56-524: Sinauli is an archaeological site in western Uttar Pradesh , India, at the Ganga-Yamuna Doab . The site gained attention for its Bronze Age solid-disk wheel carts , found in 2018, which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots" . The excavations in Sinauli were conducted by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2005-06 and in mid-2018. The remains found in 2005–2006 season,
112-494: A Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and that will contain both locational information and a combination of various information. This tool is very helpful to archaeologists who want to explore in a different area and want to see if anyone else has done research. They can use this tool to see what has already been discovered. With this information available, archaeologists can expand their research and add more to what has already been found. Traditionally, sites are distinguished by
168-596: A basic training, were also enlisted into the excavation activities by the ASI. Seven human burials - including three coffin burials - have been excavated by the ASI at Sinauli in 2018. In all burials the head was found to be on the northern side, with pottery beyond the head and on the south after the feet. The copper objects are kept below the "sarcophagi." Coffin Burial I: Primary burial (2.4 m long and 40 cm high). Alongside two full-sized carts. No remains of
224-423: A draught animal(s) - horse or bull - is found. The wooden parts of the coffin are decomposed. The wooden coffin stands on four wooden legs. The entire coffin, including legs, is covered with copper sheets (3mm thickness) on all sides. The sides of the coffin have running floral motifs. The copper sheet on the legs also has intricate carvings. The coffin lid has eight motifs carved (high relief) on it. It depicts either
280-415: A form of writing or script. Despite the efforts of philologists from all parts of the world, and despite the use of modern cryptographic analysis , the signs remain undeciphered. It is also unknown if they reflect proto- Dravidian or other non- Vedic language(s). The ascribing of Indus Valley Civilisation iconography and epigraphy to historically known cultures is extremely problematic, in part due to
336-403: A margin of error of 130 years." The burials are all oriented in a NW-SE direction and most are identified as primary burials. Some of the burials are identified as secondary, multiple and symbolic burials. The age of the buried starts from 1–2 years and includes all age groups and both male and female. Grave goods generally consisted of odd number of vases/bowls (3, 5, 7, 9, 11 etc.) placed near
392-533: A modern village near the former course of the Ravi River , which now runs eight kilometres (five miles) to the north. The core of the Harappan civilisation extended over a large area, from Gujarat in the south, across Sindh and Rajasthan and extending into Punjab and Haryana . Numerous sites have been found outside the core area, including some as far east as Uttar Pradesh and as far west as Sutkagen-dor on
448-506: A person with a headgear (made of two bull horns and a pipal leaf in the centre) or a bull head. Body of an adult man inside the coffin: oriented in NW-SE direction (head facing NW). Carts: carts have two solid wheels (not spoked). The wheels rotated on a fixed axle linked by a shaft to the yoke. The chassis of the two cart are made of wood and covered with thick copper sheets. The wheels are decorated with triangles made of copper (fastened on
504-701: A pre-Ṛgvedic wave (now set of waves ) of Aryan speakers arriving in South Asia and their making contact with the Late Harappans. The finds have also been popularly associated with the Hindu Epics, as the carts evoke similarities with chariots in the Epic narratives, and local legends tell that Sinauli is one of the five villages that god Krishna unsuccessfully negotiated with the Kaurava princes to avoid
560-463: A result, the Ganges Valley settlement gained prominence and Ganges' cities developed. The earliest recognisably Harappan sites date to 3500 BC. This early phase lasts till around 2600 BC. The civilization's mature phase lasted from 2600 BC to 2000 BC. This is when the great cities were at their height. Then, from around 2000 BC, there was a steady disintegration that lasted till 1400 BC – what
616-683: A sequence of natural geological or organic deposition, in the absence of human activity, to constitute a site worthy of study. Archaeological sites usually form through human-related processes but can be subject to natural, post-depositional factors. Cultural remnants which have been buried by sediments are, in many environments, more likely to be preserved than exposed cultural remnants. Natural actions resulting in sediment being deposited include alluvial (water-related) or aeolian (wind-related) natural processes. In jungles and other areas of lush plant growth, decomposed vegetative sediment can result in layers of soil deposited over remains. Colluviation ,
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#1732765145170672-412: A site as well. Development-led archaeology undertaken as cultural resources management has the disadvantage (or the benefit) of having its sites defined by the limits of the intended development. Even in this case, however, in describing and interpreting the site, the archaeologist will have to look outside the boundaries of the building site. According to Jess Beck in "How Do Archaeologists Find Sites?"
728-453: A site worthy of study. Different archaeologists may see an ancient town, and its nearby cemetery as being two different sites, or as being part of the same wider site. The precepts of landscape archaeology attempt to see each discrete unit of human activity in the context of the wider environment, further distorting the concept of the site as a demarcated area. Furthermore, geoarchaeologists or environmental archaeologists would also consider
784-587: A thin "symbolic" antenna sword, bow and arrows. The carts were presented by Sanjay Kumar Manjul, director of the excavations and of ASI, as chariots used in war, similar to Indo-Aryan technology. According to Manjul, "For the first time in the Indian subcontinent, chariots have been recovered from any excavation," coming from a royal burial from the Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP)/ Copper Hoard Culture . Manjul further noted that "the rituals relating to
840-484: A torch, an antenna sword, a digger, hundreds of beads and a variety of pots. The cart, unlike the ones found in the other two, has (copper triangle) decorations on the pole and yoke. Coffin Burial III: Skeleton of a woman (primary burial, coffin burial with no copper lid): wearing an armlet (made of banded agate beads around the elbow). Burial goods: 10 red vases with flared rims, four bowls, two basins,
896-415: A violin-shaped flat copper container (having nearly 35 arrowhead shaped copper pieces placed in a row) are included in other important grave goods from Sinauli. The survey found that a dish-on-stand was usually placed below the hip area, but in some cases was placed near the head or feet. The stand is holding the head of a goat in one case. Remains of a burnt brick wall with a finished inner surface ran along
952-500: Is a branch of survey becoming more and more popular in archaeology, because it uses different types of instruments to investigate features below the ground surface. It is not as reliable because although they can see what is under the surface of the ground, it does not produce the best picture. Archaeologists still have to dig up the area in order to uncover the truth. There are also two most common types of geophysical survey, which is, magnetometer and ground penetrating radar. Magnetometry
1008-519: Is clear is that Harappan society was not entirely peaceful, with the human skeletal remains demonstrating some of the highest rates of injury (15.5%) found in South Asian prehistory. Examinations of Harappan skeletons have often found wounds that are likely to have been inflicted in battle. Paleopathological analysis demonstrated that leprosy and tuberculosis were present at Harappa, with the highest prevalence of both disease and trauma present in
1064-629: Is the technique of measuring and mapping patterns of magnetism in the soil. It uses an instrument called a magnetometer, which is required to measure and map traces of soil magnetism. The ground penetrating radar is a method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band of the radio spectrum and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. There are many other tools that can be used to find artifacts, but along with finding artifacts, archaeologists have to make maps. They do so by taking data from surveys, or archival research and plugging it into
1120-471: Is usually called Late Harappan. There is no sign that the Harappan cities were laid waste by invaders. The evidence strongly points to natural causes. A number of studies show that the area which is today the Thar Desert was once far wetter and that the climate gradually became drier. The Indus Valley civilization was basically an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce,
1176-630: The Mature Harappan phase (2600 BC – 1900 BC), which is considered large for its time. Per archaeological convention of naming a previously unknown civilisation by its first excavated site, the Indus Valley Civilisation is also called the Harappan Civilisation. The ancient city of Harappa was heavily damaged under British and French rule , when bricks from the ruins were used as track ballast in
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#17327651451701232-778: The Sintashta culture into the Indian subcontinent, "forming then the ruling elite of a major Late Harappan settlement," predating the migrations of pre- and proto-Rig Vedic people. Parpola: It seems, then, that the earliest Aryan-speaking immigrants to South Asia, the Copper Hoard people , came with bull-drawn carts (Sanauli and Daimabad) via the BMAC and had Proto-Indo-Iranian as their language. They were, however, soon followed (and probably at least partially absorbed) by early Indo-Aryans [...] The dramatic new discovery of cart burials dated to c. 1900 at Sanauli [...] support my proposal of
1288-525: The "Sanauli cemetery", belong to the Late Bronze Age, and were ascribed by excavation director Sharma to the Harappan civilisation , though a Late Harappan Phase or post-Harappan identification is more likely. Major findings from 2018 trial excavations are dated to c. 2000 - 1800 BCE, and ascribed to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP)/ Copper Hoard Culture , which was contemporaneous with
1344-519: The Late Harappan culture. They include several wooden coffin burials, copper swords, helmets, and wooden carts, with solid disk wheels and protected by copper sheets. The carts were presented by Sanjay Manjul, director of the excavations, as chariots, and he further notes that "the rituals relating to the Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals." Several scholars suggest that
1400-631: The Makran coast of Balochistan , not far from Iran. The site of the ancient city contains the ruins of a Bronze Age fortified city, which was part of the Harappan civilisation centred in Sindh and the Punjab , and then the Cemetery H culture . The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and occupied about 150 hectares (370 acres) with clay brick houses at its greatest extent during
1456-661: The Sanauli burials showed close affinity with Vedic rituals," and stated that "the dating of the Mahabharata is around 1750 BCE ." Suggesting the presence of horses in India before the arrival of the Indo-Aryans, some see this as a challenge to the Indo-Aryan migration theory . However, the identification as "chariot" is problematic, since the wheels were solid, not spoked as in chariots . This would require oxen to pull
1512-542: The War at Kurukshetra. Archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record . Sites may range from those with few or no remains visible above ground, to buildings and other structures still in use. Beyond this,
1568-583: The area, and if they have the money and time for the site, they can start digging. There are many ways to find sites, one example can be through surveys. Surveys involve walking around analyzing the land and looking for artifacts. It can also involve digging, according to the Archaeological Institute of America, "archaeologists actively search areas that were likely to support human populations, or in places where old documents and records indicate people once lived." This helps archaeologists in
1624-573: The areas with numerous artifacts are good targets for future excavation, while areas with a small number of artifacts are thought to reflect a lack of past human activity. Many areas have been discovered by accident. The most common people who have found artifacts are farmers who are plowing their fields or just cleaning them up, and they often find archaeological artifacts. Many people who are out hiking and even pilots find artifacts, and they usually end up reporting them to archaeologists for further investigation. When they find sites, they have to first record
1680-428: The burial of a site by sediments moved by gravity (called hillwash ) can also happen at sites on slopes. Human activities (both deliberate and incidental) also often bury sites. It is common in many cultures for newer structures to be built atop the remains of older ones. Urban archaeology has developed especially to deal with these sorts of site. Many sites are the subject of ongoing excavation or investigation. Note
1736-556: The construction of the Lahore–Multan Railway . The current village of Harappa is less than one kilometre ( 5 ⁄ 8 mi) from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a legacy railway station from the British Raj period, it is a small crossroads town of 15,000 people today. In 2005, a controversial amusement park scheme at the site was abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artefacts during
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1792-428: The definition and geographical extent of a "site" can vary widely, depending on the period studied and the theoretical approach of the archaeologist. It is almost invariably difficult to delimit a site. It is sometimes taken to indicate a settlement of some sort, although the archaeologist must also define the limits of human activity around the settlement. Any episode of deposition, such as a hoard or burial, can form
1848-481: The difference between archaeological sites and archaeological discoveries. Harappa Harappa ( Punjabi pronunciation: [ɦəɽəˈpaː] ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan , about 24 kilometres (15 miles) west of Sahiwal . The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation , now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation , is named after the site, which takes its name from
1904-492: The early stages of building work. The Harappan Civilization has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh , approximately 6000 BC. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged c. 2600 BC along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh . The civilization, with a possible writing system , urban centres, drainage infrastructure and diversified social and economic system ,
1960-451: The eastern side of the burial. "The [2018] artefacts probably belong to a period between 2000-1800 BCE. It can help us determine how those people lived... It may help re-evaluate how we understood the Late Harappan contemporary culture." — S. K. Manjul, ASI director (excavations) Trial excavations conducted at Sinauli in March–May 2018 (about 100 m from the 2005-06 site) have yielded
2016-637: The four signs were in the Indus script and called the find "the greatest archaeological discovery of a century in Tamil Nadu". Based on this evidence, he went on to suggest that the language used in the Indus Valley was of Dravidian origin. However, the absence of a Bronze Age in South India, contrasted with the knowledge of bronze making techniques in the Indus Valley cultures, calls into question
2072-420: The future. In case there is no time or money during the site's discovery, archaeologists can come back and visit the site for further digging to find out the extent of the site. Archaeologist can also sample randomly within a given area of land as another form of conducting surveys. Surveys are very useful, according to Jess Beck, "it can tell you where people were living at different points in the past." Geophysics
2128-504: The head, with dish-on-stand usually placed below the hip area as well as flask-shaped vessels, terracotta figurines, gold bracelets and copper bangles, beads of semi-precious stones (two necklaces of long barrel shape), steatite, faience, and glass. The two antennae swords from Sinauli, one found in situ in a grave with a copper sheath, has similarities to the Copper Hoard Type in a Late Harappan context. A dish-on-stand and
2184-435: The heavy carts, which were unfit for use in battle, in contrast to the horse-pulled chariots introduced by the Indo-Aryans. According to Michael Witzel, rejecting the identification as chariots, "[t]his find may point to the survival of an extra-Harappan organized society." According to Asko Parpola, the carts must have been ox-pulled, and are indications of an early Aryan migration of Proto-Indo-Iranian speaking people from
2240-454: The identification of property and shipment of goods. Although copper and bronze were in use, iron was not yet employed. "Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were cultivated ; and a number of animals, including the humped bull , was domesticated ," as well as " fowl for fighting ". Wheel-made pottery—some of it adorned with animal and geometric motifs—has been found in profusion at all
2296-424: The latter including trade with Elam and Sumer in southern Mesopotamia . Both Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are generally characterised as having "differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers." Although such similarities have given rise to arguments for the existence of a standardised system of urban layout and planning, the similarities are largely due to
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2352-563: The major Indus sites. A centralised administration for each city, though not the whole civilisation, has been inferred from the revealed cultural uniformity; however, it remains uncertain whether authority lay with a commercial oligarchy . Harappans had many trade routes along the Indus River that went as far as the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Some of the most valuable things traded were carnelian and lapis lazuli . What
2408-626: The oldest soil-sediments were 4798 ± 34 years old, most likely due to mixing of older carbon from the lower levels of cultural sequence, as this was the burial site and had more probability of sediment relocation due to burial activities. Other discoveries include copper helmets, copper antenna swords, copper swords, a ladle made of copper, grey-ware pottery, large terracotta pots, red vases with flaring rims, copper nails and beads. Wooden coffins were first discovered at Harappa in Punjab and then from Dholavira in Gujarat . Local youths, after being given
2464-401: The presence of a semi-orthogonal type of civic layout, and a comparison of the layouts of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa shows that they are in fact, arranged in a quite dissimilar fashion. The weights and measures of the Indus Valley Civilisation, on the other hand, were highly standardised, and conform to a set scale of gradations. Distinctive seals were used, among other applications, perhaps for
2520-471: The presence of both artifacts and features . Common features include the remains of hearths and houses. Ecofacts , biological materials (such as bones, scales, and even feces) that are the result of human activity but are not deliberately modified, are also common at many archaeological sites. In the cases of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras, a mere scatter of flint flakes will also constitute
2576-778: The primary trading objects. The Harappan merchants also had procurement colonies in Mesopotamia as well, which served as trading centres. They also traded extensively with people living in southern India , near modern-day Karnataka , to procure gold and copper from them. The excavators of the site have proposed the following chronology of Harappa's occupation: Period 1 occupation was thought to be around 7 to 10 hectares, but following excavations and findings of pottery in Mound E, along with previously found Mound AB pottery, suggest Ravi/Hakra phase would have been extended, together in both mounds, to 25 hectares. Period 2, Kot Diji phase,
2632-465: The rather tenuous archaeological evidence for such claims, as well as the projection of modern South Asian political concerns onto the archaeological record of the area. In February 2006 a school teacher in the village of Sembian-Kandiyur in Tamil Nadu discovered a stone celt (tool) with an inscription estimated to be up to 3,500 years old. Indian epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan postulated that
2688-510: The remains of several coffin burials and three full-sized carts. Prior to obtaining C-14 dates, Sanjay Manjul, ASI director (excavations), surmised the burials belonged to the period c. 2000 - 1800 BCE, contemporaneous with, but different from, the Late Harappan culture but belonging to the Ochre-coloured pottery (OCP)/Copper Hoard Culture. Carbon dating later confirmed the organic matter from the burial site to be 3500 ± 127 years old while
2744-526: The site in September 2005. The 2005-06 excavation headed by D. V. Sharma, ASI found more than a hundred burials (no coffins) tentatively dated c. 2200–1800 BCE. Sharma associated the finding with the Harappan (Indus) civilisation, which has been contested, as a Late Harappan or post-Harappan identification is more likely. Carbon dating has now confirmed that the burials date back to c. 1865-1550 BC, based on "two C-14 (carbon dating) dates -- 3815 and 3500, with
2800-640: The skeletons from Area G (an ossuary located south-east of the city walls). Furthermore, rates of craniofacial trauma and infection increased through time demonstrating that the civilisation collapsed amid illness and injury. The bioarchaeologists who examined the remains have suggested that the combined evidence for differences in mortuary treatment and epidemiology indicate that some individuals and communities at Harappa were excluded from access to basic resources like health and safety. The Harappans had traded with ancient Mesopotamia , especially Elam , among other areas. Cotton textiles and agricultural products were
2856-518: The solid wheels belong to carts, therefore are not from chariots. According to Asko Parpola these finds were ox-pulled carts, indicating that these burials are related to an early Aryan migration of Proto-Indo-Iranian speaking people into the Indian subcontinent, "forming then the ruling elite of a major Late Harappan settlement." The site at Sinauli was accidentally discovered by people levelling agricultural land. The farmers came across human skeletons and ancient pottery. The ASI began excavations at
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#17327651451702912-493: The validity of this hypothesis. The area of the late Harappan period consisted of the areas of the Daimabad , Maharashtra , and Badakshan regions of Afghanistan . The area covered by this civilisation would have been very large with a distance of around 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi). Clay and stone tablets unearthed at Harappa, which were carbon-dated 3300–3200 BC, contain trident-shaped and plant-like markings. "It
2968-485: The wheel with copper nails). The triangles are distributed in three concentric circles from the hub flange of the wheel. The seat seemed to semi-circular. The frame of the seat is made of copper pipes. A pipe for the attachment of the umbrella is also visible. Coffin Burial II: The third cart was found with another wood coffin burial. The pit also included a shield (decorated with geometrical patterns in copper),
3024-508: Was damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore - Multan railroad used brick from the Harappa ruins for track ballast , an abundance of artefacts have nevertheless been found. Because of the reduced sea-levels , certain regions in the late Harappan period were abandoned . Towards its end, the Harappan civilization lost features such as writing and hydraulic engineering . As
3080-442: Was extended in the same two mounds, AB and E, covering over 27 hectares. In Period 3, Harappa phase, the settlement reached 150 hectares. By far the most exquisite and obscure artefacts unearthed to date are the small, square steatite (soapstone) seals engraved with human or animal motifs. A large number of seals have been found at such sites as Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. Many bear pictographic inscriptions generally thought to be
3136-531: Was rediscovered in the 1920s also after excavations at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh near Larkana , and Harappan cities, in west Punjab south of Lahore . A number of other sites stretching from the Himalayan foothills in the east Punjab , India in the west, to Gujarat in the south and east, and to Pakistani Balochistan in the west have also been discovered and studied. Although the archaeological site at Harappa
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