Early Harappan Artefacts

Early Harappan Artifacts

Artifacts believed to be around 5000 year old, dating back to the early Harappan phase, have been unearthed during an excavation jointly being held by archaeologists from the University of Kerala and Kachchh University in Khatiya village of Kutch in Gujarat.

Findings:

1. Rectangular graves, each of varying dimensions and assembled using stones, contained skeletons that were placed in a specific manner.
2. They were oriented east-west with the heads positioned on the eastern side.
3. Next to the legs on the western side, the archeologists found earthen pots and pottery shard  and other artefacts, including conch-shell bangles, beads made of stones and terracotta, numerous lithic tools and grinding stones.
4. The burial of belonging next to the corpse could possibly suggest the prevalence of the concept of afterlife.
5. The presence of animal skeletons along with those of humans were recorded in a few graves.
6. The mode of burial was found to be non-uniform.
7. Instances of primary burial and secondary burial (when the remains of the primary are exhumed and moved to another grave) were found.
8. The remains of those who were possibly cremated were also found in a few graves.

These artefacts bore similarities with the ones unearthed from ancient settlements in Harappan sites, including Kot Diji and Amri of Pakistan, and Nagwada, Santhali, Moti Pipli, Dhaneti in North Gujarat.

This will shed light on the burial rituals and other customers prevalent in the Harappan civilization during its early phase from 3300 BCE to 2600 BCE.