08-05-2006, 12:59 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>B B Lal announces Neolithic site discovered in Haryana </b>Posted by: "Carlos A"
Dear friends,
Recently University of Massachusetts, Center for Indic Studies, held
a conference to resolve Aryan/Non Aryan origins of Indian
Civilization. One of the invited speakers was B.B. Lal. There he
made a revelation already known in some archaeological and academic
circles: the discovery of earlier Neolithic levels at an Harappan
site in Haryana state. Of course Witzel made a derogatory and
irascible comentary, posted in a hurry, at IndiaArchaeology Yahoo
group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaArchaeology/ , by one of
his staunch suporters, David Salomon, whose messages paradoxically
are not allowed at Farmer-Witzel's political List (a case of
servility of that Christian lawyer?).
On this matter I asked Dr Kak if he knew something. He kindly
communicated himself with Dr B.B. Lal and Dr Lal answered by mail on
7th July, 2006 as follows:
"As you may have perhaps realized by now, Witzel is one of those who
cannot accept their mistakes gracefully. What irritated him most was
my pointing out how he mis-translated the part concerned of the
Srauta Sutra, on the basis of which he propagates that the Aryans
came to India from the west. (I am sure you have seen my paper
published on this topic in one of the issues in East and West. If
not, I can post a copy of it to you.) As I could make out, he is
losing mental balance and being unable to reply to the points
raised, takes recourse to mud-slinging. May God bless him and his
ilk!..."
B. B. Lal's most relevant part of his mail is:
"In so far as the Bhirrana (not Virana) C-14 dates are concerned,
these have been given by the Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Birbal
Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, and are as follows:
Sample No. BS 2314 -- Calibrated age, 1 Sigma: 4536, 4506, 4504 BCE
Sample No. BS 2318 -- Calibrated age, 1 Sigma: 5041 BCE
Sample No. BS 2333 -- Calibrated age, 1 Sigma: 6439 BCE"
Here Dr Lal refers to the site called BHIRRANA that in many articles
was mentioned as Virana or Bhirdana.
As you can see the range 4504- 6439 BCE corresponds to the Neolithic
period of this site which is at Fatehabad district, Haryana, near
Kunal and Banawali.
Bhirrana site has 6,25 hectares. The upper levels were excavated by
ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) for two field seasons during
2003-04 and 2004-05. The excavations has revealed a well planned
fortified Mature Harappan town datable to 3rd millennium BCE. The
massive fortification wall of the town was made of mud bricks. The
houses were made of mud bricks. The other important findings from
the excavation include steatite seals, beads of semi-precious
stones, celts and bangles belonging to Mature period.
During field season 2005-06 it was anounced by ASI Director Dr B R
Mani that earlier layers were found. And journalists started to talk
of an older civilization than Indus:
http://tinyurl.com/8wx5e
The thing is that Bhirrana's news are circulating in the web since
January 2004 when the town was found.
See the article by Sushil Manav at The Tribune, "Harappan township
found":
"Fatehabad, January 1 [2004].Clinching evidence of a township of the
5,000-year-old Indus Valley Civilisation (Harappan Era) has been
found during excavations near Bhirdana village in the district, 12
km from the town. The excavations are being carried out by the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The excavations began on
December 14 and are likely to continue till May. These may resume
after the monsoon, if required. The ASI had earlier discovered the
presence of same townships of the Indus Valley Civilisation at two
other places, Kunal and Banawali, in the district. The evidences
found at Bhirdana include many structures made of mud bricks,
peculiar of the Harappan era; a well, a fortification wall, pottery
and other antiquities. Mr L.S. Rao, Superintending Archaeologist of
the ASI, who is leading the team of excavators here, informed that
the team, comprising a Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, three
Assistant Archaeologists and other officials like photographers,
draftsmen, artists, and surveyors, was working on the excavation
site spread across 62,500 square metres and situated on a mound.
Fifteen students of Institute of Archaeology, New Delhi, have also
been assisting the team. The excavations, being carried out under
the `Saraswati Heritage Project' of the Union Government, were part
of a series of such excavations being made to unearth the old
civilisations on the bank of the ancient Saraswati river. The
Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Haryana, had
protected the area of the present excavations, Mr Rao said. He said
the area where the excavations were being carried out was the bank
of the Saraswati. The whole riverbed had been converted in to
agricultural lands with the passage of time, he added. He said the
ASI based its findings on the antiquities collected during the
excavations on the surface of the mound. Pottery, among the
antiquities, is the main criteria for ascertaining the civilisation.
The team has collected truckloads of pottery during the excavations.
Besides, these some semi-precious stones have also been found.
Structures made of Sun-dried bricks, a peculiar feature of the Indus
Valley Civilisation, have been found. The excavators have also
discovered a 2.4-metre-wide wall considered to be the fortification
wall of the township on the excavation site. Ms Ankum, from
Nagaland, a student of the Institute of Archaeology, who was manning
the fortification area, said a clinching evidence of the township
was that the earth outside the wall comprised of virgin soil while
the one inside the fortification wall had all the evidence of
structures. Mr Prabhash Sahu, Assistant Superintending
Archaeologist, told this correspondent that it was a horizontal
excavation and the whole mound had been divided into four parts for
convenience. Mr Rao said the residents of the area were cooperative
and were showing keen interest in the excavations. Ms Swatantra Bala
Chowdhary, the local MLA, who was earlier a teacher in history, has
visited the sites".
As for a saga of this interesting archaeological matter, specially
respect Neolithic levels of Bhirrana and 2005-06 excavations, Dr Lal
in his mail concludes:
"These have been included in my paper, 'Can the Vedic People be
identified Archaeologically? -- An Appoach' which is about to be
printed off in Indologica Taurinesia (Torino, Italy)."
Best regards,
Carlos A..
Historian
La Paz
Bolivia
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Dear friends,
Recently University of Massachusetts, Center for Indic Studies, held
a conference to resolve Aryan/Non Aryan origins of Indian
Civilization. One of the invited speakers was B.B. Lal. There he
made a revelation already known in some archaeological and academic
circles: the discovery of earlier Neolithic levels at an Harappan
site in Haryana state. Of course Witzel made a derogatory and
irascible comentary, posted in a hurry, at IndiaArchaeology Yahoo
group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaArchaeology/ , by one of
his staunch suporters, David Salomon, whose messages paradoxically
are not allowed at Farmer-Witzel's political List (a case of
servility of that Christian lawyer?).
On this matter I asked Dr Kak if he knew something. He kindly
communicated himself with Dr B.B. Lal and Dr Lal answered by mail on
7th July, 2006 as follows:
"As you may have perhaps realized by now, Witzel is one of those who
cannot accept their mistakes gracefully. What irritated him most was
my pointing out how he mis-translated the part concerned of the
Srauta Sutra, on the basis of which he propagates that the Aryans
came to India from the west. (I am sure you have seen my paper
published on this topic in one of the issues in East and West. If
not, I can post a copy of it to you.) As I could make out, he is
losing mental balance and being unable to reply to the points
raised, takes recourse to mud-slinging. May God bless him and his
ilk!..."
B. B. Lal's most relevant part of his mail is:
"In so far as the Bhirrana (not Virana) C-14 dates are concerned,
these have been given by the Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Birbal
Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, and are as follows:
Sample No. BS 2314 -- Calibrated age, 1 Sigma: 4536, 4506, 4504 BCE
Sample No. BS 2318 -- Calibrated age, 1 Sigma: 5041 BCE
Sample No. BS 2333 -- Calibrated age, 1 Sigma: 6439 BCE"
Here Dr Lal refers to the site called BHIRRANA that in many articles
was mentioned as Virana or Bhirdana.
As you can see the range 4504- 6439 BCE corresponds to the Neolithic
period of this site which is at Fatehabad district, Haryana, near
Kunal and Banawali.
Bhirrana site has 6,25 hectares. The upper levels were excavated by
ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) for two field seasons during
2003-04 and 2004-05. The excavations has revealed a well planned
fortified Mature Harappan town datable to 3rd millennium BCE. The
massive fortification wall of the town was made of mud bricks. The
houses were made of mud bricks. The other important findings from
the excavation include steatite seals, beads of semi-precious
stones, celts and bangles belonging to Mature period.
During field season 2005-06 it was anounced by ASI Director Dr B R
Mani that earlier layers were found. And journalists started to talk
of an older civilization than Indus:
http://tinyurl.com/8wx5e
The thing is that Bhirrana's news are circulating in the web since
January 2004 when the town was found.
See the article by Sushil Manav at The Tribune, "Harappan township
found":
"Fatehabad, January 1 [2004].Clinching evidence of a township of the
5,000-year-old Indus Valley Civilisation (Harappan Era) has been
found during excavations near Bhirdana village in the district, 12
km from the town. The excavations are being carried out by the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The excavations began on
December 14 and are likely to continue till May. These may resume
after the monsoon, if required. The ASI had earlier discovered the
presence of same townships of the Indus Valley Civilisation at two
other places, Kunal and Banawali, in the district. The evidences
found at Bhirdana include many structures made of mud bricks,
peculiar of the Harappan era; a well, a fortification wall, pottery
and other antiquities. Mr L.S. Rao, Superintending Archaeologist of
the ASI, who is leading the team of excavators here, informed that
the team, comprising a Deputy Superintending Archaeologist, three
Assistant Archaeologists and other officials like photographers,
draftsmen, artists, and surveyors, was working on the excavation
site spread across 62,500 square metres and situated on a mound.
Fifteen students of Institute of Archaeology, New Delhi, have also
been assisting the team. The excavations, being carried out under
the `Saraswati Heritage Project' of the Union Government, were part
of a series of such excavations being made to unearth the old
civilisations on the bank of the ancient Saraswati river. The
Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Haryana, had
protected the area of the present excavations, Mr Rao said. He said
the area where the excavations were being carried out was the bank
of the Saraswati. The whole riverbed had been converted in to
agricultural lands with the passage of time, he added. He said the
ASI based its findings on the antiquities collected during the
excavations on the surface of the mound. Pottery, among the
antiquities, is the main criteria for ascertaining the civilisation.
The team has collected truckloads of pottery during the excavations.
Besides, these some semi-precious stones have also been found.
Structures made of Sun-dried bricks, a peculiar feature of the Indus
Valley Civilisation, have been found. The excavators have also
discovered a 2.4-metre-wide wall considered to be the fortification
wall of the township on the excavation site. Ms Ankum, from
Nagaland, a student of the Institute of Archaeology, who was manning
the fortification area, said a clinching evidence of the township
was that the earth outside the wall comprised of virgin soil while
the one inside the fortification wall had all the evidence of
structures. Mr Prabhash Sahu, Assistant Superintending
Archaeologist, told this correspondent that it was a horizontal
excavation and the whole mound had been divided into four parts for
convenience. Mr Rao said the residents of the area were cooperative
and were showing keen interest in the excavations. Ms Swatantra Bala
Chowdhary, the local MLA, who was earlier a teacher in history, has
visited the sites".
As for a saga of this interesting archaeological matter, specially
respect Neolithic levels of Bhirrana and 2005-06 excavations, Dr Lal
in his mail concludes:
"These have been included in my paper, 'Can the Vedic People be
identified Archaeologically? -- An Appoach' which is about to be
printed off in Indologica Taurinesia (Torino, Italy)."
Best regards,
Carlos A..
Historian
La Paz
Bolivia
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
