'4,000-year' old settlement unearthed in Narsingdi
Archaeologists claim major discovery 6 years into excavation
Bishawjit Das

Archaeologists have discovered artefacts at a village in Narsingdi
that resembles traits of the Chalcolithic culture, which is around
4,000 years old, and believe the finds are the earliest signs of
settlement in the region.

The Chalcolithic Age, also known as the Aeneolithic or Copper Age, is
a phase in the development of human culture in which the use of early
metal tools appeared alongside the use of stone tools.

The excavators led by Prof Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, chairman of the
Department of Archaeology at Jahangirnagar University, traced a pit-
dwelling, one of the primary means of living in which people lived in
small ditches, at Wari-Bateswar under Belabo upazila, some 70km from
the capital.

This is the first discovery of the Chalcolithic occurrence in the
country, the earlier findings not dating back before the Mouryan Age
in 400BC.

Artefacts of the pit-dwelling era in the Indian subcontinent have
been found at places including Burzahom at Swat Valley in Pakistan,
which is around 5,000 years old, and Inamgaon in South India, which
dated back to around 1400BC-700BC.

The team of Rahman and his students found a water reservoir, a
hearth, a storage pit and some household accessories inside the pit-
dwelling. They also unearthed an earlier dug-out road, leading to
what seems to be a fortified town.

A pioneer in the field, Rahman had started excavating the area in
2000 and unearthed relics and artefacts, challenging the established
notion that the region did not have any history of early urbanisation.

The team in March 2004 found a 20-metre stretch of a road, which
later tested to be some 2,450 years old. Examining the location and
landscape, they claimed it to be a fortified town which is a
significant symbol of urbanisation in the area.

This year's excavation, sponsored by GrameenPhone, dug out 180 metres
stretch of the road, which is six metre wide and 21-35cm thick, with
a by-lane, leading towards a citadel with protecting canals on its
four sides.

Rahman said this proves that his earlier much-debated claim of a town
buried under earth corresponds to a time much before the Christian
era.

Although the finding of the road and a by-lane itself is a major
discovery that indicates a planned town, the magnitude of pit-
dwelling surpasses by its novelty and old age.

PIT-DWELLING
Rahman and his students started digging a six metre by four metre
trench in February last year. They dug up to 1.3 metre deep to find a
pit on the ground level of the ancient time.

"We took the hole for a garbage pit," said Rahman. In February this
year, the team found a hearth on the other side of the ditch, a dish
and bones beside it, which confirmed about the pit-dwelling
settlement, Rahman explained.

Usually, Chalcolithic people stored grains in those holes, he said.

They dug another metre horizontally from the hearth and found four
bags of ash. They also found a well, a sign of a pillar for
supporting the roof, dishes and a coconut, the earliest known
botanical remain in the region.

The coconut and two other samples have been sent to the Institute of
Archaeology at London University, which took up the task of
determining the age of these finds through Carbon-14 dating.

The road, which was exposed after excavating just a few inches from
the ground level, dates back to a time older than 450BC. "The water
reservoir, hearth, storage pit and other household accessories, which
have been found after digging more than a metre, convince me that the
pit-dwelling settlement dates back to a much earlier period," Rahman
told The Daily Star yesterday.

The archaeologists are now studying the environment of the dwelling
place, means of living and other aspects of the time to learn more
about the inhabitants who settled there.

The finding has also drawn attention to the time's climate as the
rain-prone weather of this region does not permit such living styles,
said Rahman. "Pit-dwelling is more suitable in semi-arid or arid
weather, which does not match our present conditions," he said.

THE ANCIENT ROAD LINK TO URBANISATION
Rahman's March 2004 discovery of the oldest road, a fortified citadel
and a range of artefacts dating back to 450BC in the same area
promised to redefine the history of eastern India and embolden the
theory of the civilisation on the Brahmaputra valley.

The discoverers claimed the road is a symbol of a planned town with
urbanised surroundings. But some archaeologists challenged the claim,
saying no structures were found in the area to claim it as
a "civilisation". They even questioned the proof of the unearthed
structure to be "a road".

The recent discovery, however, not only proves Rahman's claim but
also makes the excavators more ambitious who believe the road may
lead them to some significant architecture --possibly some building
used for dwelling or administrative purposes--as the 180-metre "main"
road takes a 90-degree turn to the south protruding a by-lane the
other way.

"The base of the road is lime-surki and the road is rammed at several
places--a fact that further strengthens the concept of its being a
road. We also found brickbats and shards of earthen pots," Rahman
said.

"The inhabitants certainly had architects, civil engineers and town-
planners which indicate the ancient people were much skilled and had
aesthetic sense," he said.

He referred to his early claim of an industrial area at the site
manufacturing beads of some semiprecious stones like quartz,
amethyst, carnelian, jasper and chalcedony.

"The industry must have had a comprehensive system of labour, trade,
administration, guild, trade route and transportation facilities with
areas with raw materials--probably to South India--which can be
linked to the recent findings," Rahman said.

Rahman's team has suspended the excavation work until next December
as the coming rainy weather is not perfect for such work.

EXPERTS' OPINION
Prof Dilip K Chakraborty, an expert on South Asian archaeology and a
teacher of Cambridge University, said the discovery of pit-dwelling
is historic.

"Hearing about the measurement and description of the site, I think,
that is definitely a pit-dwelling," Chakraborty told The Daily Star
over telephone. The discovery is historic as no such settlement has
been found in the region earlier, he added.

Habibullah Pathan, 68, a local with no academic background in
archaeology, first started collecting artefacts and writing books on
the site following his father's belief that the place had some
archaeological significance. Habib also firmly believes that the road
indicates early urbanisation in the area.

"It is now proved that there was a fortified citadel and the more we
dig, the more discoveries will come up," Habib told The Daily Star.

http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/03/12/d6031201011.htm