Harappan-era
cemetery found
(4 mar 2009 Times
of India)
FARMANA(Rohtak): In an extraordinary archaeological finding,
a big housing complex that matured during the Harappan era has
been discovered in this little known village about 40 km from
Rohtak.
A cemetery belonging to the same civilization which existed about
3500-3000 BC has also been found at an adjacent site, where nearly
70 skeletons have been unearthed so far.
The team of archaeologists from Research Institute for Humanity
and Nature, Kyoto Japan, Deccan College, Pune and Maharshi Dayanand
University, Rohtak, discovered the habitation site spread over
18.5 hectare. It has four big complexes and a cemetery spread
over about three hectare.
"This is easily among the largest habitation locality of
the Harappan era. We have so far excavated one complex which has
26 rooms, 3 to 4 kitchens, an equal number of bathrooms and a
courtyard in the centre. The size of the rooms vary from 6x6 to
16x20," said Prof Manmohan Singh of MD University.
The excavations indicate that this region was part of the 5,000
years old Indus Valley culture, considered one of the most advanced
urban civilizations in ancient times.
The digging of the burial ground has revealed many facts which
would help in studying the lives of the Harappan people. Vivek
Dangi, a research scholar associated with graveyard excavation,
categorized the burials into three types.
In the Indus Valley tradition, people used to bury the dead with
things that belonged to them. In secondary burial, they were interred
with a few bones and other articles. In the third type of burials,
only stuff like pots, goblets, bakers, studs, miniature pots,
plates, bowls were found that indicates they used to perform symbolic
burial of the missing people.
He says the skeleton of a middle-aged woman had three shell bangles,
two copper bangles, copper earrings, beads and ornaments on the
feet, indicating her wealthy status. Nilesh, a research scholar
from Deccan College, Pune, says they had been working on the site
for last three years. "We work for about three months in
a year and our present phase is likely to end next month."