ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES of Rajasthan - Kerala PCS Exam Notes

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES of Rajasthan

Gilund, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Gilund is about 70 KM from Udaipur and 11.5 km off the right bank of the Banas.
A small-scale excavation carried out at the site during 1959-60 by B. B. Lal revealed that while the occupation at both the mounds commenced simultaneously, that on the east one continued much later.

Period I

Period I, of which may be regarded as and has few microliths along with copper. This Period has four structural Sub-Periods, in the earliest of which, at one place, a sizeable complex of mud brick walls (average size of brick 32.5 x 12.5 x 10 cm) is encountered.
All through the Period the residential houses are also made of mud brick, the walls being plastered with mud, in one case zigzag finger marks being observed on the plaster.
Within the houses are noticed circular clay-lined ovens and even open-mouthed chulhas. Of further interest is the occurrence in these houses of circular or oblong pits.
In all probability the pits were used for some kind of storage, though no vestiges of the material stored therein have been found.
These Chalcolithic people were fully familiar. with the use of kiln-burnt brick also is attested to by the presence in the s. part of the w. mound of a large wall,
The characteristic ceramic industry of Period I is a black-and-red Ware, painted over with linear and curvilinear designs in a creamish-white pigment.
Also in use were plain and painted black, burnished grey and red wares.
Among the Teracotta figurines particularly noteworthy are the bull figurines with a prominent hump and long horns.
Number of C-14 dates are available for Period I. But a comparison of the Gilund pottery with that of Navdatoli shows Period I of Gilund is in the main earlier than the occupation at Navdatoli, with an overlap towards the end of the former.
Since on the basis of C-14 dates the early levels of Navdatoli are assignable to a period around the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C., Period I of Gilund may broadly be placed in the second quarter of that millennium, with a probable margin on the earlier side.
Period II of Gilund seems to have begun about the middle of the 1st millennium B.C., as indicated by the presence of bowls and dishes of grey ware.
In the successive strata have been found Suhga and Kushan bowls in red ware, sprinklers in the Red Polished Ware,bowls in kaolin ware and knife-edged bowls in red ware, indicating that this occupation continued up to the end of the 1st millennium A.D.

Kalibangan, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan

Kalibangan is situated on the left bank of the Ghaggar (anciently known as the Sarasvati) in Tehsil Pilibangan, District Hanumangarh in Rajasthanthe site was excavated for nine field seasons (1960-1969) by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The excavation has brought to light a twofold sequence of cultures, of which the upper one (Kalibangan I) is the Harappa, showing the characteristic grid layout of a metropolis and the lower one (Kalibangan II) Early Harappa or antecedent Harappa.

Period I

The settlement of Kalibangan I was fortified from the beginning of the occupation. The fortification was made of mud bricks.
Within the walled area, the houses were built of mud bricks of the same size as used in the fortification wall; the use of baked bricks is attested by a drain within the houses,remains of ovens and cylindrical pits, lined with lime plaster.
The distinctive trait of this Period is, however, the pottery, first identified at Sothi, which is characterized by six fabrics, labelled A, B, C, D, E and F.
Of these Fabrics, E and F distinguished essentially by surface colour (E by buff and F by grey) do not show marked individualities in shape or in painted design and are also rather uncommon, particularly the latter.
Among the remaining, Fabrics A, B and D are marked by an individuality which isolate them from the Harappa as Semblage.

Fabric A is a carelessly potted ware showing painted designs in light-black combined at times With white;
Fabric B is distinguished essentially by the roughened or rusticated surface of the lower portion of the pots, the upper part being smooth-slipped;
Fabric C is marked by a fine-textured paste and all-over smooth- slipped surface in shades of red and purple or plum-red, recalling pottery from the pre-defence deposits of Harappa;
Fabric D is characterized by a thick sturdy section, represented in such shapes as the heavy jar, trough and basin, the interior sides of the latter being decorated with ridged incisions of varying patterns.

Among the other finds of this Period are: small-sized blades of chalcedony and agate, sometimes serrated or backed; beads, variously of steatite, shell, carnelian,terracotta and copper; bangles of copper, shell and terracotta; terracotta objects like a toy-cart wheel and a bull; quem with mullers, a bone point, and copper celts, including an unusual axe.

Period II

In this Period the settlement into two parts – the citadel (KLB-l) on the W., located atop the abandoned settlement of Period I, and the lower city (KLB-2) towards the e., laid out on the natural plain, leaving a gap of about 40 m.
The citadel complex was roughly a parallelogram and consisted of two almost equal but separately patterned parts.
Both these parts were contained by a fortification wall, and the enclosed area contained some five to six massive platforms of mud bricks, each separate from the other and perhaps intended for a specific purpose by the community as a whole
The lower ciry was also a parallelogram. It was found to be enclosed by a fortification wall, involving three to four structural phases.
It was made of mud bricks of similar sizes as those used for the fortifications of the citadel (40 x 20 x 10 and 30 x 15 x 7.5 cm).
Within the walled city was a gridiron plan of streets running n. to s. and e. to w., dividing the area into blocks.
The use of baked bricks being confined to wells,drains, bathing platforms, door-sills, etc.
Besides the above two principle parts of the metropolis there was also a third one-a moderate structure situated upwards of 😯 m e. of the lower town containing four to five fire altars. This lonely structure may perhaps have been used for ritual purposes.
The finds of this Period are all characteristic of the Harappa civilization significant amongst which is a cylindrical seals, however, noteworthy that the pottery of Period I continues alongside the Harappa pottery up to about half the height of KLB-2 where after it entirely gives way to the Harappa.
Three types of burials have been attested: extended inhumation in rectangular or oval pot burial in a circular pit; and rectangular or oval grave-pit, containing only pottery and other funerary objects. The latter two methods were unassociated with any skeletal remains.

Major Pre-historical evidences of Rajasthan

The Sahibi River

Archaeological findings on the Sahibi River have confirmed habitations on its banks before the Harappanand pre-Mahabharata
Both handmade and wheel-made earthernware dated from 3309–2709 BCE and 2879–2384 BCE has been found on the banks of the Sahibi River at Jodhpura.
INTACH-Rewari found pottery on the Sahibi riverbed at Hansakain the Rewari district.
A red stone statue of VamanaDev was found in the Sahibi riverbed near Bawal in 2002; the statue is now displayed at the Shri Krishna Museum, Kurukshetra.
Other artifacts discovered in the Sahibi River include arrowheads, fishhooks, appearheads, awls, and chisels.

Sothi

Sothiis an early archaeological site of the Indus Valley Civilization, located in the Ganganagar District of Rajasthan, India, at a distance of about 10 km southwest of Nohar railway station.
First discovered by Luigi Pio Tessitori, the site was later visited by Aurel Stein(1942), Amalananda Ghosh (1950-53), and Kshetrams Dalal (1980).
Sothi-Siswal culture is named after these two sites, located 70 km apart. It was widespread in Rajasthan, Haryana, and in the Indian Punjab.
As many as 165 sites of this culture have been reported.
There are also broad similarities between Sothi-Siswal and Kot Diji ceramics. Kot Diji culture area is located just to the northwest of the Sothi-Siswal area.
Sothi-Siswal ceramics are found as far south as the Ahar-Banas culture area in southeastern Rajasthan.
Sothi is the site of a Pre-Indus Valley Civilisation settlement dating to as early as 4600 BCE.
According to Tejas Garge, Sothi culture precedes Siswal culture considerably, and should be seen as the earlier tradition

Ganeshwar

Ganeshwaris a village in Neem-Ka-Thana Tehsil (Mandal) in the Sikar District of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Ganeshwar is 7.9 kilometres distance from Neem-Ka- Thana town, 66.4 kilometres from Sikarcity and 83 kilometres from Jaipur.
Excavations in the area revealed the remains of a 4,000-year-old civilization.
Historian Ratna Chandra Agrawal wrote that Ganeshwar was excavated in 1977. Red pottery was found here with black portraiture.
The period was estimated to be 2500–2000 BC. Nearly one thousand pieces of copper were found there.
Ganeshwar is located near the copper mines of the Sikar-Jhunjhunu area of the Khetricopper belt in Rajasthan.
Excavations revealed copper objects including arrowheads, spearheads, fish hooks, bangles and chisels. With its microliths and other stone tools, Ganeshwar culture can be ascribed to the pre-Harappan period. Ganeshwar mainly supplied copper objects to Harappa.
The Ganeshwar people partly lived on agriculture and largely on hunting.Although their principle craft was manufacture of copper objects but they were unable to urbanize.
With its microliths and other stone tools, much of Ganeshwar culture can be considered a pre-Harappan Chalcolithic culture that contributed to the making of the mature Harappan culture.
The copper was obtained in the nearby Aravalli Range.

Binjor – 4MSR

Binjor – 4MSR (Thed of the local villagers) is an archaeological site in India, near the international border between Punjab and Rajasthan.
It is situated a couple of kilometers from Binjor village, Anupgarh tehsil, Sri Ganganagar district.
4MSR, in the Ghaggar river (Ghaggar-Hakra River) valley and excavated by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), is widely considered as an Early Harappan and Mature Harappan site (Indus Valley Civilization).
There are no indications that a Late Harappan phase existed. In the Ghaggar river valley, explorations and excavations had been done in several sites. These sites included Kalibangan, 46 GB and Binjor 1, 2, 3 and 4, Rakhigarhi and Baror.
The purpose of the present excavation at 4MSR is to learn about the Early Harappan deposits, relationship with other contemporary sites and to fill the gap between the Late Harappan phase and the Painted Grey Ware culture.

Balathal

Balathalis an archaeological site located in Vallabhnagar tehsil of Udaipur district of Rajasthan state in western India.
The Kataranadi River is very close to the site and archaeologists believe there may have been another large body of water that existed but has since become dry.
This site, located 6 km from Vallabhnagar town and 42 km from Udaipur city, was discovered by V. N. Misra during a survey in 1962-63.
It was excavated from 1994 to 2000, jointly by the Department of Archaeology of the Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute, Pune and the Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur under the direction of V. N. Misra of the Deccan College.
This ancient site was occupied during two cultural periods: the Chalcolithic and the Early Historic. There was also a significant amount of time that the site was abandoned after its earliest period of occupation.
The houses found at the site are square or rectangular made of mud brick, stone, and wattle and daub.
It has been determined that the people practiced agro-pastoralism, which is a mixture of both farming and herding animals.
Pottery at the site has been thoroughly analyzed and tells much about life at this ancient site.
Balathal is part of the Ahar-Banas Complex and can be connected to other Ahar-Banas culture sites through artifacts that have been discovered.
Some of the pottery from Balathal was locally produced, while other types found at Balathal came from other sites in the Ahar-Banas Complex, such as Gilund, Ojiyana, Marmi, and Ahar.

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