Una punta di freccia nella vertebra

Iron Age warrior lived with arrowhead in spine 

ArchaeoHeritage, Archaeology, Asia, Breakingnews, Central Asia, Forensics, Kazakhstan 


 A horrific spinal injury caused by a bronze arrowhead didn't immediately kill an Iron Age warrior, who survived long enough for his bone to heal around the metal point, a new study of his burial in central Kazakhstan finds. 

The two-inch long arrowhead was lodged in one of the vertebrae of the early Iron Age  warrior, as shown in the x-ray images above [Credit: S. Tur et al.,  International Journal of Osteoarchaeology] 

"This found individual was extremely lucky to survive," said study researcher Svetlana Svyatko, a research fellow in the school of geography, archaeology and paleoecology at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. 

"It's hard to get a vertebral wound without damaging the main blood vessels, which would have resulted in an immediate death." 

The male warrior was likely between 25 and 45 years old, and stood 5 foot 7 inches (174 centimeters) in height, which was tall considering that his people stood an average of 5 foot 4 inches (165 cm) in height, the researchers said. 

They found his grave, an elaborate burial mound called a "kurgan," after getting a tip from local people who live in the area. The researchers have studied the area in central Kazakhstan for more than 20 years. 
Their work has shed light on the area's culture and the emergence of the powerful Scythians (also known as the Saka), a population of fierce nomads who lived on the central Eurasian steppes from about the eighth century B.C. to about the second century A.D., said study researcher Arman Beisenov, the head of prehistoric archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology in Kazakhstan. 

The CT images above show the cavity left in the bone by the arrow  and the healing and hardening of the bone tissue around it, as  shown by the white arrows on the left [Credit: S. Tur et al.,  International Journal of Osteoarchaeology] 

During an excavation of a famous Saka cemetery in 2009 (a dig that yielded 200 jewellery pieces and more than 30,000 smaller ornaments, such as beads), locals told the researchers about a nearby kurgan that had been shamefully neglected and heavily devastated, Beisenov said. "What local people often want is attention and respect to their history and customs, which is the foundation of their present life and the key to the future," he told Live Science.
 "Although the schedule of our excavations was extremely tight and prohibitive for any extension, we anyway decided to follow the tip and take a look at the remains of the kurgan." 
The kurgan was so magnificent that the researchers opened a new investigation, excavating the kurgan in 2010 and 2011. It was likely no more than 6.5 feet (2 meters) high and about 74 feet (22.5 m) in diameter when built, Beisenov said. 
However, evidence suggests that robbers plundered the site in ancient times, and that local people reused much of its soil and stones for housing in the 1960s and 1970s, he said. 

The researchers used CT scans to reconstruct how the arrowhead looks and  found it appears to have been made with a pure form of copper and tin. They say  it appears to have been a military grade arrow rather than one used for hunting   [Credit: S. Tur et al., International Journal of Osteoarchaeology] 

The grandiose grave suggests the individual belonged to the early Saka nomadic aristocracy, the researchers said. But the plundered kurgan held only a few scattered bones, including ribs, fibulae (lower-leg bones) and a vertebra. 
Radiocarbon dating suggests the individual lived sometime between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C., during the early Iron Age, according to the study. 
A close look at the man's bones revealed a bronze arrowhead — made of copper, tin, and traces of lead and iron — lodged in one of his vertebras. 

The researchers also found a rib with a healed fracture, but it's unclear whether the man received these injuries at the same time as the arrow wound, the researchers said. 
It's also unclear how long he survived following his injuries, they said. 
Computed tomography (CT) scans showed that the arrowhead, measuring 2.2 inches (5.6 cm) long, caused more than just a flesh wound. 
In fact, it "teaches us is the power of the human body to heal," said Aleksey Shitvov, a research team assistant at Queen's University Belfast who works with the group, but wasn't among the study's authors. 
The scientists also looked at the chemical composition of the man's bones, and found he likely ate more millet (a type of grain) than did many of his Saka peers, Svyatko said. "We can only speculate now what was the status of millet as a food for this society," Svyatko told Live Science. "Perhaps it was specifically accessible to high-ranked people or military elite, though this needs further investigation." 
The study was published online June 22 in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 

Author: Laura Geggel | Source: LiveScience [June 29, 2015]

Riscrivere la Storia con l'acqua.

Scrivo questo post, perché esso offre parecchi spunti per pensare. 

Non solo in Italia accadono certe strane cose.  Anche all'estero curiosi 'colpi di coda' possono fare arruffare le penne di vari studiosi... Di solito, sono piuttosto dubbioso e scettico di fronte a tutti coloro che annunciano di 'volere riscrivere la storia'. 
Troppo spesso, infatti, tale affermazione è fatta da imbonitori sulla pubblica piazza, tutti intenti a vendere - per rendiconto personale - il proprio ultimo ritrovato dolce-amaro a base di zucchero ed erba fandonia...
Non escludo in assoluto che la storia, così come è stata descritta, possa essere qua e là corretta in alcuni dettagli mal compresi fino ad oggi. Ma la totale riscrittura di qualche capitolo è comunque una operazione ponderosa (difficile vi siano state sviste di quella entità) e darne l'annuncio sensazionalistico è certamente una guasconata da ciarlatano, più che il comportamento corretto e prudente dello scienziato.

Si sa - ormai è un  concetto acquisito - che la storia dell'evoluzione delle specie è stata influenzata principalmente dal clima e quindi dalla geografia, dall'orografia, dalla geologia del mondo fisico circostante (anche se, certamente sì, il discorso è di quelli complessi, da non sintetizzare in una sola frase). 
Non dovrebbe destare sorpresa - quindi - che si scopra un altro, ennesimo esempio di questo principio generale accettato ormai ovunque. 
In questo caso, la cosa riguarda la Civiltà di Harappa, anche nota come Civiltà della Valle dell'Indo, o di Mohenjo-Daro.

La Civiltà di Harappa è poco nota e le recenti acquisizioni (di cui si dà l'annuncio sensazionale, da parte del Deccan College e della Università di stato di Seoul) ne stanno spostando indietro nel tempo le origini di circa un migliaio di anni, rispetto a quanto si pensasse prima. 

Inoltre, se ne definirebbe ormai un'origine certamente più orientale (nel bacino di Gagghar-Hakra, in cui pare scorresse l'antico fiume Saraswati: una specie di 'doppione', un po' più orientale, del fiume Indo) ed un solo successivo spostamento verso occidente.  
Sembrerebbe - in base ai nuovi studi - che un sito della civiltà di Harappa (Rakhighari, di cui prima si ritenevano esistenti la fase antica, l'intermedia e la tarda) sia scomparso in concomitanza con l'avvenuto prosciugamento per cause naturali di un fiume che ad esso permetteva la vita: il fiume Saraswati... Pertanto il sito sarebbe 'morto' nel 2.000 a.C. per 
via della siccità e non avrebbe potuto dunque sviluppare la fase tardiva... I ritrovamenti nel sito sarebbero così numerosi da superare ormai quelli della zona di Mohenjo-Daro, tanto da richiedere implicitamente un cambiamento anche di nome della cultura dell'epoca a sfavore della provicia pachistana del Sind di Mohenjo-Daro..

----------------

Alcuni, seppure niente affatto stupiti, non sono affatto d'accordo (anonimi professori di Dehli: questo forse ricorda qualche cosa, o qualcuno in particolare?) con quanto ipotizzato, annunciato, sostenuto sopra. 
Ritengono sia per lo meno sospetto il fatto che tale ipotesi 'storica' coincida con un cambio di potere ed ideologia politica in India (a cui tale teoria è gradita). 

Ritengono inoltre che tale problema non debba affatto essere risolto negli ambienti accademici - cui esso non compete - bensì guardando alle cose con occhi liberi da quello che definiscono un "prisma politicoideologico" deformante (fa pensare alle definizioni sperimentate più volte anche in queste pagine, oppure no?).

Le accuse di ciarlataneria da parte accademica non sono riportate dall'articolo (ma sembrano essere chiarite dall'espressione 'prisma politico-ideologico'), mentre le accuse da parte dei nuovi ricercatori sono chiare (anche se non sembrano conoscere il vocabolo 'negazionista'): "esisteranno sempre storici accademici che negheranno sempre l'esistenza deo Saraswati, per poter meglio accreditare le proprie convenienti teorie".

Che il fatto sia di grande interesse pubblico (e politico!) è dimostrato dal numero di dichiarazioni pubbliche che vari esponenti della politica e della cultura indiani si sono sentiti in dovere di fare, nel tempo (solo brevemente riassunti nella figura, più sotto). 

C'è persino almeno un libro (citato nell'articolo) in questo pasticcio. Sembrerebbe essere di una persona imparziale, che non può essere immischiato in sogni di grandeur identitaria Indiana inesistente, in quanto è francese: Michel Danino. Il libro s'intitola: "Il fiume scomparso, sulle tracce del Saraswati" e non è certamente una pubblicazione gratuita, ma certamente è appassionante lettura gratificante per moltissimi cultori locali.

I volenterosi 'riscrittori della storia' si lamentano perché gli archeologi accademici non s'affrettano ad andare a condurre scavi laddove essi chiedono a gran voce di cercare le prove delle loro teorie. Come se la questione politico identitaria avesse la priorità sulle già soverchianti e numerose priorità sociali dell'India. 
Comunque si dichiarano già entusiasti fin d'ora di quello che potranno offrire gli studi sull'aDNA (sono stati - dichiarano - attentissimi a non inquinare il materiale raccolto): potranno sapere di che colore erano capelli e pelle degli antichi Ariani, quali gusti  alimentari avessero, quale fosse il loro aspetto generale. E tutto sarà risolto. 
Proprio come avviene anche qui da noi, nel nostro splendido SardHindustan.



Excavations show that 

Harappan site died as Saraswati river dried 




 The Indus Valley civilisation, popularly known as Harappan civilisation, has been a puzzle for several decades now. 
But with the ongoing excavation in Rakhigarhi, Haryana, jointly conducted by archaeologists of Deccan College, Pune, and Haryana Department of Archaeology, along with forensic scientists from Seoul National University, South Korea, history is on the verge of being rewritten. 

Archaeological Survey of India, in collaboration with Deccan College of Pune  and scientists from Korea's Seoul National University, are excavating  a site in Rakhigarhi of Haryana [Credit: ASI]

 "After Rakhigarhi, we can say that the Harappan civilisation was at least 1,000 years older than earlier thought. 
And contrary to our longheld, conventional understanding, it first emerged in the east and then moved west, originating as it did in the heart of the Ghaggar-Hakra basin, regarded by many as the place where the Saraswati once flowed," says Vasant Shinde, vice-chancellor of Deccan College who heads the team of archeologists - the largest Harappan site overtaking Mohenjodaro in Pakistan's Sind province. 
What's going to ruffle quite a few feathers, is Harappa's supposed Saraswati connection, 
especially the way the drying up of one probably led to the decline of the other.

Rewriting history Shinde says that prior to his excavation it was believed that Rakhigarhi had all the three phases of the Harappan culture - 'Early', 'Mature' and 'Late'. 
"Our work proves that this place doesn't have the Late Harappan phase. It collapsed around 2000 BC," says he, adding: "I believe Rakhigarhi's sudden demise can be explained with the drying up of the Saraswati in 2000 BC." 

Shinde's claim is supported by Amarendra Nath, former ASI's archaeology director who had carried out excavation in Rakhigarhi between 1997 and 2000. 
"The ASI has so far discovered over 2,000 Harappan sites spread over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. 
Of these, about 1,400 can be located in the Saraswati belt alone, while the Indus belt doesn't have more than 300-400 sites," he informs, adding: "We, in the ASI, had reached this conclusion long back. It's just that this information is coming out now."

But not everyone is impressed.

A Delhi University professor, wishing to remain anonymous, thinks this entire saga can only be analysed through the politicoideological prism, rather than the academic. 

"For me, Saraswati is a mythical river and nothing more. It's not a mere coincidence that all these things are coming up soon after the BJP came to power. It's an attempt to rewrite the history, the Aryan history," says he. 
Shinde seems circumspect on the Aryan migration issue. 
"It's for historians to decide. But as an archeologist, I can say with confidence that for at least 7,000 years, there has been no migration into this region. You go to the village today, and you will feel you are walking through the same, old Harappan civilisation thriving 5,000 years ago. The style of pottery is similar. So are the food habits," says he. 

Nath is more direct. "There will always be a set of historians who will continue to deny the existence of the Saraswati - to meet their ideological and personal requirements. They can afford to do that as history can be interpretational. (But) Not archaeology, which is based on solid evidences and facts. And evidences for long have been supporting the existence of the Saraswati in the region. Satellite imageries have proved beyond doubt the existence of a 'mighty' river drying up 4,000 years ago," Nath says. 

Michel Danino, author of The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati, reminds of the dilemma . "If we accept the Vedic hymns' description of a river flowing from the mountain to the sea and located between the Yamuna and Sutlej, the Ghaggar remains the sole candidate. But as we now know, this description can only apply to the third millennium BCE or earlier, an epoch that does not fit with the conventional scenario of a second millennium Aryan migration into India," says the French author. 
Nath has a solution to bridge this 'historical' divide. 
"Why don't the historians objecting to our claims set up their own body of archeologists and excavate these sites? Facts don't change with the change of experts. Sadly, they won't come up with such initiatives," says he. 
Neelesh Jadhao, co-director of the excavation , is excited that Korean forensic experts would conduct DNA tests on the excavated skeletons. 
"This time we have ensured skeletons don't get contaminated. 
We would know for the first time what the Harappans looked like, what they ate, what was the colour of their skin or hair, etc. 
It will add a new perspective to the Harappan study," says he. 

Source: India Today [May 22, 2015] 

Antiche scritture

Sono stati scoperti - dagli archeologi cinesi - 34 nuovi caratteri di scrittura e glifi, incisi su cosiddette 'ossa oracolari', che molto aggiungono alle conoscenze sulla più antica scrittura mondiale nota ad oggi (ove si escluda quella protosarda).
Si sa che si tratta dei più antichi segni di scrittura usata in modo continuativo, incisi su gusci di tartaruga e su ossa di animali. I primi furono trovati circa 110 anni fa.
Datano al 1600 - 1046 a.C. (Dinastia Shang).
I nuovi caratteri sono stati trovati in un museo - il Museo Lyushun - in  un gruppo di 1800 pezzi facenti parte di un antica raccolta. 
Ad oggi, sono stati riconosciuti circa 4.000 segni grafici differenti - da un 
totale di circa 130.000 reperti - ma solamente circa la metà è stata decifrata.

Alcuni ricercatori hanno notato che  certi segni sono esattamente uguali ai 'rovesciati' rinvenuti nelle 'domos de janas' sarde ed al 'segno di Tanit' osservato in molti luoghi in Sardegna: si sta pertanto lavorando sull'ipotesi che colonizzatori Shardana provenienti dall'Anglona siano stati nella   regione ed abbiano ivi dato inizio alla Dinastia Shang (Shardana+Anglona).


New oracle bone characters discovered in Liaoning 



Chinese archaeologists have discovered 34 new characters and glyphs from oracle bones housed in a museum in Lyushun, a city in northeast China's Liaoning province.

 Oracle bone characters [Credit: Xinhua]

 Song Zhenhao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who is leading a team that has been researching the inscriptions since 2011, said on Thursday that the new findings are another breakthrough since such inscriptions were discovered over 110 years ago. 

Inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones represent the original characters of the Chinese written language. 

They date back to the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC). 

The new characters and glyphs, which involve names of nations, places, persons and sacrificial rituals, were found among a 1,800-piece collection of bone inscription relics in the Lyushun Museum. 

Song said the team took rubbings from the text images of the 1,800 pieces and photographed them, which led to the characters being identified. 

To date, archaeologists around the world have identified 4,000 bone inscription characters from studying 130,000 relics, but only half of the characters have been deciphered, he added. 

Chinese characters constitute the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world.

The graphic logograms of the characters convey both meaning and pronunciation. 

Oracle bone inscriptions were first discovered in 1899 by Beijing academic and antiquarian Wang Yirong, although farmers had been unearthing the relics in Anyang, Henan Province, for many years. 

Wang noticed symbols that looked like writing on animal bones and tortoise shells. 

Source: Xinhua [October 16, 2014]

SICURAMENTE NURAGICO

5,000 year old Harappan stepwell found in Kutch 





A 5,000-year-old stepwell has been found in one of the largest Harappan cities, Dholavira, in Kutch, which is three times bigger than the Great Bath at Mohenjo Daro. 

The stepwell that was found during the excavation by ASI  in Dholavira, Kutch [Credit: Times of India]

 Located in the eastern reservoir of Dholavira by experts from the Archaeological Survey of India working with IIT-Gandhinagar, the site represents the largest, grandest, and the best furnished ancient reservoir discovered so far in the country. 
It's rectangular and 73.4m long, 29.3m wide, and 10m deep. 
Another site, the ornate Rani ki Vav in Patan, called the queen of stepwells, is already on Unesco list.
 "This is almost three times bigger than the Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro that's 12m in length, 7m in width, and 2.4m in depth," said V N Prabhakar, visiting faculty at IIT and superintending archaeologist, ASI. "We will conduct spot analysis in December as various surveys have indicated other reservoirs and stepwells may be buried in Dholavira," Prabhakar told TOI.
 "We also suspect a huge lake and an ancient shoreline are buried in the archaeological site that's one of the five largest Harappan sites and the most prominent archaeological site in India belonging to the Indus Valley civilization," he added. 
Experts will investigate the advanced hydraulic engineering used by Harappans for building the stepwell through 3D laser scanner, remote sensing technology and ground-penetrating radar system. 
"We will study how water flowed into the well and what was the idea behind water conservation," said Prabhakar. 
The IIT Gandhinagar team and ASI officials will also excavate various tanks, stoneware, finely furnished brick blocks, sanitation chambers and semi-precious stones hidden at the site. 
Precious stones like carnelian were in great demand during the Harappan era. 
Gujarat was the hub of bead and craft manufacturing industries. 
"Agate carnelian beads were also coveted," Prabhakar said. Siddharth Rai and V Vinod of IIT-Gn are working on characterization of internal structures of various forms of pottery unearthed from the site to identify the diet followed by Harappans. 
"Through pottery typology, we'll find out whether different communities lived in Dholavira," Rai said. 
The team will also analyze precious copper and bronze artefacts. 


Author: Ankur Tewari | Source: The Times of India [October 08, 2014]
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Alieni in India

Una volta si chiamavano 'extraterrestri'. Poi, dopo un fugace e romantico  interludio con 'visitors' sono stabilmente diventati 'alieni', seguendo i medesimi capricci della moda linguistica che hanno condotto l'inondazione a diventare di volta in volta una tracimazone e poi un'esondazione, invece che una semplice alluvione.
A differenza di quest' ultima - purtroppo vera e tangibile - gli "alieni" naturalmente non esistono, se non nella vivace fantasia di alcuni.


10,000-year-old rock paintings said to depict 'aliens 

and UFOs' found in Chhattisgarh 



  Prehistoric paintings in a cave in India may indicate that alien travelers visited the site eons ago, an archaeologist says. The paintings depict what appear as humanoids with featureless faces and a tripod object that could be a vehicle. 

Some of the ancient rock paintings carved on caves at 

Charama in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district 

[Credit: Times of India/Amit Bhardwaj] 

The peculiar find was discovered in a cave system under the Charama region in Kanker district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Preliminary dating says the pictures are at least 10,000 years old, reports the Times of India. 

Archaeologist JR Bhagat believes that the paintings can serve as evidence of the paleocontact hypothesis, which says that in prehistoric times Earth was visited by members of an advanced alien civilization. 
"The findings suggest that humans in prehistoric times may have seen or imagined beings from other planets which still create curiosity among people and researchers. Extensive research is needed for further findings. 
Chhattisgarh presently doesn't have any such expert who could give clarity on the subject," Bhagat told the newspaper. 
The caves come under village Chandeli and Gotitola. Local residents have an ancient tale of "rohela people" – or the small ones – who used to come from the sky and took away several villagers, never to return.  "The paintings are done in natural colors that have hardly faded despite the years. 
The strangely carved figures are seen holding weapon-like objects and do not have clear features. Specially, the nose and mouth are missing,” the scientist said. 
“In a few pictures, they are even shown wearing space suits. 
We can't refute possibility of imagination by prehistoric men, but humans usually fancy such things," he added. Bhagat said the Chhattisgarh State Department of Archaeology and Culture plans to get in touch with the Indian national space agency and NASA as well as fellow archaeologists for consultations on the discovery. 

Source: RT [July 17, 2014]

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L'invenzione dei pantaloni

Si tratta di un'invenzione di almeno 3.200 anni fa, stando ai reperti dell'archeologia cinese occidentale. Probabilmente è antica quanto lo è l'arte di cavalcare (circa 4.000 anni fa). 
In questo caso, si tratta di pantaloni in lana lavorata al telaio, ricavati da tre pezzi, senza tagli. Sono decorati e muniti di spacchi laterali e stringhe per essere allacciati. 
I proprietari avevano all'incirca 40 anni ed erano pastori e guerrieri, come si deduce dal materiale che li accompagna: tra le molte altre cose, un bracciale da arciere, un'ascia da battaglia, un arco ed un contenitore per proteggerlo.
Prima di allora, l'uomo non portava i pantaloni, né in Europa, né in Asia: lo stesso Otzi portava una copertura fatta di tre pezzi distinti, che avevano l'aspetto di pantaloni senza esserlo davvero. 
Insomma: fu allora che l'uomo iniziò a portare i pantaloni. 
Ma non illudiamoci: probabilmente era anche allora la donna ad essere saldamente al comando...


Riders from the Eurasian Steppes invented trousers 

3,200 years ago .



  Two men whose remains were recently excavated from tombs in western China put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us. 

But these nomadic herders did so between 3,300 and 3,000 years ago, making their trousers the oldest known examples of this innovative apparel, a new study finds. 

Yanghai, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, around 1100 BC, front view  of a wool pants from the grave M21 [Credit: (c) M. Wagner,  Deutsches Archäologisches Institut] 

With straight-fitting legs and a wide crotch, the ancient wool trousers resemble modern riding pants, says a team led by archaeologists Ulrike Beck and Mayke Wagner of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. 
The discoveries, uncovered in the Yanghai graveyard in China’s Tarim Basin, support previous work suggesting that nomadic herders in Central Asia invented pants to provide bodily protection and freedom of movement for horseback journeys and mounted warfare, the scientists report May 22 in Quaternary International. 

“This new paper definitely supports the idea that trousers were invented for horse riding by mobile pastoralists, and that trousers were brought to the Tarim Basin by horse-riding peoples,” remarks linguist and China authority Victor Mair of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Previously, Europeans and Asians wore gowns, robes, tunics, togas or — as observed on the 5,300-year-old body of Ötzi the Iceman — a three-piece combination of loincloth and individual leggings. 

Urumqi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region Institute of Archaeology, documentation  of a 1800-year-old silk dress from Niya [Credit: (c) Joy Zhou,  Deutsches Archäologisches Institut] 

A dry climate and hot summers helped preserve human corpses, clothing and other organic material in the Tarim Basin. 
More than 500 tombs have been excavated in a graveyard there since the early 1970s. Earlier research on mummies from several Tarim Basin sites, led by Mair, identified a 2,600-year-old individual known as Cherchen Man who wore burgundy trousers probably made of wool. 
Trousers of Scythian nomads from West Asia date to roughly 2,500 years ago. Mair suspects that horse riding began about 3,400 years ago and trouser-making came shortly thereafter in wetter regions to the north and west of the Tarim Basin. 
Ancient trousers from those areas are not likely to have been preserved, Mair says. 

Leather boots from Hami before and after restoration [Credit: (c) Joy Zhou,  Deutsches Archäologisches Institut] 

Horse riding’s origins are uncertain and could date to at least 4,000 years ago, comments archaeologist Margarita Gleba of University College London. 
If so, she says, “I would not be surprised if trousers appeared at least that far back.” 
The two trouser-wearing men entombed at Yanghai were roughly 40 years old and had probably been warriors as well as herders, the investigators say. 
One man was buried with a decorated leather bridle, a wooden horse bit, a battle-ax and a leather bracer for arm protection. 
Among objects placed with the other body were a whip, a decorated horse tail, a bow sheath and a bow. 
Beck and Wagner’s group obtained radiocarbon ages of fibers from both men’s trousers, and of three other items in one of the tombs. 
Each pair of trousers was sewn together from three pieces of brown-colored wool cloth, one piece for each leg and an insert for the crotch. 
The tailoring involved no cutting: Pant sections were shaped on a loom in the final size. Finished pants included side slits, strings for fastening at the waist and woven designs on the legs. 
Beck and Wagner’s team calls the ancient invention of trousers “a ground-breaking achievement in the history of cloth making.” That’s not too shabby for herders who probably thought the Gap was just a place to ride their horses through. 


Author: Bruce Bower | Source: Science News [May 31, 2014]

Granaio di Harappa, ad Haryana

Example of mud bricks (not from this archaeological site) 

[Credit: Wiki]

Harappan granary found in Haryana 





A “beautifully made” granary, with walls of mud-bricks, which are still in a remarkably good condition, has been discovered in the just-concluded excavation at Rakhigarhi village, a Harappan civilisation site, in Haryana. 

The granary, built of mud bricks, at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi village in Haryana [Credit: Rakhigarhi Project/Deccan College, Pune] 

The granary has rectangular and squarish chambers. 
Its floor is made of ramped earth and plastered with mud. 
Teachers and students of the Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, Pune, and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, excavated at Rakhigarhi from January to April this year. 

Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor/Director, Deccan College, who was the Director of the excavation, said: “We excavated seven chambers in the granary. From the nature of the structure, it appears to be a big structure because it extends on all sides. We do not know whether it is a private or public granary. Considering that it extends on all sides, it could be a big public granary.
” 
He called it “a beautifully-made structure.” 
The excavating teams found several traces of lime and decomposed grass on the lower portion of the granary walls
. 
“This is a significant indication that it is a storehouse for storing grains because lime acts as insecticide, and grass prevents moisture from entering the grains. This is a strong proof for understanding the function of the structure,” explained Dr. Shinde, a specialist in the Harappan civilisation. 

A potsherd with a Harappan script unearthed in the excavation at the Harappan site  of Rakhi Garhi in Haryana [Credit: D.Krishnan]

 The discovery of two more mounds in Rakhigarhi in January this year led to Dr. Shinde arguing that it is the biggest Harappan civilisation site. There are about 2,000 Harappan sites in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. With the discovery of two more mounds, in addition to the seven already discovered, he estimated that the total area of Rakhigarhi was 350 hectares. It thus overtook Mohenjo-daro with about 300 hectares, in Pakistan, in laying claim to be the biggest Harappan site, he said. The Rakhigarhi site belongs to the mature Harappan phase, which lasted from 2600 BCE to 2000 BCE. The teams have also found artefacts, including a seal and potsherd, both inscribed with the Harappan script. In Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, granaries were found in citadels, where the ruling elite lived. So mound number four in Rakhigarhi, where the granary was found, could have been the settlement’s citadel, Dr. Shinde said. Rakhigarhi is situated in the confluence of Ghaggar and Chautang rivers and it was a fertile area. “So Rakhigarhi must have grown a lot of food grains. They could have been stored in the granary to pay for the artisans or other sections of society or to meet any crisis,” said Dr. Shinde. 

Author: T. S. Subramanian 

| Source: The Hindu [May 02, 2014]

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