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Tag: India Archeology

  • 5000 Year Historical Site Ancient India, Balathal

    Recent studies by Archeology pushes the date of Indian history to dates much earlier to the date of Rigveda, the earliest human literature.

    The Rig Veda is dated about five thousand years back.

    When on thinks of early Indian archaeological sites, one recalls only Mohenja Daro and Harappa and not any other sites. There are many more.

    Kindly Google archaeological sites +ramanan50 to find out more.

    Now another site.

    Balathal in Rajasthan, India.

    IT is dated between 3000-1500 BC.

    The Purans of India are Indian history but they were dismissed as Fables.

    Probably because the West did not want anything to be dated much farther from Christ!

    Unfortunately for them the evidence being unearthed is so compelling and difficult to hide truth is emerging.

    And there is an assumption that all civilizations have sprung from and developed only near River valleys.

    I do not subscribe to this view.

    World records speak of early hunters in mountainous regions and rock paintings prove this.

    Ancient Tamil Classics speak of Mountain people, Kuravar, who are found even today in India and the Tamils have designated, grouped the landmass of mountain as Kurinji and have a detailed description of the life of people, Flora and Fauna of this region.

    I am exploring this.

    And even if only River valleys have supported early civilizations, we have explored partially only the Ganga, Industrial and Saraswathi rivers.

    There are more important rivers mentioned in India texts where advanced civilizations existed in Bharatvarsha.

    The list of some major rivers mentioned are expressed in the following Mantra, which is used by Brahmins during their prayers daily.

    IT is Sandhyavandana.

    This is performed thrice a day to Surya, the Sun God.

    The same mantra is used for purification of ceremony of the Hindus, Punyahavachana.

    The Mantra is,

    Gange chari Yamune chaiva Godavari Saraswathi,

    Narmadhe Sindhu Cauvey Jalesmin Sannidhim kuru.

    Water resides in Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswathi, Narmadha, Sindhu and Cauvery.

    There are more rivers which are ancient like Tamraparani, Tamil Nadu which flowed in Lemuria and there is Vaigai as well.

    This needs to bet investigated for civilizations.

    Many sites have now been unearthed on the banks River Vaigai, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

    Am studying these.

    Be that as it may, to Balathal finding details herebelow from research paper.

    Baithal site. Image
    Baithal Udaipur Archoisite

    ‘

    Site Catchment Analysis of Balathal

    Author:

    Astha Dibyopama

    Abstract

    The excavations at Balathal (Udaipur district, Rajasthan), have produced evidence in respect to the origin of early farming community of Central India and brought to light traces of infant urbanization or proto-urbanization. There is also strong indications of a class-structured society and craft specialization. Site catchment analysis of Balathal will help to assess economic potential of the site; exploitation of natural resources, the nature of interaction with the sites located in the catchment area of Balathal and beyond and also determine the reasons for location of the site in a particular environmental niche.

    How to Cite: Dibyopama, A., (2010). Site Catchment Analysis of Balathal. Ancient Asia. 2, pp.47–57. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/aa.10205

    Reference and Citation.

    https://www.ancient-asia-journal.com/articles/10.5334/aa.10205/

    ‘

    Balathal is an archaeological site located in Vallabhnagar tehsil of Udaipur district of Rajasthan state in western India. It is one of the ninety Ahar-culture sites located in the Basins of the Banas river and its tributaries. The excavations at Balathal produced evidence as to the origin of the early farming community of Central India and brought about traces of infant urbanization. There is also strong indications of a class-structured society and craft specialization.

        This site, located 6 km from Vallabhnagar town and 42 km from Udaipur city, was discovered by V. N. Misra during a survey in 1962-63. It was excavated from 1994 to 2000, jointly by the Department of Archaeology of the Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute, Pune and the Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur under the direction of V. N. Misra of the Deccan College.[1] Balathal is one of the important sites in Mewar region of Rajasthan. The extensive excavations carried out at the site have produced vast amounts of data.This ancient site was occupied during two cultural periods: the Chalcolithic and the Early Historic.

    Chalcolithic Phase (3000-1500 B.C.): Chalcolithic Period is characterized partially by its well-planned structures. Evidence from this era that was found includes: Evidence from this era that was found includes: clay, stone, shell, and copper objects, as well as floral and animal remains.

    After the Chalcolithic phase, Balathal was abandoned for a long time until the Early Historic phase of the site’s activity.

    Early Historic Phase (5-3 B.C.): The most compelling evidence found from the Early Historic period is that of iron working in the form of furnaces with nails, arrowheads, etc.'(Wikipedia) Baithal.

    For more.

    Skulls recovered indicate the presence of Leprosy.

    http://www.rajras.in/index.php/balathal-archeological-site-ahar-banas-culture/

  • Million Year Tamil site Near Chennai Ramani’s blog Info on Archeology, Now in Nature Magazine

    Million Year Tamil site Near Chennai Ramani’s blog Info on Archeology, Now in Nature Magazine

    I have been writing on the antiquity of Sanatana Dharma and Tamil and that they are between Thirty thousand to a Million years old.

    This I have been researching for the past nine years and have published articles based on credible sources from around the world, from different languages, archeoanthropology, archaeology, Astronomy, Infrared dating, Plate tectonics, World literature, Etymology, Cultural similarities between various races, customs.

    Some of the recovered stone tips, such as the one seen in the upper right of this image, have narrower bottom portions called tangs. Tangs would have made it easier to attach the points to handles, aiding in spear-making. PHOTOGRAPH BY SHARMA CENTRE FOR HERITAGE EDUCATION, India. Image
    Some of the recovered stone tips, such as the one seen in the upper right of this image, have narrower bottom portions called tangs. Tangs would have made it easier to attach the points to handles, aiding in spear-making. PHOTOGRAPH BY SHARMA CENTRE FOR HERITAGE EDUCATION, INDIA

    The present date assigned to Rig Veda is 5114 BC and Tamil about 3000 BC. This, I found to be incorrect and based on my research from credible sources I suggested that Tamil is one Million years old and Vedas, as they are quoted by ancient Tamil, was earlier to Tamil. But the Vedas quite Tamil!

    So I took the position that both Tamil and Vedas are so old that it is impossible for me to find out which one was earlier :Both of them are at least million years old.

    Despite research by scholars, both from India and abroad, efforts have been made by the influential to suppress the evidence or call these studies as unscientific.

    I have a follower of this blog, who is an archaeologist who was denied permission to dig at Kurukshetra, because she was following a lead from me to find artifacts from Kurukshetra which would yield proof for Mahabharatha War. When I talked to the gentleman at Delhi, who was with the archeology department, who incidentally is a follower of Ramani’s blog, told me that he has oral instructions not to permit archaeological studies which might yield evidence that might be older than 5000Years!

    However thanks to Internet, one can not easily hide facts for long. A finding by archaeologists indicating the Antiquity of Tamil was not made available or publicised. Thanks to Internet, information can not be suppressed. The information was published in the Science in 2011

    . Lamenting this I wrote an article three years ago about the study by a team of archeologists on a site near Chennai about the antiquity of Tamils. Now the findings of these archaeologists have been published in Nature, the prestigious magazine for research. Here it is. ‘

    The discovery, described in Nature on Wednesday, pushes back the start of what’s called the Middle Paleolithic culture in the region by more than a hundred thousand years. That, in turn, could reshape how scientists view the global spread of hominins—humans and their ancient relatives—before modern humans migrated out of Africa some 60,000 years ago.

    Stone tools found in South India

    The new evidence suggests that a Middle Palaeolithic culture was present in India around 385,000 years ago — roughly the same time that it is known to have developed in Africa and in Europe. Middle Palaeolithic period is considered an Millionimportant

    cultural phase associated with modern humans and Neanderthals as well as other archaic hominins. Stone tools of this period are used by scientists as proxy for studies of early human behaviour.

    The prehistoric stone tools excavated from Attirampakkam village about 60 kilometers from Chennai push back the period when populations with a Middle Palaeolithic culture may have inhabited India. The new study appeared in international scientific journal Nature on Wednesday. (31 January, 2018.)

    http://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/ancient-stone-age-tools-found-in-tamil-nadu-suggest-reframing-of-out-of-africa-theories-4329961.html/amp

    Research paper Link in Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25444.epdf?referrer_access_token=SekmVmbJtzBMrNuXXh_UVtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NJ7TiKM5a9H3w098XWhhWBtLzjXFhaUZSKMeMqZ6ROTnAqKt5lvdWtt1JKb3O3R4qKq_tp-KPZhhmRcacgZ8pNbuK4ZsHqOcF9nlk5YUFLiQYeRkRM8dXm30aO5uRBXkpILGUYY7yr3XUzUokupc15&tracking_referrer=news.nationalgeographic.com

    ‘Springer Nature wants researchers to share content easily and legally. Our Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative means that links to view-only, full-text subscription research articles can be posted anywhere – including on social media platforms, author websites and in institutional repositories – so researchers can share research with colleagues and general audiences.‘

    http://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/sharedit

    ‘ My article on this, three years ago. ‘

    I posted an article that the Tamils lived around 74,000 years ago and that too near Chennai.

    I forgot to provide the Link.

    Scroll down for Video.

    This led to the speculation that I have been providing information not backed up by facts.

    Readers of this site know well that I never post information without evidence nor providing information without authentic links.

    I forgot in the above case.

    Million year old Tamil site near Chennai.Million year old Tamil site near Chennai.

    Skeptics who were /are critical of my research may criticise Nature now..

  • Tambaram Stone Age Settlement Rajendra Chola Inscriptions

    The areas around Tambaram, especially the stretch from Nemilicherry, Nanmangalam , and the route from nanmangalam is declared as archeological area.

    I investigated this.

    This is the information.

    Tambaram,now a bustling suburb of Chennai was a settlement of Stone Age People.

    Implement of the Stone Age and Iron Age have been found here for a radius of 10km from Old Tambaram.

    A 13th Century inscription of  Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola have been found(1000 AD).

    Stone Age Hand Axe, Tambram.image.jpg
    Stone Age Hand Axe, Tambram, Chennai

    The area then was called Thondai Nadu.

    Aathondai Flower.Image,jpg
    Aathondai ,Capporis zeylanicaFlowers Used by the Pallava Kings.

    Tambaram is referred to as  Taamapuram.

    It’s still earlier name was Gunaseelpuram

    Kunrathur near Tambaram is the birthplace of Sekkizhar who compiled the 63 Nayanmars ‘(Devotees of Shiva) lives, calling the work as Periyapuranam.

    This was first inaugurated during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

     

    ”

    . One of the famous battles of Pallava history was fought in this region. The later Cholas, the Pandias and the Vijayanagar kings also ruled this region. Even the flowers in the jungle are connected with our history. During February and March the beautiful pink and white flowers of the aathondai or thondai creepers (Capparis zeylanica)1 adorn the campus. The region of thondai nadu comprising mainly Madras and Chinglepet districts derives its name from this flower from which garlands of the famous Pallava kings were made.

    About 200,000 years ago people of the Old Stone Age (Lower Paleolithic Culture) roamed about Tambaram. They fashioned rough stone implements out of quartzite and used them for hunting and skinning wild animals. These implements or artifacts are called ‘ the hand axes of Madras industry.’ . The primitive men did not know the use of wooden handles for their stone axe-heads but used their hands instead. The first hand axe was picked up at Pallavaram over a century ago, and within the campus, several artifacts have been picked up by students4 and members of staff .

     

    Around 300 B.C., there were people of the Iron Age living in Tambaram area and they built their burial monuments in the form of dolmens and stone circles which are called Megaliths5 (big stones). Fine examples of such Megalithic Monuments can be seen about 100 metres east of the Great Southern Trunk Road near Guduvancheri railway station.

    Tambaram region must have been a flourishing country during the later Chola period which lasted for about 250 years after 1000 A.D. Tamil inscriptions of the Cholas are found in Manimangalam, Tiruneermalai, Tirusoolam and Kunrathoor. At Kunrathoor, the birth-place of Sekkilar, one Kaasyappa was the local doctor (Vaidya) 8 and some lands were set apart for his services. Inscriptions at Tiruneermalai refer to certain merchants from Pammal showing that this village near Pallavaram existed even then. Inscriptions at Manimangalam of Rajadhiraja I (1018-1054) give us details of a war with Ceylonese kings. Rajadhiraja defeated one Veerasalaamaygan of Ceylon, carried away his wife and sister and cut off the nose of his mother. This sort of barbaric behaviour seems to have been very common in those days even though the kings were supposed to follow Manu’s Dharma Sastra. Stories of such mutilations and abductions have been handed down to us in epics like the Ramayana. The inscriptions of Kulothunga I (1070-1120), the hero of Kalingathu parani, are found at Tirusoolam near Pallavaram and of the inscriptions of Kulothunga III there are several in this area.

    At Pammal, on the basement of a ruined Siva temple, two Chola inscriptions not heretofore noticed were copied by the students. One is dated in the reign of Tribhuvanachakravarti Sri Rajarajadeva, and the other, in the reign of Virarajendra.

    The inscription of the time of Rajaraja (III) is incomplete. It refers to an endowment for burning a lamp at a temple at Pammal. The inscription mentions that the village of Pammal belonged to Surathurnadu. It may be interesting to note that Surathurnadu was a territorial division probably named after Tiruchuram. Tiruchuram happens to be the old name of the apsidal Chola temple near Pallavaram, which is now called Tirusulam.

    The second inscription at Pammal is dated in the 35th year of the reign of Virarajendra Chola. If Virarajendra is Rajendra III, the king who succeeded Rajaraja III, then this is probably the latest reported inscription of the reign of Rajendra III.

    The inscription is complete and refers to an endowment of land by Panchanadhivaanan Nilakangarayan and to its exemption from taxes. The endowment is made to the temple of Azhaga Perumal by the Sri Vaishnavas.

    Of special interest was the fact that this inscription refers to Tambaram, which is also called Gunaseelanallur. Tambaram is referred to here as Taampuram.

     

    A a newly discovered Chola inscription on the basement of the Ahatisvara temple in Perungalatur gives the old name of the village as Perunkulatur, that is, the village of the big tank.

    Pandya inscriptions are found at Kunrathoor, Tirusoolam and Tiruneermalai. Temple building activity which started during the Chola period continued during the Vijayanagar period in this area and inscriptions of the Vijayanagar kings of the 14th to the 17th centuries are found here. This brings us to the modern period.

    This find will be one of the references for my theory that the Sanatana Dharma was in Dravida desa , if not originated from it.

     

    References.

    1.S. Gamble, Flora of the Presidency of Madras (Calcutta, 1957), p. 33.
    2 Nandikkalambakam (Tamil), (Madras, 1961), p. 66.
    3 V. D. Krishnaswami, ‘ Stone Age India ‘, Ancient India (1947).
    4 The largest hand axe was picked up by Mitran Devanesen when he was a student here in the Pre-University class.
    5 N. R. Banerjee, ‘ Megalithic problem of Chinglepet district in the light of the recent exploration’, Ancient India, (1956), pp. 22-32.
    6 V. Rangacharya, Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. i (Madras, 1919), p. 411.
    7 E. Hultzsch, South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (Madras, 1890), p. 152.
    8 K. V. Raman, The Early History of the Madras Region (Madras,1957), p. 184.
    9 E. Hultzsch, South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. 3, Part I (Madras, 1899), p. 53.
    10 Annual Report of Epigraphy (1932-33), p. 75.

    Related articles

  • Stone Age India Information, Sites, Photos

    Sometime back I saw a post in Tumblr about Hinduism ‘This Shit has happened before’ ridiculing Indian Philosophy and History.

    If there is Shit and it had happened there is nothing wrong in stating the facts, even if it is shit.

    Much before the Western Civilisation was even thought of India, under the Name of Bharat was in Existence as a highly developed Culture.

    I am attempting to present some facts and sites for those who are curious and especially for those who have been brain washed into believing  that it was the West that gave India its Technology and civilised behaviour(?)

    For more,please read posts under India,Hinduism,Indian Philosophy and Astrophysics.

    India.
    India.

    The Stone Age the Stone Age in India begins with the Paleolithic (early Stone Age) and terminates after the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age). The Paleolithic dates back to the geological era of Middle Pleistocene. Paleolithic sites abound in Peninsular India, and are found more prominently at Pallavaram in Tamil Nadu, Hunsgi in Karnataka, Kuliana in Orissa, Didwana in Rajasthan, and Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh.

    Stone Age in India began with Early Stone Age (called Paleolithic) and ended up with the Middle Stone Age (called Mesolithic). Remains of the Homo erectus in the Narmada Valley in Central India show the presence of human life in India since middle Pleistocene, which is around 200,000 to 500,000 years ago.

    The Mesolithic period in Indian subcontinent started around 30,000 years ago, covering a time span of 25,000 years. Bhimbetka Petroglyphs (10 cupules and a single groove) is the oldest (c. 29,000 BCE) known Stone Age art that belongs to first permanent settlement of human being. It is found in Madhya Pradesh, Central India (quartzite Auditorium rock shelter at Bhimbetka). Traces of Neolithic period have been found in Gulf of Khambat in India. Late Neolithic culture was flourished in Indus Valley region from 6000 to 2000 BCE and in southern India from 2800 to 1200 BCE.

    India in the Stone Age .Map.
    Map of Stone Age India.

    Recent genetic research of people across the globe suggests that roughly 45,000 to 20,000 years ago, one of the most dramatic population booms after humanity dispersed from Africa occurred in southern Asia, leading to “the highest population densities in the world in prehistory,” explains Michael Petraglia, an archaeologist at the University of Oxford in England.

    BETTER BLADES: Primitive stone axes, found at the Jwalapuram site in India [top row], dominate until about 38,000 years ago, when the blades became smaller and more sophisticated [bottom row]. Each segment in the scale bar at the bottom represents one centimeter. Image: Kurnool District Archaeological Project.

    After studying mitochondrial data from people in India and neighboring regions, Petraglia and archaeologist Ravi Korisettar of Karnatak University in Dharwad, India, and their collaborators refined the timing of this population boom to between 35,000 and 28,000 years ago. “Why this population expansion happened is a bit of a mystery,” Petraglia says.

    To investigate both the potential causes and effects of this population boom, Petraglia and his colleagues scoured existing archaeological evidence in south Asia. They found that whereas 153 sites of human occupation were found dating back to the middle Paleolithic, or roughly 300,000 years ago, past studies had uncovered some 400 sites dating back to the late Paleolithic, or about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. The researchers suggest the greater number of late Paleolithic sites support the genetic suggestions of a population boom.

    After delving into a site at Jwalapuram in southern India, which has preserved artifacts spanning the past 78,000 years, the scientists also discovered signs of technological innovation at roughly the same time as the population boom. Until 38,000 years ago, blades made of stone flakes were squat or relatively large. But afterward a new kind of blade came to the forefront—small, elongated “microliths” just four centimeters in length or less, with triangular, crescent or trapezoidal shapes. Similar findings were seen during the population boom at the Patne site on the west coast of India and at the Fa Hien Cave site in Sri Lanka.(scientific american)

    Palaeolithic Age.

    Palaeolithic India.
    Local workers sift through Paleolithic deposits at the Billa Surgam Caves of Andhra Pradesh, first excavated in the 19th century. Now, as then, aggressive bees occasionally threaten the excavation. The caves were once thought to hold Upper Paleolithic deposits–a conclusion that an international team of archaeologists is questioning. (Samir S. Patel)

    The great alchemy of prehistoric archaeology is the way it conjures our story–of modern humans, that is–from bits of stone and bone. But the tale of our evolution and migration to every corner of the planet is filled with gaps and guesswork. Scholars have been trying for decades to make sense of it. Much of their focus for the Middle and Upper Paleolithic eras, from roughly 250,000 to 30,000 years ago, has been on Africa, Europe, and the Levant (eastern Mediterranean). University of Oxford archaeologist Mike Petraglia sees an injustice there, which he and a diverse team of researchers from three continents are working to rectify. Specifically, they believe that India deserves a central place in our understanding of the Paleolithic. Their evidence suggests that modern humans arrived there rather early and thrived under some unusually grim conditions.

    The Mesolithic sites far outnumber the Paleolithic ones, and are located all over the country. Synonymous with the advanced hunting, fishing, and food-gathering economy, Mesolithic usually corresponds to the immediate post-Pleistocene or early Holocene (about 10,000 years ago) period. The beginning of the disposal of dead, and the formation of band level society characterized this period. The early rock paintings depicting hunting and ritual scenes are the period’s most remarkable legacies.

    Sources:

    http://www.indiasite.com/archaeology/

    http://archive.archaeology.org/1001/abstracts/stone_age_india.html

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