A village in Rajasthan yields artefacts of yore

Artifacts such as perforated jars, shell bangles, terracotta beads, shells and the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, different types of pottery and two hearths have been found during excavation under way at Pachamta, a village 100 km from Udaipur in Rajasthan.

Pachamta belongs to the Ahar-Banas culture in the Mewar region, which was contemporaneous with the early and mature Harappan culture. The Ahar culture, datable to 3,000-1,700 BCE, was chalcolithic (the Bronze Age), and its people had trade links with the Harappans. Rajasthan has several Harappan sites, including Kalibangan, Karanpura, Bijnor and Tarkkhanewaladera.

Prabodh Shirvalkar of the Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, a deemed-to-be university in Pune; Lalit Pandey of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University, Udaipur; and Teresa P. Raczek of Kennesaw State University, U.S., are leading the excavation under a project called the Mewar Plains Archaeological Assessment. The National Geographic Society is funding the project. The village is close to Gilund, an important Ahar-Banas culture site.

                           

                                       Black and red ware excavated in Pachanta, near Udaipur.

Sites in the Ahar-Banas complex is situated in the valleys of the rivers such as Banas, Berach, Gambhiri and Bhari and their tributaries. Its peoples were agriculturalists who grew wheat, barley and pulses and reared buffaloes, sheep, goats and chicken.

Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor and Director, Deccan College, said the Mewar region was important to understand the development of settled life in the region. Dr. Shinde, who had earlier excavated Gilund, said: “Gilund provided important information about the transformation of life from hunting-gathering to agriculture in the Mewar region around 4,000 BCE. When we excavated Gilund, we identified several sites, including Pachamta. We found very early pottery and brick structures at Pachamta. So, it was an important site. Since the villagers are disturbing the mounds at Pachamta, we are doing the excavation there now.”

The Ahar-Banas people introduced reserved slip ware, which was later adapted by the Harappans, and learnt the standardized brick ratio from the Harappans.

The peoples of Ahar culture were the first farmers of the region. They were engaged in small-scale craft production and developed a complex trade and exchange network with each other, and the Harappan sites and the sites of the Deccan.

Excavation is under way at Pachamta, which belongs to the Ahar-Banas culture under the Mewar Plains Archaeological Assessment