirror factory had been found at the project's second block. It was believed to be of the era of mirror factories of Italy which dates back to some 9,000 years.
He said a painting had also been found and discovery of more such items could establish the site as 9,000 years old, like the remains found at Mehar Garh in Balochistan and Jericho in Palestine.
"At present, we can say that it is older than Moenjodaro," he said. Mr Shar said that archaeology professors and students from Punjab University, Peshawar University and Islamabad would join the team in a couple of days.
He said the work on the second block would continue for a month and more items could be found. Sukkur District Nazim Syed Nasir Hussain visited the site on Thursday and asked the project director to prepare proposals for a museum.
A team of 22 archaeologists headed by the chairman of Shah Abdul Latif University's archaeology department and Lakhian Jo Daro project director Ghulam Mustafa Shar found some semi-precious and precious stones and utensils made of clay, copper and other metals during excavation on Thursday. The remains are said to be older than those of Mohenjodaro.
Mr Shar told Dawn that remains of a 'faience' mirror factory had been found at the project's second block. It was believed to be of the era of mirror factories of Italy which dates back to some 9,000 years.
He said a painting had also been found and discovery of more such items could establish the site as 9,000 years old, like the remains found at Mehar Garh in Balochistan and Jericho in Palestine.
"At present, we can say that it is older than Moenjodaro," he said. Mr Shar said that archaeology professors and students from Punjab University, Peshawar University and Islamabad would join the team in a couple of days.
He said the work on the second block would continue for a month and more items could be found. Sukkur District Nazim Syed Nasir Hussain visited the site on Thursday and asked the project director to prepare proposals for a museum.
T.S. Subramanian
http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/12/images/2007091255372201.jpg*sequence: **The "Dancing Girl"*
CHENNAI: In a rare discovery, the Archaeological Survey of India has found at Bhirrana, a Harappan site in Fatehabad district in Haryana, a red potsherd with an engraving that resembles the 'Dancing Girl,' the iconic bronze figurine of Mohenjodaro. While the bronze was discovered in the early 1920s, the potsherd with the engraving was discovered during excavations by the ASI in 2004-05.
A few hundred kilometres separate Mohenjodaro, now in Pakistan, and Bhirrana. The potsherd, discovered by a team led by L.S. Rao, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch, ASI, Nagpur, belonged to the Mature Harappan period. Mr. Rao called it the "only one of its kind" because "no parallel to the Dancing Girl, in bronze or any other medium, was known" until the latest find.
In an article in the latest issue of *Man and Environment *(Volume XXXII, No.1, 2007), published by the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, Pune, Mr. Rao says, "... the delineation [of the lines in the potsherd] is so true to the stance, including the disposition of the hands, of the bronze that it appears that the craftsman of Bhirrana had first-hand knowledge of the former."
In his article, Mr. Rao has said the bronze was justly known for its stance and workmanship. "With its tilted head, flexed legs, right hand resting on the hip and the left suspended by its side, the bronze sculpture, although nude, enjoys a modest ornamentation with a necklace, wristlets and armlets. A statuette of 11 cm in height, it occupies a unique position in the sculptural art of the Mature Harappan period."
http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/12/images/2007091255372202.jpg *The potsherd with the engraving. *
Mr. Rao called the engraving on the potsherd "a highly stylised figure whose torso resembles that of an hour-glass or two triangles meeting at their apex." Upon the horizontal shoulder line, a partly damaged round head was visible. In consonance with the bronze, "here too, the right hand is akimbo, and the left is suspended by its side. Slight oblique strokes on the right upper arm are suggestive of the presence of armlets. The lower portion of the body is missing owing to damage on the sherd. The clothing is indicated by horizontal hatchings on the chest and abdomen, and vertical hatchings on the thighs."
Mr. Rao called Bhirrana an "exemplary" and "paradigmatic" site that stood out on two more grounds. For the first time in the post-Independence period, artefacts called Hakra ware, belonging to the pre-early Harappan period, were found as independent, stratified deposits at Bhirrana. This and other discoveries established the presence of an unbroken cultural sequence at Bhirrana: from the Hakra ware culture and its evolution into early Harappan, early Mature Harappan and Mature Harappan until the site was abandoned.
The discoveries of these periods include underground dwelling pits; house-complexes on streets; a fortification wall; bichrome pottery; terracotta cups; arrowheads, fish-hooks and bangles, all in copper; incised copper celts; terracotta toy-carts and animal figurines; and beads of semi-precious stones.
Seals made of steatite of the Mature Harappan period were found. They have animal figures such as a unicorn, a deer with wavy antlers, a bull with outsized horns, and an animal with three heads - of a deer, a unicorn and a bull. The seals also have typical Harappan legends on them. All these were found during excavations in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Mr. Rao and colleagues have written on their work in *Puratattva *(Nos. 34, 35 and 36), a bulletin of the Indian Archaeological Society.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/12/stories/2007091255372200.htm
The Harappan Link
T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
Discoveries made at Bhirrana in Haryana provide the missing link in the evolution of Harappan civilisation archaeology.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2502/images/20080201504012901.jpg *The red potsherd with the engraving resembling the Dancing Girl bronze figurine of Mohenjodaro, found at Bhirrana.
THE Archaeological Survey of India's discoveries at the Harappan sites of Bhirrana and Rakhigarhi, both in Haryana, in the past one decade testify to the importance of these sites in the evolution of the Harappan civilisation. While excavations were carried out in three consecutive seasons - 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 - at Bhirrana in Fatehabad district, excavations at Rakhigarhi in Hissar district lasted from 1997 to 2000. Both sites are on the banks of the Saraswati river, now dried up.
In a rare discovery during the excavations of 2004-05 at Bhirrana, the ASI found a thick red potsherd with an engraving that resembles the Dancing Girl, the famous bronze figurine found at Mohenjodaro in the early 1920s. Bhirrana is a few hundred kilometres from Mohenjodaro, which is now in Pakistan. The potsherd with the engraving was discovered by a team led by L.S. Rao, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch, ASI, Nagpur. It belongs to the mature Harappan period.
L.S. Rao called the discovery "the only one of its kind" because "no parallel to the Dancing Girl, either in bronze or in any other medium, was known" until the potsherd was found. Bhirrana is an "exemplary site" because, for the first time in post-Independence India, Hakra ware belonging to the pre-early Harappan period were found as independent, stratified deposits. L.S. Rao also called it a "paradigmatic site" because "to put it in a nutshell, the importance of the excavation at Bhirrana lies in the fact
that we have strong evidence for the first time of an unbroken cultural sequence, starting from the village culture represented by Hakra ware and its evolution gradually into semi-urban and urban cultures till the site was finally abandoned." Excavations at Bhirrana conclusively show that during the period of Hakra ware culture, people lived in circular pits cut into the soil. There were auxiliary pits for cooking and for industrial activities (such as melting copper) and for religious purposes, including animal sacrifices. "In the present state of knowledge," L.S. Rao said, "the Hakra ware culture belongs to the fourth millennium B.C., or 6,000 years before the present."
In the early Harappan period, people came out of the pits and built houses made of sun-baked bricks. The whole settlement was within a fortification wall. In the mature Harappan period, the entire settlement was once again reorganised and the city layout reoriented with major and minor lanes, by-lanes and streets, which had house complexes. The streets always cut one another at right angles.
The discoveries at Bhirrana include underground dwelling pits; house complexes on streets and lanes; a fortification wall; bichrome pottery; terracotta vases, bowls and cups; arrowheads, fish-hooks and bangles, all made of copper; terracotta toy-carts and animal figurines; and beads made of semi-precious stones such as faience, lapis lazuli, agate and carnelian. One of the arrowheads, of the mature Harappan period, still retains a fibre impression of the wooden haft.
Several mature Harappan period seals made of steatite were also found in Bhirrana. The animals represented on the obverse of these seals include unicorns, deer with wavy antlers and a bull with outsized horns. The seals have typical Harappan legends. The reverse side of the seals has a knob with perforations.
D.R. Sahni discovered Harappa (which is also in Pakistan now) in Punjab in 1921 and R.D. Banerji discovered Mohenjodaro in Sind a few months later in the same year. Both were archaeologists of the ASI. The existence of these sites was known to scholars for about 85 years before their actual discovery. What came to light after the discoveries was that a highly developed civilisation (the Harappan civilisation, or the Indus civilisation) had flourished on the banks of the rivers Indus and Saraswati, around 3000 B.C. It was Banerji who discovered the "Dancing Girl".
The Harappan culture was a highly developed, urbanised culture. People lived in houses that had several rooms, bathrooms and underground drainage. The discovery of Harappa and Mohenjodaro, and the many other sites that were excavated later, revealed the grandeur of this civilisation, and scholars made consistent attempts to find out what had preceded it. This curiosity drove archaeologists to locate more and more Harappan sites.
BENOY K. BEHL/COLLECTION: NATIONAL MUSEUM, NEW DELHI
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2502/images/20080201504012902.jpg *The Dancing
Girl, the iconic bronze figurine of Mohenjodaro. *
Since the 1920s, about 300 Harappan sites have been excavated in Pakistan and India. The sites excavated in India include Bhirrana, Kunal, Rakhigarhi, Banawali, Bedhawa and Farmana in Haryana, Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh, Dholavira and Lothal in Gujarat, Kalibangan and Baror in Rajasthan, and Daimabad in Maharashtra.
At its height, the Harappan civilisation flourished over an area of 2.5 million sq km, from Sutkagendor in the Makran coast of Balochistan to Alamgirhpur in the east in Uttar Pradesh and from Manda in Jammu to Daimabad in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.
Between 1972 and 1974, M.R. Mughal, former Director-General of Archaeology and Museums, Pakistan, explored Bahawalpur in the Cholistan region of Punjab, situated just across the international border from adjoining Rajasthan. Mughal found a lot of pottery on the surface there. The ware was named after the Hakra river, which flows there. Ultimately, Hakra ware was found stratigraphically during the excavations at Jalilpur, on the banks of the Ravi river near Harappa. It was found lying beneath early Harappan
deposits. This was the story on the Pakistani side.
On the Indian side, although many excavations were carried out at Kalibangan, Banawali, Rakhigarhi and Kunal, they did not yield any independent horizon of Hakra ware culture in their earliest levels. So there was a missing link in the Harappan civilisation archaeology between Pakistan and India.
"For the first time now," L.S. Rao said, "in post-Independence India, stratigraphically positioned Hakra ware culture deposits have been exposed at Bhirrana. They show a typical early village settlement, wherein dwelling pits were cut into the natural soil." These pits had a superstructure. Interestingly, no post-holes were found on the floor of the pits. (Posts would have supported the roof of these dwelling pits).
10. Pre-Angkor Civilization Site
March 5, 2009 (The Straits Times)
KUALA LUMPUR- MALAYSIAN archaeologists on Thursday said they had discovered the main site of an ancient kingdom that predates the Angkor temples of Cambodia and could be the oldest civilisation in the region.
Archaeological team leader Professor Mokhtar Saidin said the find, which could lead to a rewriting of history books on the region, was made in two palm oil plantations in northern Kedah state last month.
He said buildings found at the site indicate it was part of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Bujang which existed in the area some time in the third century AD, predating the Angkor civilisation of Cambodia which flourished from the 12th to 14th centuries. 'We have dated artifacts from what we belive are an administration building and an iron smelter to 1,700 BP (years before present) which sets the Bujang civilisation between the third and fourth century AD,' he told AFP.
'We have only one date so far so we can say it is one of the earliest civilisations in the region but with more dates we will be able to verify whether it is the oldest civilisation in the region,' he added. Mr Mokhtar said the iron smelter was a surprise find as it showed that such an early civilisation was already quite advanced technologically. 'We have 30 more mounds at the site that have to be excavated and we are hoping to also find the port area for the kingdom as it was near the sea,' he added.
'This will give us a clue to how the civilisation was trading and influenced by China and India, who would have been the two main powers back then to have influenced development in this region.' Malaysian archaeologists last month also announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human ancestors in South-east Asia.
The stone hand-axes were discovered last year in the historical site of Lenggong in northern Perak state, embedded in a type of rock formed by meteorites. – AFP
http://tinyurl.com/6vs6xr
March 5, 2009 (The Straits Times)
KUALA LUMPUR- MALAYSIAN archaeologists on Thursday said they had discovered the main site of an ancient kingdom that predates the Angkor temples of Cambodia and could be the oldest civilisation in the region.
Archaeological team leader Professor Mokhtar Saidin said the find, which could lead to a rewriting of history books on the region, was made in two palm oil plantations in northern Kedah state last month.
He said buildings found at the site indicate it was part of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Bujang which existed in the area some time in the third century AD, predating the Angkor civilisation of Cambodia which flourished from the 12th to 14th centuries. 'We have dated artifacts from what we belive are an administration building and an iron smelter to 1,700 BP (years before present) which sets the Bujang civilisation between the third and fourth century AD,' he told AFP.
'We have only one date so far so we can say it is one of the earliest civilisations in the region but with more dates we will be able to verify whether it is the oldest civilisation in the region,' he added. Mr Mokhtar said the iron smelter was a surprise find as it showed that such an early civilisation was already quite advanced technologically. 'We have 30 more mounds at the site that have to be excavated and we are hoping to also find the port area for the kingdom as it was near the sea,' he added.
'This will give us a clue to how the civilisation was trading and influenced by China and India, who would have been the two main powers back then to have influenced development in this region.' Malaysian archaeologists last month also announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human ancestors in South-east Asia.
The stone hand-axes were discovered last year in the historical site of Lenggong in northern Perak state, embedded in a type of rock formed by meteorites. – AFP
http://tinyurl.com/6vs6xr
11. Anchor of Chinese make found off Gujarat Coast
The Hindu [India],March 15, 2009
Marine archaeologists have found a stone anchor in the Gulf of Khambhat with a design similar to the ones used by Chinese and Japanese ships in
the 12th-14th century AD, giving the first offshore evidence indicating India's trade relations with the two Asian countries. This stone anchor was found during an exploration headed by two marine archaeologists -- A S Gaur and B K Bhatt -- from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO). "Though there are a lot of references and Chinese pottery (found from coastal sites) indicating trade relations between the two Asian nations (China and Japan) in the past, but this anchor from the offshore region is the first evidence from Indian waters. Similar type of anchors have been found from Chinese and Japanese waters," Mr.Gaur told PTI.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200903151560.htm
The Hindu [India],March 15, 2009
Marine archaeologists have found a stone anchor in the Gulf of Khambhat with a design similar to the ones used by Chinese and Japanese ships in
the 12th-14th century AD, giving the first offshore evidence indicating India's trade relations with the two Asian countries. This stone anchor was found during an exploration headed by two marine archaeologists -- A S Gaur and B K Bhatt -- from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO). "Though there are a lot of references and Chinese pottery (found from coastal sites) indicating trade relations between the two Asian nations (China and Japan) in the past, but this anchor from the offshore region is the first evidence from Indian waters. Similar type of anchors have been found from Chinese and Japanese waters," Mr.Gaur told PTI.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200903151560.htm
12. City archaeologists discover Harappan graves
The Times of India, 9 Apr 2009
A team of archaeologists from the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute is back from Haryana where they stumbled upon a record 70 Harappan graves at a site in Farmana, discovering the largest burial site of this civilization in India so far. It is an extraordinary archaeological finding. A big housing complex that matured during the Harappan era was discovered by these archaeologists who have been working in this little known village for the past three years. The archaeological team here uncovered an entire town plan. The skeletal remains belong to an era between 2500 BC to 2000 BC.
http://snipr.com/fo1ug
The Times of India, 9 Apr 2009
A team of archaeologists from the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute is back from Haryana where they stumbled upon a record 70 Harappan graves at a site in Farmana, discovering the largest burial site of this civilization in India so far. It is an extraordinary archaeological finding. A big housing complex that matured during the Harappan era was discovered by these archaeologists who have been working in this little known village for the past three years. The archaeological team here uncovered an entire town plan. The skeletal remains belong to an era between 2500 BC to 2000 BC.
http://snipr.com/fo1ug
13. 1400-year-old Lakshmi Deity Found in J&K
The Hindu [India], April 12, 2009
This shows the original and ancient Vedic connection that the area of Kashmir has always had. A rare granite sculpture of Goddess Lakshmi, believed to be 1,400 years old, has been found at Waghama village along the river Jehlum in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The sculpture, that was found by the farmers a few days ago, has been taken in possession by the state Archives and Archeology department and its antiquity and artistic details are being studied, its Deputy Director Peerzada Mohammad Ashraf said on Sunday. He said the farmers stumbled upon the image when they were digging a field in Waghama-Bijbehara, 45 kms from here. They kept the image with them but some villagers tipped the local police who recovered it and handed it over to the archaeology department. The image is seven inches high and 4.5 inches wide and is seen as one of the most important findings of the year, Mr. Ashraf said.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200904121353.htm
The Hindu [India], April 12, 2009
This shows the original and ancient Vedic connection that the area of Kashmir has always had. A rare granite sculpture of Goddess Lakshmi, believed to be 1,400 years old, has been found at Waghama village along the river Jehlum in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The sculpture, that was found by the farmers a few days ago, has been taken in possession by the state Archives and Archeology department and its antiquity and artistic details are being studied, its Deputy Director Peerzada Mohammad Ashraf said on Sunday. He said the farmers stumbled upon the image when they were digging a field in Waghama-Bijbehara, 45 kms from here. They kept the image with them but some villagers tipped the local police who recovered it and handed it over to the archaeology department. The image is seven inches high and 4.5 inches wide and is seen as one of the most important findings of the year, Mr. Ashraf said.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200904121353.htm
14. Australian Aborigines of Indian origin?
They Share Telltale Mutations With Modern-Day Indian Population, Reveals Genetic Research
July 23, 2009Washington: Genetic research conducted by a team of Indian scientists has indicated that aborigines, who initially arrived in Australia via south Asia, may have originated from India.
The evidence was found by Dr Raghavendra Rao, who worked with a team of researchers from the Anthropological Survey of India, to find telltale mutations in modern-day Indian populations that are exclusively shared by Aborigines.
For the research, the team sequenced 966 complete mitochondrial DNA genomes from Indian ‘relic populations’.
“Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother and so allows us to accurately trace ancestry. We found certain mutations in the DNA sequences of the Indian tribes we sampled that are specific to Australian Aborigines,” said Rao.
This shared ancestry suggests that the Aborigine population migrated to Australia via the so-called “Southern Route”.
The “Southern Route” dispersal of modern humans suggests movement of a group of hunter-gatherers from the Horn of Africa, across the mouth of the Red Sea into Arabia and southern Asia at least 50 thousand years ago. Subsequently, the modern human populations expanded rapidly along the coastlines of southern Asia, southeastern Asia and Indonesia to arrive in Australia at least 45 thousand years ago.
The genetic evidence of this dispersal from the work of Rao and his colleagues is supported by archeological evidence of human occupation in the Lake Mungo area of Australia dated to approximately the same time period. Discussing the implications of the research, Rao said, “Human evolution is usually understood in terms of millions of years. This direct DNA evidence indicates that the emergence of ‘anatomically modern’ humans in Africa and the spread of these humans to other parts of the world happened only fifty thousand or so years ago.”
“In this respect, populations in the Indian subcontinent harbor DNA footprints of the earliest expansion out of Africa,” he added. “Understanding human evolution helps us to understand the biological and cultural expressions of these people, with far reaching implications for human welfare,” he added. ANI
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=CAP/2009/07/23/17/Img/Pg017.png
Australian Aborigines Initially Arrived Via South Asia
ScienceDaily (July 21, 2009) — Genetic research indicates that Australian Aborigines initially arrived via south Asia. Researchers have found telltale mutations in modern-day Indian populations that are exclusively shared by Aborigines.
Journal reference:
1. Satish Kumar, Rajasekhara REDDY Ravuri, Padmaja Koneru, B P Urade, B N Sarkar, A Chandrasekar and V R Rao. Reconstructing Indian-Australian phylogenetic link. BMC Evolutionary Biology, (in press) [link] http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcevolbiol/
Reconstructing Indian-Australian phylogenetic link.
Satish Kumar ![email]( "Email")
, Rajasekhara REDDY Ravuri ![email]( "Email")
, Padmaja Koneru ![email]( "Email")
, B P Urade ![email]( "Email")
, B N Sarkar ![email]( "Email")
,A Chandrasekar ![email]( "Email")
and V R Rao ![email]( "Email")
BMC Evolutionary Biology 2009, 9:173doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-173
Published: 22 July 2009
Abstract (provisional)
Background
An early dispersal of biologically and behaviorally modern humans from their African origins to Australia, by at least 45 thousand years via southern Asia has been suggested by studies based on morphology, archaeology and genetics. However, mtDNA lineages sampled so far from south Asia, eastern Asia and Australasia show non-overlapping distributions of haplogroups within pan Eurasian M and N macrohaplogroups. Likewise, support from the archaeology is still ambiguous.
Results
In our completely sequenced 966-mitochondrial genomes from 26 relic tribes of India, we have identified seven genomes, which share two synonymous polymorphisms with the M42 haplogroup, which is specific to Australian Aborigines.
Conclusions
Our results showing a shared mtDNA lineage between Indians and Australian Aborigines provides direct genetic evidence of an early colonization of Australia through south Asia, following the "southern route".
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090721214628.htm15. Statue of Lord Shiva’s sacred bull found at site of ancient Hindu temple in Indonesia
Jakarta, January 7 (ANI): Archaeologists have found a statue of Nandi, the sacred bull that carried the Hindu god Shiva, among the ruins of what is believed to be an ancient temple at an excavation site in Yogyakarta in Indonesia.
The discovery of the statue, which in Hindu mythology is said to embody sexual energy and fertility, meant that the team would now continue its work until Jan. 20, Indung Panca Putra, the head of the excavation team from the Yogyakarta Antiquities and Relics Conservation Agency, told The Jakarta
Globe.
“The statue is exquisite. The sculpture is carved differently from other statues of Nandi. This one is not depicted as fat,” Indung said.
Previous discoveries at the site, which is located on the Indonesian Islamic University campus, include a statue of Ganesha, Shiva’s divine son; a linga , the symbol of worship for Shiva; and a yoni , a Hindu symbol for divine passage or birth.
“We strongly believe the temple had a roof and its pillars were made of wood or bamboo,” Indung said.
He said that archeologists were working under the assumption that the pillars had not been destroyed by a volcanic mudflow hundreds of years ago, but had instead been removed by people.
Indung said that the temple ruins were different from other temples found in Central Java .
“We have compared what we have found to what was found in the temples of Sambisari, Gebang and Kedulan. The comparisons have led us to believe that the material used for the temple and its statues were much harder and the sculptures are far more refined,” Indung said.
The first discovery at the site, the Ganesha statue on December 21, was made when the university was preparing to lay foundations for a new library.
Indung said that excavation machines uncovered rocks five-meters deep that resembled an ancient building complex.
The conservation team, consisting of four archaeologists and four engineers, has been working ever since to find other statues. (ANI)
16. Evidence the People Existed 74,000 Years Ago in India
Science 23 Feb 10, http://www.ox.ac.uk/images/maincolumn/9440_Mapping_of_stone_tool_artefacts_on_occupation_surface.jpg
Mapping of stone tool artefacts on a Middle Palaeolithic occupation surface under the Toba ash.
Newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago.
The international, multidisciplinary research team, led by Oxford University in collaboration with Indian institutions, unveiled to a conference in Oxford what it calls ‘Pompeii-like excavations’ beneath the Toba ash.
The seven-year project examines the environment that humans lived in, their stone tools, as well as the plants and animal bones of the time. The team has concluded that many forms of life survived the super-eruption, contrary to other research which has suggested significant animal extinctions and genetic bottlenecks.
According to the team, a potentially ground-breaking implication of the new work is that the species responsible for making the stone tools in India was Homo sapiens. Stone tool analysis has revealed that the artefacts consist of cores and flakes, which are classified in India as Middle Palaeolithic and are similar to those made by modern humans in Africa. ‘Though we are still searching for human fossils to definitively prove the case, we are encouraged by the technological similarities. This suggests that human populations were present in India prior to 74,000 years ago, or about 15,000 years earlier than expected based on some genetic clocks,’ said project director Dr Michael Petraglia, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford.
This exciting new information questions the idea that the Toba super-eruption caused a worldwide environmental catastrophe. Dr Michael Petraglia, School of Archaeology
An area of widespread speculation about the Toba super-eruption is that it nearly drove humanity to extinction. The fact that the Middle Palaeolithic tools of similar styles are found right before and after the Toba super-eruption, suggests that the people who survived the eruption were the same populations, using the same kinds of tools, says Dr Petraglia. The research agrees with evidence that other human ancestors, such as the Neanderthals in Europe and the small brained Hobbits in Southeastern Asia, continued to survive well after Toba.
Although some scholars have speculated that the Toba volcano led to severe and wholesale environmental destruction, the Oxford-led research in India suggests that a mosaic of ecological settings was present, and some areas experienced a relatively rapid recovery after the volcanic event.
The team has not discovered much bone in Toba ash sites, but in the Billasurgam cave complex in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, the researchers have found deposits which they believe range from at least 100,000 years ago to the present. They contain a wealth of animal bones such as wild cattle, carnivores and monkeys. They have also identified plant materials in the Toba ash sites and caves, yielding important information about the impact of the Toba super-eruption on the ecological settings.
Dr Petraglia said: ‘This exciting new information questions the idea that the Toba super-eruption caused a worldwide environmental catastrophe. That is not to say that there were no ecological effects. We do have evidence that the ash temporarily disrupted vegetative communities and it certainly choked and polluted some fresh water sources, probably causing harm to wildlife and maybe even humans.’
17. Ancient Hindu Temples Found in Indonesia
Source: www.nytimes.comYOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA, February 24, 2010: Last August when the private Islamic University of Indonesia decided to build a library next to the mosque. In the two decades the university had occupied its 79-acre campus outside Yogyakarta, no temple had ever been found. But chances were high that they were around. By Dec. 11, a construction crew had already removed nearly seven feet of earth. But the soil proved unstable, and the crew decided to dig 20 inches deeper. A backhoe then struck something unusually hard. The crack the backhoe left on the temple wall would become the main sign of damage on what experts say could be the best-preserved ancient monument found in Java, a Hindu temple.Researchers from the government’s Archaeological Office in Yogyakarta headed to the campus the next day, excavated for 35 days and eventually unearthed two 1,100-year-old small temples. “The temples are not so big, but they have features that we haven’t found in Indonesia before,” Herni Pramastuti, who runs the Archaeological Office, said, pointing to the rectangle-shaped temple, the existence of two sets of linga and yoni, and the presence of two altars.
Historians believe that Hinduism spread in Java in the fifth century, followed three centuries later by Buddhism. Kingdoms hewing to both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs flourished in Java before Islam in the 15th century. But Islam itself incorporated beliefs and ceremonies from the other two religions. Just as some unearthed temples in east Java have a Hindu upper half and a Buddhist lower half, some early mosques had roofs in the shape of Hindu temples, said Timbul Haryono, a professor of archaeology at Gadjah Mada University here and an expert on Hinduism in Southeast Asia. Early mosques faced not in Mecca’s direction, but west or east in the manner of Hindu temples.
“Things didn’t change all of a sudden,” Mr. Haryono said. “Islam was adopted through a process of acculturation.” In Indonesia’s arts, like the wayang shadow puppetry that dramatizes Hindu epics, or in people’s private lives, traces of the earlier religions survive, he said. Food, flowers and incense still accompany many funerals for Muslims, in keeping with Hindu and Buddhist traditions. “Hinduism was Indonesia’s main religion for 1,000 years,” he said, “so its influence is still strong.” “This is Indonesia,” said Suwarsono Muhammad, an official at the Islamic University. In the long history of Indonesia, we have proven that different religions can live peacefully.”
18. 4,500-year-old Harappan settlement excavated in Kutch
Ahmedabad, Mar 7, 2010 (PTI)
A vast settlement surrounded by a fortified structure believed to be about 4,500 years old and belonging to the Harappan civilisation has been excavated at Shikarpur village in Kutch district.
The team which has been excavating the site in Bhachau taluka of Kutch since last three years, is headed by Kuldeep Bhan and P Ajithprasad of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara.
"A huge fortified structure made out of unbaked mud bricks has been excavated by our team. The ratio of height, width and length of the bricks is 1:2:4 which is what we call Harappan ratio," Ajithprasad told PTI.
"The fortification is spread over nearly one hectare area, with 10 m thick walls," he said.
"Though the exact period when this structure could have been constructed is yet to be ascertained, primarily it appears to be roughly 4500-years-old, built between 2500 BC and 2200 BC and is part of the Harappan civilisation," Ajithprasad said.
"The purpose of building such thick walls could be protection from natural calamities, external enemy or to impress upon other settlements," he added. According to the professor, the fortification has an open space in the centre with small structures surrounding it. "The site is one quarter the size of the biggest Harappan site in the state located in Dholavira, Kutch and four times the size of another site of the same era in Bagasra," Ajithprasad said. Situated on a mound locally known as Valmio Timbo (mound) measuring about 3.4 hectares, it is located 4.5 km south of Shikarpur village at the edge of the narrow creek extending eastward from the Gulf of Kutch. It is close to National Highway-15 connecting Kutch district with other parts of the state.
"The site was earlier excavated from 1987 to 1989 by the Gujarat State Archaeology Department but details about it were not published and whatever little was published was inconclusive," Ajithprasad said.
Therefore, the site was taken up for re-excavation due to its strategic location and establish the cultural sequence as well as the settlement features in terms of economic activities, he added.
During the three years of excavation, the site has revealed Harappan artifacts, especially ceramics and triangular terracotta cakes, spread rather evenly on the surface. In addition to the classical Harappan pottery, the surface assemblage included small amounts of regional pottery. Other sites of Harappan civilisation excavated in Gujarat include Kanmer in Kutch, Gola Dhoro (Bagasara), Nageshwar, Nagwada, Kuntasi in northern Saurashtra and Juni Kuran in northern Kutch.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/56757/4500-year-old-harappan-settlement.html
The Italian archaeological mission in Pakistan has discovered a large number of Buddhist sites and rock shelters in Kandak and Kota valleys of Barikot in Swat in the North West Frontier Province which depicted the carvings and paintings from the bronze and iron ages. “These are some of the finest and most fascinating ancient discoveries preserved in good condition,” said Director of the archaeological mission, Dr Luca Maria Olivieri, yesterday. These rock carvings depict agricultural cult scenes in red colours, cup marks meant for rituals, for example, for holding liquids or preparing the ochre pigment, dancing scenes, battle scenes and a large number of animals,” said Dr Olivieri.
19. Bronze-era Buddhist sites discovered
The Italian archaeological mission in Pakistan has discovered a large number of Buddhist sites and rock shelters in Kandak and Kota valleys of Barikot in Swat in the North West Frontier Province which depicted the carvings and paintings from the bronze and iron ages. “These are some of the finest and most fascinating ancient discoveries preserved in good condition,” said Director of the archaeological mission, Dr Luca Maria Olivieri, yesterday. These rock carvings depict agricultural cult scenes in red colours, cup marks meant for rituals, for example, for holding liquids or preparing the ochre pigment, dancing scenes, battle scenes and a large number of animals,” said Dr Olivieri.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=347433&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23
A heap of ruins where a Hindu temple of Chola period was believed to have been buried has been unearthed in the Northern part of Delft. The temple is 40 feet long and 10 feet wide. It is built with lime stone. The roof is covered with lime mixed plaster. The other parts of the temple are in ruins.
20. Ancient Chola period temple unearthed in North Jaffna
special corr., Tuesday, 9 March 2010
A heap of ruins where a Hindu temple of Chola period was believed to have been buried has been unearthed in the Northern part of Delft. The temple is 40 feet long and 10 feet wide. It is built with lime stone. The roof is covered with lime mixed plaster. The other parts of the temple are in ruins.
Professor P. Pushparatnam of the Jaffna University History Department commenting on the findings, said the people of the locality are unable to say when this temple was built. The ruins indicate that the building would have been built many years ago. It is opined that if this temple had been built during the latter period of the Dutch reign or in the beginning of British rule in Sri Lanka, the people would be in a position to give some clues about the origin of the temple, he said.
The people of the area would not have allowed the temple to go to ruin if it had been built during the Dutch or British period. It can be surmised that the temple was built before European rule in Sri Lanka, Prof. Pushparatnam said.
The statues and the art work on stones, irrigation pipes made of baked clay and a coin found by one of Prof. Pushparatnam’s students with the name of Rajaraja Cholan embossed on it clearly indicate that the temple would have been built during the Chola period.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/03/09/news12.asp
21.A City Bigger than Athens?
Sandeep Mishra, Aug 7, 2010,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6270354.cms?prtpage=1
More can be read about it at: http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/lowenmensch-puzzle-am-i-missing-something/
October 19th, 2011
In the fifth century, Champasak was thought to be the centre of the Laotian universe. Today it’s a drowsy one-car village clutching the western bank of the Mekong River in southern Laos and home to the tiny Hindu-built Vat Phou, which some archaeologists believe may have been the first Angkor temple ever built.
At a glance, Vat Phou doesn’t seem like the kind of structure that would initiate an empire. A tiny prayer hall at the top of a precarious stone stairway, with two reception halls on the plains below, Vat Phou lacks the jaw-dropping awesomeness of temples in Cambodia’s Angkor Archaeological Park. But as with the Angkor temples, its symbolism is extraordinary.
Tucked under the phallic-shaped mountain peak of Phu Kao – thought to represent Mount Meru, the sacred mountain at the centre of the Hindu cosmology – Vat Phou was worshipped as the embodiment of Shiva. The spring nearby was associated with Shiva’s wife, the goddess Parvati. Water runs underground from Phu Kao’s peak, rising through Parvati. From here, passing a series of barays (man-made dams) and linga (phallic statues), water flows into the Mekong, blessing everything on its journey south.
UNDER THREAT: The ruins of Vat Phou in southern Laos hold secrets that are being destroyed by development.
In the fifth century, Champasak was thought to be the centre of the Laotian universe. Today it's a drowsy one-car village clutching the western bank of the Mekong River in southern Laos and home to the tiny Hindu-built Vat Phou, which some archaeologists believe may have been the first Angkor temple ever built.
At a glance, Vat Phou doesn't seem like the kind of structure that would initiate an empire. A tiny prayer hall at the top of a precarious stone stairway, with two reception halls on the plains below, Vat Phou lacks the jaw-dropping awesomeness of temples in Cambodia's Angkor Archaeological Park. But as with the Angkor temples, its symbolism is extraordinary.
Tucked under the phallic-shaped mountain peak of Phu Kao - thought to represent Mount Meru, the sacred mountain at the centre of the Hindu cosmology - Vat Phou was worshipped as the embodiment of Shiva. The spring nearby was associated with Shiva's wife, the goddess Parvati. Water runs underground from Phu Kao's peak, rising through Parvati. From here, passing a series of barays (man-made dams) and linga (phallic statues), water flows into the Mekong, blessing everything on its journey south.
I learn this while poring over a satellite map with Daniel Davenport, an articulate but debated Australian archaeologist working in Champasak and author of the Vat Phou Guide: Following in the Footsteps of Angkor's Pilgrims, a tourist compendium on the area that Davenport is self publishing.
"Vat Phou could quite well have been the first, the pre-eminent, Angkor temple," he says, explaining that early worshippers took a piece of Vat Phou stone and placed it under every subsequent temple they built.
On the map, Davenport points out a well-defined line leading from one of the reception halls at Vat Phou to the temple of Angkor Wat. "This used to be a pilgrims' road during the Khmer Empire," he says, referring to the kingdom that reigned over much of south-east Asia between the ninth and thirteenth centuries and used the Angkor Archaelogical Park as the capital. "They had roadhouses every six miles (nine kilometres) with accommodation, food, shelter for the animals and hospitals; six miles being the average distance a bullock cart could travel in a day."
However, archaeologists at Vat Phou know a lot less than they would like to. "We have excavated about 5 per cent of the area," says Laurent Delfour, a French architect who has been working with UNESCO to manage the site for the past three-and-a-half years. "That translates as 5 per cent knowledge on the area. We believe that Vat Phou marked the beginning of the Angkor Empire but nothing is certain."
What is certain is the race against time Champasak's hidden treasures face. A new highway linking the town with the regional capital of Pakse and the Thai border post of Chong Mek, has already disturbed six ancient temples beneath the ground. Champasak was designated a World Heritage zone in 2001; building without assessments, and approval, is not permitted.
"The Laos Ministry of Information and Culture did a little research into the area where the road was going," says a long-term Champasak resident who requested anonymity. "But the findings were just pushed aside and work on the road accelerated."
The local government is hoping the road, which will extend to the Cambodian border, will bring in busloads of tourists. Full story here.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/10/vat-phou-temples-ancient-history.html
27. Indus Valley 2,000 years older than thought
Nivedita Khandekar , Hindustan Times
New Delhi, November 04, 2012
The beginning of India’s history has been pushed back by more than 2,000 years, making it older than that of Egypt and Babylon. Latest research has put the date of the origin of the Indus Valley Civilisation at 6,000 years before Christ, which contests the current theory that the settlements around the Indus began around 3750 BC.
Ever since the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the early 1920s, the civilisation was considered almost as old as those of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The finding was announced at the “International Conference on Harappan Archaeology”, recently organised by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Chandigarh.
Based on their research, BR Mani, ASI joint director general, and KN Dikshit, former ASI joint director general, said in a presentation: “The preliminary results of the data from early sites of the Indo-Pak subcontinent suggest that the Indian civilisation emerged in the 8th millennium BC in the Ghaggar-Hakra and Baluchistan area.”
“On the basis of radio-metric dates from Bhirrana (Haryana), the cultural remains of the pre-early Harappan horizon go back to 7380 BC to 6201 BC.”
Excavations had been carried out at two sites in Pakistan and Bhirrana, Kunal, Rakhigarhi and Baror in India.
Sandeep Mishra, Aug 7, 2010,
Just outside Bhubaneswar, around 2,000 years ago, stood one of old India's biggest cities. When they chanced upon Sisupalgarh, excavators could only gape in astonishment at its modern ways
Sisupalgarh sounds like a happening settlement by historic standards: a sprawling urban settlement that housed 20,000-25,000 people, street-linking gateways, pillared meeting halls, water storage systems and disposable vessels for daily use. In one of the richest hauls for archaeologists in the country in recent times, a 12-member Indo-American expert team discovered the remains of a city from the early historic period in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar two years ago.
The team, comprising representatives from Deccan College, Pune, and the University of California, in collaboration with the ASI, had conducted surface excavations at the fortified site first reported by Prof B Lal in 1948. Fresh excavation was restarted in 2005 to learn more about this mystery city. A large quantity of debris, including household pottery and terracotta ornaments, were discovered during the exercise.
Enthused over the findings, the head archaeologist of the excavation, Monica L Smith from the University of California, had then told TOI: "This is the most visible standing architectural monument discovered in the country so far. It is a huge city existing about 2,000 years ago." The pillars were possibly part of a gigantic structure and used for public gatherings. According to an archaeologist from Deccan College, Pune, R K Mohanty, a city could be known from its walls. "When it has such well-built walls and such a big expanse, it means it was a very important city," he says. Explaining the importance of the ancient city, Mohanaty says Sisupalgarh has four gateways and could have housed a large number of people (compare this to the 10,000 Athens could manage). From photographs taken through geophysical research methods, the team had found that a huge urban setup, a much larger area than could possibly be excavated, had existed at the site. "The findings were mind-boggling. The lifestyle of the people then could be more advanced than present-day life," Smith had said. "Potteries found are polished and have ownership marks. The huge number of cups and bowls suggest people then practiced a use and throw system."
It is hard to say what sent Sisupalgarh into terminal decline. The data and findings when they will be made available to scholars could lead to a conclusive answer.
Sisupalgarh sounds like a happening settlement by historic standards: a sprawling urban settlement that housed 20,000-25,000 people, street-linking gateways, pillared meeting halls, water storage systems and disposable vessels for daily use. In one of the richest hauls for archaeologists in the country in recent times, a 12-member Indo-American expert team discovered the remains of a city from the early historic period in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar two years ago.
The team, comprising representatives from Deccan College, Pune, and the University of California, in collaboration with the ASI, had conducted surface excavations at the fortified site first reported by Prof B Lal in 1948. Fresh excavation was restarted in 2005 to learn more about this mystery city. A large quantity of debris, including household pottery and terracotta ornaments, were discovered during the exercise.
Enthused over the findings, the head archaeologist of the excavation, Monica L Smith from the University of California, had then told TOI: "This is the most visible standing architectural monument discovered in the country so far. It is a huge city existing about 2,000 years ago." The pillars were possibly part of a gigantic structure and used for public gatherings. According to an archaeologist from Deccan College, Pune, R K Mohanty, a city could be known from its walls. "When it has such well-built walls and such a big expanse, it means it was a very important city," he says. Explaining the importance of the ancient city, Mohanaty says Sisupalgarh has four gateways and could have housed a large number of people (compare this to the 10,000 Athens could manage). From photographs taken through geophysical research methods, the team had found that a huge urban setup, a much larger area than could possibly be excavated, had existed at the site. "The findings were mind-boggling. The lifestyle of the people then could be more advanced than present-day life," Smith had said. "Potteries found are polished and have ownership marks. The huge number of cups and bowls suggest people then practiced a use and throw system."
It is hard to say what sent Sisupalgarh into terminal decline. The data and findings when they will be made available to scholars could lead to a conclusive answer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6270354.cms?prtpage=1
22. Half man, half lion figure in Germany
Posted 10/25/2011
The Löwenmensch (meaning lion-man in English) is a puzzle. The provenance of this figure is derived from the 1870s. Markedly
Significant is the discovery of the Löwenmensch — a German term meaning “lion-person” — as a larger Löwenmensch sculpture was found in 1939 at the Hohlenstein-Stadel site in a neighbouring valley. Both works carry similar features and have been dated to the Aurignacian period between 31,000 and 33,000 years ago.Dr.Nicholas Conard added: “The occupants of Hohle Fels in the Ach Valley and Hohlenstein-Stadel in the Lone Valley must have been members of the same cultural group and shared beliefs and practices connected with therianthropic (half-man, half-animal) images of felids (cats) and humans. The discovery lends support to the hypothesis that Aurignacian people practised a form of shamanism.”
The second site at Hohle Fels is a large cave site with Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations, located in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany, some 20 kilometers southwest of the town of Ulm.The cave deposits include a low density Middle Paleolithic site and a long Upper Paleolithic sequence with separate Aurignacian, Gravettian and Magdalenian occupations. Radiocarbon dates for the UP components range between 29,000 and 36,000 years bp.Hohle Fels is best known for the recent recovery of three pieces of carved ivory from the Aurignacian period, which make up some of the earliest portable art in the world.The three figurines are of a horse’s head (or possibly a bear), a water bird of some sort possibly in flight, and a “Lowenmensch”, a half lion/half human figurine. Previously, a similar lion/human sculpture (although much larger) was found at the Hohlenstein-Stadel site, an Aurignacian period site in the Lone Valley of Germany. The horse’s head at Hohle Fels came from a level dated about 30,000 years old; the other two are from an older occupation in the cave, ca. 31-33,000 years ago.Hohle Fels was discovered in the 1870s and first excavated in the late 1950s, when undisturbed Paleolithic sediments were found. Excavations have been ongoing since the 1970s, led first by Joachim Hahn and beginning in the 1990s by Nicholas Conard. (via Hohle Fels (Germany).
These items, especially the two Löwenmensch seemed ‘polished from heavy handling, suggesting that rather than sitting on a shelf as an artifact to be admired’.
The Löwenmensch (Image courtesy - historyofinformation.com). Click for larger image.
The importance of being the Löwenmensch
These ivory artifacts are vital to the European historical narrative being developed over the last 20 years – based on these finds.
Dr.Conard in another paper claims, ‘The ivory figurines from Swabia represent one of the earliest artistic traditions worldwide”. A related academic paper on this period goes on to say,
Indeed, how can we not see, in the numerous and varied ornaments, sculpted stone blocks, ivory statuettes or bone, antler and ivory spear points, evidence of a significant and abrupt mutation in the long history of human evolution?’.
Figurines apart, there are the odd musical instruments, which too are of ivory. Musical instruments made and used more than 30,000 years ago – in what is called as the Aurignacian period.
These incredible finds must have a credible theory behind it.
More can be read about it at: http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/lowenmensch-puzzle-am-i-missing-something/
23. An Angkoran Ruin in Laos
Vat Phou temple’s ancient history
October 19th, 2011
In the fifth century, Champasak was thought to be the centre of the Laotian universe. Today it’s a drowsy one-car village clutching the western bank of the Mekong River in southern Laos and home to the tiny Hindu-built Vat Phou, which some archaeologists believe may have been the first Angkor temple ever built.
At a glance, Vat Phou doesn’t seem like the kind of structure that would initiate an empire. A tiny prayer hall at the top of a precarious stone stairway, with two reception halls on the plains below, Vat Phou lacks the jaw-dropping awesomeness of temples in Cambodia’s Angkor Archaeological Park. But as with the Angkor temples, its symbolism is extraordinary.
Tucked under the phallic-shaped mountain peak of Phu Kao – thought to represent Mount Meru, the sacred mountain at the centre of the Hindu cosmology – Vat Phou was worshipped as the embodiment of Shiva. The spring nearby was associated with Shiva’s wife, the goddess Parvati. Water runs underground from Phu Kao’s peak, rising through Parvati. From here, passing a series of barays (man-made dams) and linga (phallic statues), water flows into the Mekong, blessing everything on its journey south.
UNDER THREAT: The ruins of Vat Phou in southern Laos hold secrets that are being destroyed by development.
In the fifth century, Champasak was thought to be the centre of the Laotian universe. Today it's a drowsy one-car village clutching the western bank of the Mekong River in southern Laos and home to the tiny Hindu-built Vat Phou, which some archaeologists believe may have been the first Angkor temple ever built.
At a glance, Vat Phou doesn't seem like the kind of structure that would initiate an empire. A tiny prayer hall at the top of a precarious stone stairway, with two reception halls on the plains below, Vat Phou lacks the jaw-dropping awesomeness of temples in Cambodia's Angkor Archaeological Park. But as with the Angkor temples, its symbolism is extraordinary.
Tucked under the phallic-shaped mountain peak of Phu Kao - thought to represent Mount Meru, the sacred mountain at the centre of the Hindu cosmology - Vat Phou was worshipped as the embodiment of Shiva. The spring nearby was associated with Shiva's wife, the goddess Parvati. Water runs underground from Phu Kao's peak, rising through Parvati. From here, passing a series of barays (man-made dams) and linga (phallic statues), water flows into the Mekong, blessing everything on its journey south.
I learn this while poring over a satellite map with Daniel Davenport, an articulate but debated Australian archaeologist working in Champasak and author of the Vat Phou Guide: Following in the Footsteps of Angkor's Pilgrims, a tourist compendium on the area that Davenport is self publishing.
"Vat Phou could quite well have been the first, the pre-eminent, Angkor temple," he says, explaining that early worshippers took a piece of Vat Phou stone and placed it under every subsequent temple they built.
On the map, Davenport points out a well-defined line leading from one of the reception halls at Vat Phou to the temple of Angkor Wat. "This used to be a pilgrims' road during the Khmer Empire," he says, referring to the kingdom that reigned over much of south-east Asia between the ninth and thirteenth centuries and used the Angkor Archaelogical Park as the capital. "They had roadhouses every six miles (nine kilometres) with accommodation, food, shelter for the animals and hospitals; six miles being the average distance a bullock cart could travel in a day."
However, archaeologists at Vat Phou know a lot less than they would like to. "We have excavated about 5 per cent of the area," says Laurent Delfour, a French architect who has been working with UNESCO to manage the site for the past three-and-a-half years. "That translates as 5 per cent knowledge on the area. We believe that Vat Phou marked the beginning of the Angkor Empire but nothing is certain."
What is certain is the race against time Champasak's hidden treasures face. A new highway linking the town with the regional capital of Pakse and the Thai border post of Chong Mek, has already disturbed six ancient temples beneath the ground. Champasak was designated a World Heritage zone in 2001; building without assessments, and approval, is not permitted.
"The Laos Ministry of Information and Culture did a little research into the area where the road was going," says a long-term Champasak resident who requested anonymity. "But the findings were just pushed aside and work on the road accelerated."
The local government is hoping the road, which will extend to the Cambodian border, will bring in busloads of tourists. Full story here.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/10/vat-phou-temples-ancient-history.html
24. First Astro Observatory of Harappan Civilization Found in Kutch Feb. 7, 2012
Mumbai : A group of scientists has identified two circular structures at Dholavira in Kutch district of Gujarat, which they say is the first identification of a structure used for observational astronomy during the Harappan Civilisation. The discovery by M N Vahia from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Srikumar Menon from Manipal School of Architecture and Planning (Karnataka) is crucial, say scientists, as it is the first direct indication of intellectual capacity of people in the context of the civilisation and their relation to astronomy.“It is highly implausible that such an intellectually advanced civilisation did not have any knowledge of positional astronomy. These (structures) would have been useful for calendrical (including time of the day, time of the night, seasons, years and possibly even longer periods) and navigational purposes apart from providing intellectual challenge to understanding the movement of the heavens,” said the paper titled ‘A possible astronomical observatory at Dholavira’ to be published in the forthcoming edition of Man and Environment.
Vahia said Dholavira, assumed to be an island at that time, is almost exactly on the Tropic of Cancer and was an important centre of trade. “Hence, keeping track of time would be crucial to the city. So far, there had been no positive identification of any astronomy-related structure in any of the 1,500-odd sites of the Harappan Civilisation known today. The two structures identified by us seem to have celestial orientations inbuilt into their design. So, we have concluded that the two rooms in the structure were meant for observations of the sun,” he said.
He said the discovery will enable scientists to measure the intellectual growth of people of the Harappan Civilisation. It could give valuable insights on how the mentalities of the civilisation developed, in what ways they used the astronomical data to conduct business, farming and other activities.
The scientists simulated, what is now left of the two rooms, for response to solar observations and have concluded that important days of the solar calendar could easily be identified by analysing the image inside the room.
The simulations were conducted for summer and winter solstice. The study says the narrow beam of light from the entrances would also enhance the perception of the movement of the sun over a year.
“The interplay of image and its surrounding structures seem to suggest that the structure is consistent with it being a solar observatory to mark time. The west-facing circle has two flanking walls outside the exit, whose shadow touches the entrance on winter and summer solstice. The two square well-like structures at the southern end would provide an excellent location to observe zenith transiting stars even in the presence of city lights,” says the study.
Mumbai : A group of scientists has identified two circular structures at Dholavira in Kutch district of Gujarat, which they say is the first identification of a structure used for observational astronomy during the Harappan Civilisation. The discovery by M N Vahia from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Srikumar Menon from Manipal School of Architecture and Planning (Karnataka) is crucial, say scientists, as it is the first direct indication of intellectual capacity of people in the context of the civilisation and their relation to astronomy.“It is highly implausible that such an intellectually advanced civilisation did not have any knowledge of positional astronomy. These (structures) would have been useful for calendrical (including time of the day, time of the night, seasons, years and possibly even longer periods) and navigational purposes apart from providing intellectual challenge to understanding the movement of the heavens,” said the paper titled ‘A possible astronomical observatory at Dholavira’ to be published in the forthcoming edition of Man and Environment.
Vahia said Dholavira, assumed to be an island at that time, is almost exactly on the Tropic of Cancer and was an important centre of trade. “Hence, keeping track of time would be crucial to the city. So far, there had been no positive identification of any astronomy-related structure in any of the 1,500-odd sites of the Harappan Civilisation known today. The two structures identified by us seem to have celestial orientations inbuilt into their design. So, we have concluded that the two rooms in the structure were meant for observations of the sun,” he said.
He said the discovery will enable scientists to measure the intellectual growth of people of the Harappan Civilisation. It could give valuable insights on how the mentalities of the civilisation developed, in what ways they used the astronomical data to conduct business, farming and other activities.
The scientists simulated, what is now left of the two rooms, for response to solar observations and have concluded that important days of the solar calendar could easily be identified by analysing the image inside the room.
The simulations were conducted for summer and winter solstice. The study says the narrow beam of light from the entrances would also enhance the perception of the movement of the sun over a year.
“The interplay of image and its surrounding structures seem to suggest that the structure is consistent with it being a solar observatory to mark time. The west-facing circle has two flanking walls outside the exit, whose shadow touches the entrance on winter and summer solstice. The two square well-like structures at the southern end would provide an excellent location to observe zenith transiting stars even in the presence of city lights,” says the study.
25. Bihar Stupa Could Contain Buddha Relics
February 11, 2012
By IANS,
Patna : The Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) is set to begin excavation of a newly-found ancient stupa that was badly damaged and has been lying neglected for centuries in Bihar’s Begusarai district, an official said Saturday.
The Patna circle of the ASI has identified the location of the stupa at Harsai near Garhpura village. Archeaologists here believe that it could be one of the eight original stupas built to house the relics of Lord Buddha.
“Going by the physical appearance of the stupa and the use of mud lumps denotes that it could be one of the eight original stupas housing the Buddha’s corporeal relics. But that can be determined only after excavation,” the superintending archaeologist of ASI (Patna circle) S K Manjul said.
According to ancient scriptures, after the Buddha was cremated, there was a disagreement over the division of his remains. They were then divided into eight parts and distributed among the eight powerful kingdoms and republics, which laid claim over them. All of them buried their share of relics in stupas specially built to serve as markers of the physical presence of the Buddha and his teachings.
Till date archaeologists have identified six of them. “If this stupa turned to be seventh, it can be the ASI’s biggest discovery,” he said.
Manjul said the ASI plans to start the excavation in the next few months this year. “The ASI’s central advisory board of archaeology has already granted an excavation license to an archeaologist of ASI’s Patna circle to undertake the work,” Manjul said.
According to ASI officials here, the stupa may also turn out to be the only one, which emperor Ashoka could not open to take out the relics for distribution over the Indian sub-continent.
This stupa is made of sun-dried clay lumps and fixed with mud mortars and later strengthened with layers of gravel and burnt bricks. It is currently in a bad shape. The stupa is threatened by local resident, who are minning it for clay.
“Some local people have damaged a part of it to extend the agriculture fields.The stupa is lying neglected as it is unprotected till date,” he said.
http://twocircles.net/2012feb11/bihar_stupa_could_contain_buddha_relics.html
MOSCOW: An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.
“We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research,” Reader of Ulyanovsk State University’s archaeology department Dr Alexander Kozhevin told state-run television Vesti .
Dr Kozhevin, who has been conducting excavation in Staraya Maina for last seven years, said that every single square metre of the surroundings of the ancient town situated on the banks of Samara, a tributary of Volga, is studded with antiques.
Prior to unearthing of the Vishnu idol, Dr Kozhevin has already found ancient coins, pendants, rings and fragments of weapons.
He believes that today’s Staraya Maina, a town of eight thousand, was ten times more populated in the ancient times. It is from here that people started moving to the Don and Dneiper rivers around the time ancient Russy built the city of Kiev, now the capital of Ukraine. An international conference is being organised later this year to study the legacy of the ancient village, which can radically change the history of ancient Russia.
Some Conclusions by others:
The discovery of an ancient Vishnu idol in an excavation in Russia only confirms certain ideas I have always had about the Vedic ancient and glorious land and culture.
The report says that the area in which the idol was found is called Staraya Maina. In the Rig Veda, there is a passage that goes, Itham ascati pasyat syantham, ekam starayath mainaa-kaalam. This translates into Staraya Maina is the name of the land of the 45 rivers (on whose banks the noble Rishis conducted the famous Horse Sacrifices), where the sun god descends into one fifty two forty seven. While the first line identifies a location, the second line talks about the exact latitude and longitude at which the solar spectrum produces interference lines at one, fifty two, and forty seven.
The extreme precision of the calculations show the advanced science of the Vedic period, and also a thorough knowledge of SI units (it has been conclusively proven that French scientists stole the system from the Indians.
The discovery of the idol confirms the location in Russia, identified in the Rig Veda as rus soviath sapthamahanagaratham (the ancient and holy land of the 722 flying vehicles). The ancient connections between the Russians and the Indians has been unequivocally confirmed. In Russian orthodox Christianity, worship is conducted very much like in Vishnu temples. The Russians refer to the feast of Vizhnyir Ekoratsya Vikhunh, directly corresponding with Vaikhunda Ekhadasi.
The Russian language also owes a lot to Sanskrit, whose origins 50,000 years ago roughly correspond with the language of the people of the Smritzyi archaeological site, along the banks of the now-dried up Vernstokhlin (Varnasatyakhalini) river system.It is common knowledge in the archaeological community that the Parashurama Sutra, the basis of all government policy in the erstwhile Kerala kingdom of Vaazhappazhaa, contains the lines Sthulyam Kaamyunishancha kalanam brighahaha. The links between the ancient Russians and Indians almost certainly aided by the 60,00 odd scholars of the University ofVexalate (Sk. Vekhshalatha, Ru. Vekholotsla), in modern-day Central Afghanistan, in the 17th Century BCE, is said to have transferred political ideas through the land of the Vanga (Ru. Vangnya) in modern-day West Bengal.
The Vishnu idol is depicted with a hammer in one left hand while the deconglated seventh arm on the right side holds a reticulated sickle. This hammer and sickle imagery is also found in the Parashurama Sutra, conclusively placing the origin of great and popular Russian political ideology in Vedic India.
The Bringdunthaladeena Upanishad also mentions Kaamyunishcham in its list of land sacrifices, where under the directions of the King, all the land in the country was donated to the performance of sacrifices where Brahmins continuously tickled horny silk-rats (Gandharvamooshicam) until they collapsed in orgiastic exhaustion. The text also clearly identifies a group of scholars referred to as the Paalita Buryam, who oversaw the functioning of the King.
For years, western historical study dominated by Greco-Capitalists, has sought to undermine the Vedic Indian contributions to what came to be 19th and 20th Century world politics. The Greco-Capitalists also attributed the ideology of Communism to the work done by Karl Marx, one of their own. It has been well documented that Marx indeed visited Kerala and West Bengal, and had thorough understanding of the Parashurama Sutra, a copy of which he picked up in the old-book-stall near the Cochin airport. Later on, as part of the larger Greco-centric Capitalist conspiracy, Marx took all the credit himself.
In 1952 in Soviet Russia, an archaeologist, Prof. Varely Smirzkoff of Odessa University found artefacts near the ancient Belarussian town of Kozhikodz. He was the first to speculate that the ruling political ideology of his country could well have had its origins in Vedic India rather than Modern Europe. Stalin funded Smirzkoff’s research until Smirrzkoff was suddenly found to have stolen over 500,000 paper clips from work over the course of his tenure at Odessa University. He was sent to Siberia, and with him went almost all academic proof that would have certainly brought Russia and India closer together.
This recent discovery should resurrect the pioneering work started by Prof. Varely Smirzkoff, who died of Contracted Poloniumitis of the nose, in 1964.
http://www.globalhinduism.com/article/2012/01/ancient-idol-of-lord-vishnu-found-during-excavation-in-an-old-village-in-russias-volga-region/
It consist of four stupas having the largest in the centre and there equidistant smaller in three directions, one each in the west, north and south. The completely clay built stupa use to have a hard outer most surface built by bricks-dust etc. (surkhi)This Bajralepit’ stupa consists of a three strate architectures. ‘Mahavansh’ has reference of such stupas. The finding of such remarkable stupa is significant for the history of the region. It must be seen in the contexet of Buddha’s visit to Anguttarap as referred in the “Majjhim Nikaya”.http://www.begusaraiheritage.com/pages/imparc3.html
26. Ancient Idol of Lord Vishnu found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga Region
MOSCOW: An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities.Dr Kozhevin, who has been conducting excavation in Staraya Maina for last seven years, said that every single square metre of the surroundings of the ancient town situated on the banks of Samara, a tributary of Volga, is studded with antiques.
Prior to unearthing of the Vishnu idol, Dr Kozhevin has already found ancient coins, pendants, rings and fragments of weapons.
He believes that today’s Staraya Maina, a town of eight thousand, was ten times more populated in the ancient times. It is from here that people started moving to the Don and Dneiper rivers around the time ancient Russy built the city of Kiev, now the capital of Ukraine. An international conference is being organised later this year to study the legacy of the ancient village, which can radically change the history of ancient Russia.
Some Conclusions by others:
The discovery of an ancient Vishnu idol in an excavation in Russia only confirms certain ideas I have always had about the Vedic ancient and glorious land and culture.
The report says that the area in which the idol was found is called Staraya Maina. In the Rig Veda, there is a passage that goes, Itham ascati pasyat syantham, ekam starayath mainaa-kaalam. This translates into Staraya Maina is the name of the land of the 45 rivers (on whose banks the noble Rishis conducted the famous Horse Sacrifices), where the sun god descends into one fifty two forty seven. While the first line identifies a location, the second line talks about the exact latitude and longitude at which the solar spectrum produces interference lines at one, fifty two, and forty seven.
The extreme precision of the calculations show the advanced science of the Vedic period, and also a thorough knowledge of SI units (it has been conclusively proven that French scientists stole the system from the Indians.
The discovery of the idol confirms the location in Russia, identified in the Rig Veda as rus soviath sapthamahanagaratham (the ancient and holy land of the 722 flying vehicles). The ancient connections between the Russians and the Indians has been unequivocally confirmed. In Russian orthodox Christianity, worship is conducted very much like in Vishnu temples. The Russians refer to the feast of Vizhnyir Ekoratsya Vikhunh, directly corresponding with Vaikhunda Ekhadasi.
The Russian language also owes a lot to Sanskrit, whose origins 50,000 years ago roughly correspond with the language of the people of the Smritzyi archaeological site, along the banks of the now-dried up Vernstokhlin (Varnasatyakhalini) river system.It is common knowledge in the archaeological community that the Parashurama Sutra, the basis of all government policy in the erstwhile Kerala kingdom of Vaazhappazhaa, contains the lines Sthulyam Kaamyunishancha kalanam brighahaha. The links between the ancient Russians and Indians almost certainly aided by the 60,00 odd scholars of the University ofVexalate (Sk. Vekhshalatha, Ru. Vekholotsla), in modern-day Central Afghanistan, in the 17th Century BCE, is said to have transferred political ideas through the land of the Vanga (Ru. Vangnya) in modern-day West Bengal.
The Vishnu idol is depicted with a hammer in one left hand while the deconglated seventh arm on the right side holds a reticulated sickle. This hammer and sickle imagery is also found in the Parashurama Sutra, conclusively placing the origin of great and popular Russian political ideology in Vedic India.
The Bringdunthaladeena Upanishad also mentions Kaamyunishcham in its list of land sacrifices, where under the directions of the King, all the land in the country was donated to the performance of sacrifices where Brahmins continuously tickled horny silk-rats (Gandharvamooshicam) until they collapsed in orgiastic exhaustion. The text also clearly identifies a group of scholars referred to as the Paalita Buryam, who oversaw the functioning of the King.
For years, western historical study dominated by Greco-Capitalists, has sought to undermine the Vedic Indian contributions to what came to be 19th and 20th Century world politics. The Greco-Capitalists also attributed the ideology of Communism to the work done by Karl Marx, one of their own. It has been well documented that Marx indeed visited Kerala and West Bengal, and had thorough understanding of the Parashurama Sutra, a copy of which he picked up in the old-book-stall near the Cochin airport. Later on, as part of the larger Greco-centric Capitalist conspiracy, Marx took all the credit himself.
In 1952 in Soviet Russia, an archaeologist, Prof. Varely Smirzkoff of Odessa University found artefacts near the ancient Belarussian town of Kozhikodz. He was the first to speculate that the ruling political ideology of his country could well have had its origins in Vedic India rather than Modern Europe. Stalin funded Smirzkoff’s research until Smirrzkoff was suddenly found to have stolen over 500,000 paper clips from work over the course of his tenure at Odessa University. He was sent to Siberia, and with him went almost all academic proof that would have certainly brought Russia and India closer together.
This recent discovery should resurrect the pioneering work started by Prof. Varely Smirzkoff, who died of Contracted Poloniumitis of the nose, in 1964.
Nivedita Khandekar , Hindustan Times
New Delhi, November 04, 2012
The beginning of India’s history has been pushed back by more than 2,000 years, making it older than that of Egypt and Babylon. Latest research has put the date of the origin of the Indus Valley Civilisation at 6,000 years before Christ, which contests the current theory that the settlements around the Indus began around 3750 BC.
Ever since the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the early 1920s, the civilisation was considered almost as old as those of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
The finding was announced at the “International Conference on Harappan Archaeology”, recently organised by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Chandigarh.
Based on their research, BR Mani, ASI joint director general, and KN Dikshit, former ASI joint director general, said in a presentation: “The preliminary results of the data from early sites of the Indo-Pak subcontinent suggest that the Indian civilisation emerged in the 8th millennium BC in the Ghaggar-Hakra and Baluchistan area.”
“On the basis of radio-metric dates from Bhirrana (Haryana), the cultural remains of the pre-early Harappan horizon go back to 7380 BC to 6201 BC.”
Excavations had been carried out at two sites in Pakistan and Bhirrana, Kunal, Rakhigarhi and Baror in India.
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