More on Harappan cemetery found in Farmana

[Guest guest]

Harappan-era cemetery found (4 mar 2009 Times of India)

 

FARMANA(Rohtak): In an extraordinary archaeological finding, a big housing

complex that matured during the Harappan era has been discovered in this

 

little known village about 40 km from Rohtak.

 

A cemetery belonging to the same civilization which existed about 3500-3000 BC

has also been found at an adjacent site, where nearly 70 skeletons have been

unearthed so far.

 

The team of archaeologists from Research Institute for Humanity and Nature,

Kyoto Japan, Deccan College, Pune and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak,

discovered the habitation site spread over 18.5 hectare. It has four big

complexes and a cemetery spread over about three hectare.

 

" This is easily among the largest habitation locality of the Harappan era. We

have so far excavated one complex which has 26 rooms, 3 to 4 kitchens, an equal

number of bathrooms and a courtyard in the centre. The size of the rooms vary

from 6x6 to 16x20, " said Prof Manmohan Singh of MD University.

 

The excavations indicate that this region was part of the 5,000 years old Indus

Valley culture, considered one of the most advanced urban civilizations in

ancient times.

 

The digging of the burial ground has revealed many facts which would help in

studying the lives of the Harappan people. Vivek Dangi, a research scholar

associated with graveyard excavation, categorized the burials into three types.

 

In the Indus Valley tradition, people used to bury the dead with things that

belonged to them. In secondary burial, they were interred with a few bones and

other articles. In the third type of burials, only stuff like pots, goblets,

bakers, studs, miniature pots, plates, bowls were found that indicates they used

to perform symbolic burial of the missing people.

 

He says the skeleton of a middle-aged woman had three shell bangles, two copper

bangles, copper earrings, beads and ornaments on the feet, indicating her

wealthy status. Nilesh, a research scholar from Deccan College, Pune, says they

had been working on the site for last three years. " We work for about three

months in a year and our present phase is likely to end next month. "