To bring out new findings about the Harappan culture, a new major project of excavation at Kunal in Haryana’s Fatehabad district will be initiated by the State Government in collaboration with New Delhi based Indian Archaeological Society.
Kunal being one of the earliest Harappan sites in Haryana, the excavation aims at bringing out the earliest material culture of the site which might push the history of the civilisation back by over a thousand years.
“It has made a great contribution in the early Harappan studies in Indian sub-continent and will definitely open new prospects in future researches on formation and antecedent stages of Classical Harappans,” said Principal Secretary, Department of Archaeology and Museums, Sumita Misra.
A memorandum of understanding would be signed between Indian Archaeological Society, New Delhi and the Haryana Department of Archaeology and Museums for undertaking archaeological excavation at Kunal.
She said that Kunal is located in Tehsil Raita in district Fatehabad on the banks of now dried up river course of ancient mighty river Saraswati. The core area of the settlement is three-four acres though site expands to nine acres.
The excavation was first conducted by late JS Khatri and M Acharya under Haryana State Archaeology Department during the year 1985-86. The previous excavations have provided significant traits of early Harappan culture in our sub continent at Kunal for the very first time in the history of Harappan studies.
This Early Harappan time (3500-2500 BC) that is the Period ‘I’ is divided by Period ‘IA’ (3500-2850 BC), Period ‘IB’ (2850-2600 BC) and Period ‘IC’ (2600-2500 BC) which is followed by Mature Harappan Period ‘II’ (2500-1900 BC). During Period ‘1A’, the people started living here after artificially raising the ground by 0.71m and then formed the circular pit dwellings, said she.
Dwelling has been found consisting of two units — one round and adjacent to it one refuse pit. Refuse pits were also found along with each circular pit dwelling. Post holes along with few pits also found representing wattle and Daub structure to 2m high.
She said that Period ‘IB’ represents the expansion of settlement and elaboration of semi subterranean houses of round pits. This phase is more advanced than previous in terms of habitation areas. Pits are now aligned with molded mud bricks but not with the usual ratio of 1:2:3 of early Harappans.
Misra added that a large number of precious antiquities like silver objects and gold beads in early Harappan fabric pot were reported by the excavator in one of the house from Period ‘IC’ which is exceptional of its kind in early Harappan sites of our sub continent. Copper smelting furnace was also found along with large number of copper objects and also typical classical Harappan crucible (Terracotta) was found.
The last period of the site that is Period ‘II’ is very rudimentary because of the cultivation process but one of the remains interesting is the construction of water channel. The ‘V’ shape water channel covering the habitational was restricted from four places which could be for movement of public. Habitational area of this period was divided into two parts: one inside and one outside the water channel, she said.
Hence the Kunal excavations will be provided us with large number of new insights of early Harappan culture, she added.
Notably, the excavation work at Rakhigarhi had got a major breakthrough earlier this year with the recovery of around 15 human skeletons. Initial findings from the Rakhigarhi excavation site in Haryana’s Hisar district — the biggest Harappan site — had indicated that it may be the oldest continuous living habitat in the world.