Nice guy you got here Oxy. Mr DP Agrawal.
I like Mr Vishal Agrawal. They seem not to like each other.
Look at this wonderful paper for instance.
http://vishalagarwal.voiceofdharma.com/articles/indhistory/amt/index.htm
Coming back to Dwarka, I think I must give you a more rigorous treatment as regards archaeology.
By ADRINARYAN BADRINARYAN, chief geologist with the scientific team from
the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) responsible for the
underwater surveys in the Gulf of Cambay.
Link is provided at the end.
It was generally believed that a well organized civilization could not
have existed prior to 5500 BP. Many were reluctant to accept that the
flood myths mentioned in many ancient religious writings held some
grains of truth. The recent discovery made in the Gulf of Cambay, India
shocked many, and made some sit up and watch with interest. It clearly
established the existence of an ancient civilization that was submerged
in the sea. The methodologies adopted to study this find, were novel and
different, wherein advanced marine technologies and the most modern
scientific applications of various disciplines were put to use. The
traditional but conservative archaeologists found it hard to accept that
a major discovery could have been made by hitherto unapplied, unheard
of techniques. Some observed and understood the importance of the
discovery and came out in open support. Initially when the sidescan
sonar images of underwater structures were shown, some called it a magic
of computer software. When hundreds of artifacts were collected and
shown, they opined that the ancient river could have transported it!
Again detailed scientific studies were undertaken to prove that the
artifacts are insitu.
The criticism has driven us to adopt the most
modern technologies and scientific methodologies available in the world,
which have completely substantiated our findings, and the results have
been published as research papers in reputed international journals.
Now several authors are quoting the Gulf of Cambay work as a standard
and a bench mark methodology for modern marine archaeological surveys
and investigations. The discovery has clearly established the
possibility of ancient civilizations that were submerged due to flooding
by rising sea waters after the last ice age.
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), a Govt. of India
undertaking, has been carrying out several multi-disciplinary marine
surveys along the Indian coastal areas for various purposes. During the
course of a few geological surveys in Gujarat (Fig.1) in the Gulf of
Cambay, (Fig.2), NIOT came across palaeo river channels in the sea.
These were seen to be the extension of the present day major rivers of
the area.
In a similar marine survey, in a Coastal Research
Ship during 1999-2000 when the author was the Chief Scientist, several
unusual frames of Side Scan Sonar images were encountered. These had
square and rectangular features in an arranged geometric fashion, which
are not expected, in the marine domain. Such features are unlikely to be
due to natural marine geological processes. This made the author
suspect that human workmanship must have been involved here. The surveys
were followed up by the author in the following years and a couple of
palaeo channels of old rivers were discovered (Fig. 3 &4) in the
middle of the Cambay area under 20-40m water depths, at a distance of
about 20 kms from the present day coast.
In a similar marine survey, in a Coastal Research Ship during 1999-2000
when the author was the Chief Scientist, several unusual frames of Side
Scan Sonar images were encountered. These had square and rectangular
features in an arranged geometric fashion, which are not expected, in
the marine domain. Such features are unlikely to be due to natural
marine geological processes. This made the author suspect that human
workmanship must have been involved here. The surveys were followed up
by the author in the following years and a couple of palaeo channels of
old rivers were discovered (Fig. 3 &4) in the middle of the Cambay
area under 20-40m water depths, at a distance of about 20 kms from the
present day coast.
The Gulf of Cambay forms a funnel shaped entrant of the Arabian Sea,
sandwiched between the mainland Gujarat and Saurashtra Penninsula in the
west. This gulf is 135 km long in a N-S direction and is more than
100km at its widest part. It is one of the roughest and most complicated
seas in the world and covers an area of about 3000 sq.km. Several major
rivers including the Narmada, Tapi, Sabarmathi, Mahi, Chathranji, etc.
drain into it. It has a macro tidal range of 12m and the currents are up
to 8 knots. The sea is often subjected to severe winds resulting in
very rough conditions. These types of turbulence churn the seabed and
produce enormous quantities of silt, making the seawater brownish and
turbid, with the result that is that it is impervious to light rays. The
combined effect of these conditions makes this part of the country
unfit for diving and underwater operations and operating underwater
videography is impossible. Hence, only instruments operated on the
principle of sound, like sonar equipments and magnetic equipments can
work here. This includes the Side Scan Sonar, Sub-bottom Profiler, and
Multibeam ecosounder, apart from marine magnetometer.
The hard areas reflect more energy and are seen as dark shades,
whereas softer areas do not reflect energy as well and are represented
by lighter shades. This “Backscatter” is absent behind objects or
features that rise above the seafloor, and are represented as white
shadows in the sonar image. The dimensions of shadows are used to infer
the size of the objects. The system used was a digital one, which
provides high-resolution sonar images of the seafloor through advanced
digital technology in 100 and 400 kHz frequency. The unit is connected
to a Differencial Global Positioning System (DGPS) for the accurate
position of the survey vessel and in turn that of the objects.
In these surveys it was the SideScan Sonar that
gave excellent results supported by other systems. Initially two major
palaeo channels of rivers were recognized. One was over a length of
9.2km and another over 9.0km. When these were sampled, it was seen that
just below a thin marine sediment cover of few centimeters, river
alluvium and pebbles typical of terrestrial river sediments, below which
typical river conglomerates were observed at depth. Such evidence
clearly indicated that the area presently under the sea was originally
dry land over which rivers were flowing. Due to different factors they
became submerged and now lie under water. The sonar images showed
regular geometric patterns in one palaeo channel over a length of 9km in
the sea about 20km west of Hazira coastal area. Associated with this on
either side of the palaeo channel, basement like features in a grid
pattern were observed at a water depth of 20-40m. These resemble an
urban habitation site where, the basement now at the bottom of the sea,
pit like structures are seen. Another palaeo channel over 9.2km was
detected off the Suvali coastal area. Here also similar features were
observed.
In general the basement like features were located in a linear
east-west direction on either side of the palaeo channel. It is seen
that these features are 5x4m size on the eastern side whereas the
westernmost part had dimensions of 16 x 15m. The habitation sites are
all seen to be laid in a strict grid like pattern (Fig.5) indicating a
good sense of town planning by the ancients.
There were also evidences of water conducting systems like canals,
etc. All these point to a properly planned township, with a high level
of knowledge and practice by the ancients. The area in general is
covered by sand waves that occur above the seabed. Often these cover the
dwelling but even then the shapes could be made out (Fig.6). Apart from
the regular sites of habitation, the Side Scan Sonar picked up images
of several big structures. Some of these structures are as follows:
There is a rectangular (41m x25m) shaped
depression, wherein one can see steps gradually going down to reach a
depth of about 7m (Fig.7). Surrounding this depression there is a wall
like projection on all sides. One could observe an inlet and outlet and
also a separate enclosure. This looks like a tank or bathing facility
now occurring below 40m of seawater. It occurs near the western
periphery of the town. It resembles the “Great Bath” that is found in
the ruins of “Mohenjodaro” and “Harappa”, where these structures also
occur on the western side of the township. There are two divisions in
the tank, which may represent separate enclosures for men and women or
for socially higher and lower categories of people. There are two
openings probably for an inlet and exit of water to keep the water in
the tank fresh and clean.
In Fig.8 one could observe a prominent and
well-made long linear basement of a major structure measuring 200m x
45m. It nestles on high ground and one can see steps on the right corner
approaching the structure. Inside the structure there is many 18m and
above square shaped room like features with fortifications surrounding
it. This type of huge structure resembles the “Citadel” found in
Mohenjodaro, Harrappa, and Dholavira where these again occur at the
western extremity on the high ground. Probably it is an administrative
building supervising the entire civic activities of the township or
could be a place of worship. Some pieces of fossilized human bones,
natural teeth and some fossilized animal bones were recovered during
sampling on the eastern side of the citadel
Sonar image in Fig.9 picked up a major dilapidated
structure measuring 190m x 85m with spaces separated by what looks like
collapsed walls. In front of it, on the bottom side there are several
basements of rectangular shaped 2.5 to 3.5m x 6m structures, resembling
minor dwellings. It could be an ancient granary for the township
probably with dwelling place nearby, for the workers. In the nearby
areas some fossilized food grains have been collected. In many of the
Harappan sites the granary is a regular feature.
A buried structural basement is depicted in Fig.11. The main
structure measures 40m x 19m with wall-like dark features rising to 2-3m
above the seabed. A series of step-like features are seen approaching
the structure from the right side. To one corner of the main structure
an 11m x 7m rectangular depression looking like a small tank or pond is
observed.
A sub-bottom profiler survey, instead of
reflecting sound waves from the seabed like side scan sonar, penetrate
the seabed. The waves travel beneath the seabed in different formations
in different speeds and the instrument collects the reflection data over
selected frequencies. It provides good depth information on geological
features apart from delineating any suspected buried anthropogenic
structures.
The sub-bottom profiler image in Fig.12 is below
the 200m x 45m Citadel like structure. The standout features were picked
up at regular intervals and appear to be the basement and foundations
of the structure. It is observed that the foundations have been dug up
to 5-6m in the soil over which broad column like features have been
constructed, probably to take the load off the huge structure above.
The sub-bottom profiler image in Fig.13 is below
the buried settlement of a 74 x 48m structure. Here also man made
foundations like columns can be clearly seen emerging from below the
seabed and occur as standout features. Here the foundations have been
dug up to 3-4 m deep in the soil. These types of planning and methods of
construction by the ancients clearly reveal that they had a very good
knowledge of civil and structural engineering, wherein broader and
deeper foundations were provided for bigger and heavier structures and
thinner and shallower foundations for comparatively smaller structures.
Likewise almost all the structures including the dwelling sites indicate
a good amount of planning and design, taking into consideration the
structural aspects.
Magnetic surveys were carried out by deploying a
high-resolution Marine Ceisium vapour Magnetometer. The survey was for
observing magnetic signatures occurring as anamolies of subsurface
magnetic bodies of the area. The instrument was capable of sensing upto
0.001 nT at 1 sample rate. The values here were corrected for diurnal
variation so as to remove the temporal variation in the earth’s magnetic
field. The corrected magnetic field value is a result of the marine
magnetic components: - regional geological features are very deep seated
in origin and have depth persistence whereas one should look for very
shallow and near seabed anaomolies that do not extend in depth. Several
shallow near surface anomalies were picked up ranging in depth from 1m
below surface to as much as 50m.
The deep seated anomalies are atleast
below 400m from the seabed surface. The near surface anomalies in
general are covered by top sediments and are likely to be archaeological
sites, which are to be examined and explored later. Due to these
surveys a vast area has now acquired importance for archaeological
purposes – including areas that were earlier not picked up by sidescan
images. As such these surveys enhance the area of archaeological
interest.
Obviously this was an extensive civilization, the remains and
ruins of which have since been covered by shifting shoals, sandwaves,
tectonism etc., which are very common features in the Gulf of Cambay.Even though a variety of objects and artifacts were collected in
settlements,
some persons expressed doubts whether these could have been
transported by paleochannel and may not be insitu. To clear such doubts
detailed geochemical analysis were carried out. Ten geological soil
samples and ten artifacts were chosen from the Gulf of Cambay area.
Since trace elements like Ti, Hf, Th, etc and Rare Earth Elements (REE)
are immobile they preserve their signature without alteration and hence
reflect primary petrogenic character. These 20 selected representative
samples were analysed using ICP-Mass spectrometer. The rare earth
element pattern normalized with shale is given in figure 14 & 15.
The results of the analysis clearly reveal that there is one to one
match between the archaeological material and Cambay bed sediments. This
is characterized by leaching of light rare earth elements and a
prominent Europeam anamoly .The ternary and Binary plots of both the
materials show clustering of all samples in one place indicating the
samples are of same host chemistry and are insitu i.e. that the
archaeological material are not transported but are made from locally
available material only.
Sampling: In order to substantiate the findings detailed sampling was
carried out. Since the sea condition was very rough and the water
turbid and brown, sampling was carried out in areas where side scan
images show excellent results. The samples were collected by utilizing a
grab sampler, dredger, gravity corer and vibro corer. Large numbers of
samples were carefully collected, systematically numbered and properly
preserved. The artifacts collected included a variety of pottery pieces,
Mesolithic stone tools, a few Paleolithic macro stone tools, beads made
of semiprecious stones, brick pieces, hearth material, wattle and daub
structure materials, corals, perfectly holed stones, fossilized human
remains and human teeth. Fig.16 has three potsherd pieces. These are
unfired and normally sun-dried, made of clay and of great antiquity. On
the other side of the figure a cross like object and some figurines are
seen. Fig.17 shows the shape of deer’s head and to the right a well
turned ornamental piece with a straight hole in the center. How the
ancients were able to make them in stone is still an enigma.
In Fig.18 there are four very important objects.
First, one can observe a fossilized jawbone (mandible) with a natural
tooth kept in front. Next to it is a part of the carbonized wooden log.
This was obtained from the top stratigraphic colomn at a depth about 30
to 40cm below the seabed and it was sent for dating. In the left corner
there are rolled objects and long linear beads which when strung
together forms a necklace. In the right hand bottom of the figure linear
beads made of stone are there with holes in the middle.
Gulf of Cambay Cradle of Ancient Civilization (cont.)
By Badrinaryan Badrinaryan
A series of microlithic tools were collected at
various locations. Generally microlithic tools are characteristic of the
Mesolithic period and are found between Paleolithic and Neolithic Stone
Age periods. The characteristic features of Mesolithic tools are that
unlike the earlier Paleolithic stone tools these are much smaller,
normally between 5cm to 1cm in length and are made of finely crafted
semi-precious stones. These include quartz, chert, jasper, flint,
chalcedony, agate, corundum, etc. Sampling collected about 248 such
tools. The tools included a baked blade with a serrated edge, point, and
point on flakes, lunate, scraper, cores with negative chipping and a
borer. The tools have both geometric and non-geometric forms.
The Mesolithic period of Western India revealed the
existence of their cultural phases, namely aceramic and ceramic. In
general the Mesolithic sites confirmed the existence of a ceramic phase
in its later part, containing other than potteries and microlithic
tools, materials like wattle and clay shreds for house construction,
flooring of the houses, etc. The Mesolithic sites are comparatively
larger. Here the hunting and gathering way of life was replaced by
organised food production. Holed stones which appeared in the late
paleolithic became prominent in the Mesolithic. These holed stones
appear to have been used as weights in digging sticks and as net sinkers
by the fishing folks. In general a sedentary form of living heralded
the beginning of other associated cultural artifacts like pottery,
living in well-built houses like wattle and clay, or of sun dried and
fired bricks.
Even though most of the artifacts are of Mesolithic period, there were
some Paleolithic tools that were much older. It shows that people have
been living in the Cambay area for quite some time. One example is the
bifacial scrapper, made of chert and a very characteristic upper
Paleolithic stone tool (Fig.36). Similar stone tools were also present
but many of them due to long submergence and rolling in the seabed
appear to have their edges smoothened out and the sharpness of the edges
is rather less.
A thorough examination of the macro and micro levels of soils in Gulf of
Cambay brought to light a wealth of plant material typical of the land
domain. Extensive studies are being carried out by a botany Professor
and the studies may initiate a new branch in Marine Archaeology that may
be called Marine Archaeobotony. So far prominent plant species
identified include palm, coconut, bamboo, areca plant, etc. Many of them
are fossilized. Some of the species identified and photographed are as
follows (Fig.35). The top left show fossilized food grains; in top right
one could observe the inner portion of a bamboo plant. In the bottom
left, plant fiber material could be clearly seen and at bottom right one
could see palm leaf with typical ridges. All these were recognized
under the microscope. The major wooden log a part of which is shown in
Fig.18, when taken out of the seabed was very fresh, dark, hard and
showing growth rings, etc. Within a couple of days of exposure to the
atmosphere the wooden log completely shrunk and developed cracks. It has
given important date for the area. This species has been tentatively
identified as belonging to hard wood like rosewood. All of these point
to well grown trees and foliage with a lot of good fresh water and
somewhat warm climate, at the time of their growth in the area.
DATING OF THE SAMPLESDating
of samples: Most of the structures that were discovered in the Gulf of
Cambay had many similarities to the Citadel, Great Bath and grid-iron
pattern habitation sites grannery, etc. of the Harappan civilization.
But many of the artifacts and typology were very different and
distinctive and with the presence of so many micro tools appeared to be
much older than the Harappan. In order to establish the credibility and
age of the civilization it was essential to date different objects and
artifacts to establish the period of the Cambay civilization. There are
many types of dating of archaeological artifacts like carbon dating,
Thermoluminesence, OSL, AMS, Dendrochronoly archaeomagnetism, Electron
Spin Resonence dating, Pottasium-Argon dating, Cation Ratio dating, etc.
In all about 23 numbers datable objects were selected covering both the
palaeochannels. From the samples obtained from the marine
archaeological sites it was clear that the following methods will be
most suitable and a fairly accurate age determination can be obtained
from them. These are 14C radiocarbon dating, radio carbon dating by
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer, Thermoluminescence and Optically
stimulated luminescence.
Radio carbon dating is a method for obtaining age
estimates on organic material and is effective from the present back to a
maximum of 50,000 BP. Radio active carbon 14C produced in atmosphere is
absorbed by plants and the radio active carbon enters the human and
animal cycle when the plants are eaten by animal and human beings. The
absorbing of 14C is stopped when a living organism dies and 14C starts
to disintegrate. How much 14C is disintegrated and how much is left out
can be measured and the rate at which it disintegrates is known. From
this the age of organic objects like trees, corals, human remains, and
shells etc.can be determined. For age determination tests about 50-100
gms of organic material is necessary. In the AMS, an organic sample much
smaller of the order of 1 to 2 mgs is enough to calculate the age. This
has several advantages over the regular 14C method. The TL method is
mainly used for rocks, soil materials, pottery, etc. that were fired. It
is based on the principle that almost all natural minerals are
thermoluminescnt. Energy absorbed from ionizing radiation frees
electrons that are trapped. Later heating releases the trapped electrons
producing light. Measurement of the intensity of the light can be used
to determine how much time has passed since the last time the object was
heated. Natural radioactivity causes TL to build up so that older an
object more light is produced. Since a certain amount of heating,
generally up to 350 deg. C, is required TL works best for ceramics,
cooking hearths, fired bricks, fire cracked rocks or fire treated
minerals such as flint or chert.
The OSL is similar to Thermal dating. The minerals
in the sediment grains are sensitive to light and when exposed to light
the electrons vacate the sediment grains. This process is called
recombination or clock setting event. To detect the age the comparision
must be made between sediment grain with a known amount of added
radiation and sediment grains that are acted upon naturally. This method
is suitable for a variety of unheated sediments not older than 500,000
years. This includes silty and sandy sediments that are deposited by
water.
The selected samples for various types of dating
were sent to some reputed institutes in India, Oxford University,
England and to Hannover Germany. Some samples were repeated in different
institutes to get confirmation of the age. The results tallied very
well. The datable objects were selected to represent both the palaeo
channels. However comparitively fewer datable samples were obtained from
the southern palaeo channel. In the northern palaeo channel alluvial
samples were collected at different depths to have an idea about the age
of alluvium as well as the river. Of the total 23 samples that were
dated 14C method was followed in 4 samples, TL method in 6 samples and
OSL in 13 samples ages were determined.
The alluvium samples of northern palaeochannel were
tested at the behest of NIOT by Manipur University. The top alluvium
collected just below marine sediment was dated to be around 3000 BP and a
slightly lower alluvium gave an age of about 5000 BP. A black alluvium
which was somewhat semi consolidated and collected above the river
conglomerate gave an age of 19000 BP. Obviously the river has been
flowing at least between 19000 years BP, prior to Glacial Maxima and up
to 3000 BP. This shows that the palaeo channel in the north was active
and a riverine regime existed at least from about 19000 BP. As the area
and the palaeo channel to the south was proven to be a hydrocarbon rich
zone, several oil and gas producing wells and platforms have been put
along with Xmas trees and several oil and gas pipeline are crisscrossing
the area. Due to these factors no further sampling than the preliminary
one could be undertaken in view of the safety and restrictions in the
oil production areas. The water depths of the alluvial samples collected
in the northern palaeo channel varied from 20 to 32m.
In the southern township or palaeochannel area six
samples suitable for dating were identified. Of these 3 are carbonized
wooden samples, one was a sediment sample, one was a fired pottery piece
and one was a hearth material. Sample from the same carbonized wood was
sent to National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India and
Geowissenschaftlicte Gemeinschaftsaulguben, Hannover, Germany for Carbon
dating. This was the first sample (Location 21o 03.08’ N; 72 o30.83 E)
from near the southern palaeochannel. This first gave a clue to the age
and environment of the civilization. The calibrated age as per NGRI was
9580-9190 BP and as per Hannover Institute it was 9545-9490 BP. It means
the age is about 9500 BP and this takes the age by more than 4000 years
older than the oldest city civilization of Mesopotomia and a forerunner
to ‘Harappan’ civilization. But this occurred near the top of the
stratigraphic column. Because of this it was expected that at the lower
levels the age would be much older and make the civilization really an
ancient one. The wooden piece tested at Birpal Sani Institute at
Lucknow, U.P. state gave a calibrated age of 8450 BP. However, two
important artifacts were obtained in the near by area at lower levels.
These were a nice, thin, pottery and a brownish to red hearth material.
Along with it local clay sediment was also chosen. All the three samples
were analysed in the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmadabad, Gujarat
State, using standard Thermoluminescence based pottery dating
techniques. As expected the one of the pottery piece whose figure is
given, gave a date of 13000 ± 1950 BP. It is an important date. Another
pottery piece, which was ill fired, on OSL dating (Location 21 o12.54’
N; 72 o 30.370’ E) by Oxford University gave an age of 16840 ± 2620 BP.
These are the oldest fired pottery pieces obtained so far in the world.
Till the results were out it was from Japan where the oldest potteries
were known. The “Jomon” Pottery from the Fukui cave in Kyushu gave 12000
BP uncalibrated age. The pottery findings from Odai Yamamoto gave
uncalibrated age of 13500-13800 BP. In the Gulf of Cambay civilization
attempts already appear to have been made in experimental pottery
making. These are seen from effects of fired clays (for making pottery),
which gave ages of 20130 ± 2170 BP (Location 21 o 13.720’ N; 72 o
26.190’ E) and 16600 ± 1150 BP (Location 21 o13.80 ‘N; 72 o 26.10 E), by
OSL as determined by the Oxford University dating lab. The well fired 3
potteries in the northern palaeochannel gave ages of 7506 ± 785 BP,
6097 ± 611 BP (both by Manipur University) and 4330 ± 1330 BP by Oxford
University.
Apart from this sun-dried pottery pieces were
collected in these areas. Three of the specimens were dated by OSL
facility in Oxford. The results obtained are (1) 31270±2050 BP, (2)
25700±2790 BP and (3) 24590±2390 BP. A black slipped dish which was also
sun dried was dated in Oxford by OSL. This gave an age of 26710 ± 1950
BP.
The hearth material from the southern township
(Location 21o03.04 N 72o30.70 E) by TL dating from PRL, Ahmedabad gave
an age of 10000 ± 1500 BP whereas the hearth material near the top in
the northern township gave an age of 3530 ± 330 BP by OSL, Oxford
University. One of the charcoal pieces obtained on the northern side was
tested by 14C dating in BSIP, Lucknow. It gave calibrated age of 3000
BP. It tallies very well with the age of upper most alluvium in northern
Palaeochannel.
The wattle and daub materials that were originally
of wood and clay were seen to be burnt, but the structure of the wood
was well preserved at places (being fossilized). These were tested by
OSL at Oxford and by TL at Manipur from the same locations. OSL dating
found it to be 5860 ± 720 BP and TL dating determined it to be 5530 ±550
BP. They appear to be a comparatively good match and they reflect the
proper ages. They may represent the period at which these structures
caught fire.
From the above it is quite clear that the human
activity is very evident from about 31000 BP in what is now in the Gulf
of Cambay much before the Glacial Maxima at 18000 BP. The ancients were
making potteries and were getting them dried initially in the sun. From
about 20000 years, it is clear that the ancients are firing the clay to
produce pottery. That means they knew how to make, maintain and manage
fire. They appear to have succeeded in making fired pottery from about
16800 BP. They knew the art of construction of towns and houses in neat
straight line, row after row as picked up by Side Scan Sonar image and
wattle and daub structure and from rammed floor. Both the northern and
southern townships have continuous habitational sites interspersed with
big structures in between. But good quality fired pottery makes it
appearance from about 13000 BP. In the southern township (we can call
them metropolis) there appears to be organized activity in the form of a
community living, a granary (where fossilized food grains were
collected), etc., from about 13000 BP. To the south of this township in
the Gulf of Cambay, sidescan Sonar picked up a drowned dead coral colony
of 400m long and about 200m wide in a water depths of about 40m
substantiated later by sampling. It is a well known fact that these
corals live in hardly 2 to 3m water depth very near coastal areas. They
require clean environment and good sunlight. Obviously the southern
metropolis appears to have been near a sea coast at a particular point
of time, when the metropolis itself stood on dry land with a good free
flowing river and was a major bustling city. The dating of coral colony
like other places by drill core will provide the date of beginning of
coral build up in the area and the top sample of coral will reveal the
age at which it was drowned giving a direct clue to the drowning of
southern metropolis. It is worthwhile noting that the datable objects
are found has only up to 8450 BP based on the date of the carbonized
wood.
The northern metropolis has well made pottery
pieces, wattle daub etc. from about 7506 BP onwards. It indicates well
organized city living. Hence it is possible that this metropolis came up
after 8450 but much before 7506 BP, may be after the submergence of the
southern metropolis. The ancients appear to have shifted and founded
the northern metropolis. However the various earlier dates from
sun-dried pots etc. indicate that it was under constant habitation.
Evidence from Microlithic tools:
Apart from palaeolithic macro tools several pieces
of micro tools have been collected. Usage of such tools has been
reported in America, Europe and other places. In South America
especially from Brazil presence of human beings are reported from 14000
BP, coinciding with big Pleistocene mammals. The study there indicated
that between 17000 and 7000 BP most coastal plains have been lost due to
sea level rise. Several microlithic tools that were recovered are seen
to occur from 10970 BP. But the lagoa santa people occupying these areas
in Brazil suddenly disappeared between 8000 and 7000 BP. In Europe in
France, Germany, Belgium etc. the microlithic tool period started from
11800 BP taking back the age of the Mesolithic period. The microlithic
period spread to several areas and lasted up to the seventh millennium
BP.
In the Gulf of Cambay a variety of microlithic
tools have been obtained in continuation of late palaeolithic tools. The
presence of highly evolved experimental pottery from 13000 BP,
organized living, sedentary well planned habitation, advanced sanitary
and town planning activities in the southern metropolis indicates that
it had developed to be a established civilization from about 13000 BP.
Already there were evidences for control of fire, making pottery etc.
from about 16840 BP. The southern metropolis so far has provided datable
objects up to 8500 BP. The well developed northern metropolis has dates
of civilization from about 7506 BP. In this one should take into
consideration the ideas given by Graham Hancock who also postulated that
several cultures in near coastal areas have been flooded and submerged
by rising sea level caused by melting of icecap subsequent to the last
iceage. The inundation maps prepared by Dr.Glen Milne of Durham
University, England clearly shows that the Gulf of Cambay area prior to
7600 BP was mostly land and after 6900 BP it is mostly submerged. This
type of rise in sea level is very much supported by the work of
Dr.P.K.Banerjee pertaining to southeast coast of Indi, work of Sahidul
Islam and Tooly in the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh and Sen and Banerji’s
work near Calcutta.
The area is highly prone to severe seismicity. In
the past 500 years several earthquakes have shaken area, including the
major +8 magnitude Richter scale event on 26.1.2001. On 16.1.1819 an 8.3
magnitude event devastated several areas nearby. It is seen that these
quakes cause lot of subsidence at places and elevation at other places.
In the Gulf of Cambay itself various surveys have
picked up fault zones and earthquake affected areas with throws upto as
much as 30m (elevation and depression). The Gulf of Cambay was formed by
a major rift. In order to understand the phenomenon and paleo-seismic
activity, NIOT, commissioned Dr.Rajendran of CESS, Trivandram to carry
out Paleo-seismic studies in the area surrounding Gulf of Cambay. His
path-breaking work of identifying paleo-seismic events and dating them
with OSL and also dating nearby Organic material has given excellent
evidence to support the findings. He could detect the presence of sand
blow layers caused due to old earthquakes as well as new ones. His work
in peripheral land areas of the Gulf of Cambay like Kathana, Lotal and
Motibaur gave evidences of major earthquakes in the Cambay areas in the
following period (1) 2780 ± 150 years BP, (2) 3983 ± 150 BP and (3) 7540
± 130 BP. Herein lies the evidence of the end of the Gulf of Cambay
civilization. In the old major event about 7600 or near about the
southern metropolis appear to have been thrown down by faulting and the
nearby sea appear to have inundated it. Because of this the people
appear to have proceeded north in the elevation higher than the sea
level and established the 2nd or northern metropolis. This also got
affected by faulting due to earth quakes around 4000 BP and destroyed by
the 2780 ± 150 BP EQ, by down throwing the metropolis and sea
transgressed the area to completely submerge it.
In this connection it is worthwhile pointing it out three important aspects:
The folk songs in local Kachchi dialogue, mention
about 4 major towns of ancient past. Three of these have been identified
as Mohenjadaro, Harappa and Dholavira. Obviously the fourth one and the
biggest of them all and oldest is the Gulf of Cambay metropolis. )
The 2nd aspect is work by other agencies describing
small-scale stone ruins near the Gulf of Kuutch, at the present-day
town of Dwarka, as the remains of the ancient, fabled city of Dwarka –
so well described as the abode of Lord Krishna of Mahabarata fame. The
city is said to have been completely transgressed by the sea and this is
vividly described by Arjuna, Krishna’s main disciple in the
“Mahabaratha Epic”. The puzzling aspect, which is incoherent, is the
location of city of Dwaraka. The temple we see today is hardly 900 years
old. The area all around is dry, void of vegetation, and with brackish
water. Krishna is supposed to have maintained a huge army of men,
animals like Elephants, Horses, etc. There are absolutely there are no
trees or foliage or fresh water for a big army. So it strikes a
discordant note about the location. But the submerged metropolis of the
Gulf of Cambay has strong, powerful flowing rivers, lots of trees and
foliage and huge township of truly ancient times. So probably the
metropolis in the Gulf of Cambay could be the “Dwaraka City” of
Mahabarata fame.
The third aspect is to consider what happened when
the first and second metropolis got submerged. It is interesting to note
that there are about 500 Harappan and pre-harappan settlements in
Gujarat of which about 258 are on the peripheral areas of Gulf of
Cambay. All of them are younger than the Gulf of Cambay metropolis
(southern). To the immediate west of the Gulf of Cambay on the
Saurashtra coast is the well known pre-Harappan and Harappan
archaeological site of Padri. It has been established by the Deccan
College researchers, that the river Chatranji that is now flowing east
into the Gulf of Cambay, originally flowed west but was tilted towards
the east by large-scale structural changes. By connecting it to the
southern palaeo channel and extending it, it is seen that it goes to
Prabhaspatten in the Arabian Sea, and Prabhaspatten is a well known
pre-harappan archaeological site mentioned in the Mahabharata epic. To
the east the Palaeochannel is seen to be an extension of the present day
river Tapi. Obviously the river Tapi was flowing right up to
Prabhaspattan on the Arabian Sea prior to the drifting and formation of
the Gulf of Cambay. It now falls into the Gulf of Cambay instead of the
Arabian Sea. The ancients after the catastrophe and submergence in the
Gulf of Cambay appear to have spread out all over Gujarat and then to
the surrounding areas to establish a continuing and evolving
civilization of Harappan type.
So, from the foregoing it is very evident the
prehistoric civilization that matured and developed in the present day
Gulf of Cambay was the forerunner and model to the subsequent advanced
Harrapan civilization known to history. This wonderful twin prehistoric
metropolis of Cambay lasted from about 13000 BP to about 3000 BP making
it the most ancient and largest city civilization not only in Asia but
also in the entire world. It is seen to be at least 7500 years older
than the oldest Mesopotamian city civilization. However strong evidence
supports the presence of humans from at least 31000 BP who were evolving
and developing and formed a great hitherto unknown civilization that
were submerged by the flood, giving credence to local and global flood
myths.
Bi-Facial Scraper-Upper Palaeolithic
The palaeo channel below the alluvium has hard dark
alluvium and then typical river conglomerate (Fig.34). It clearly
indicated fresh waters alluvial environment. Several insitu pieces of
alluvium and conglomorate have been collected. All these factors clearly
establish that the palaeochannels were originally well-flowing rivers
in the land, which were subsequently submerged by the sea.
Since some persons have expressed doubts about the
pottery pieces, a thorough scientific study was made involving the
pottery pieces to establish their authenticity. To determine the
properties of various materials including pottery, many samples were
subjected to X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Since the materials that
constitute pottery etc are clays and heterogeneous mixures of a variety
of materials, these were accordingly analysed. Every area has a special
fingerprint pattern in the clay, which can be recognized in X-Ray
diffraction (XRD). The above analysis was carried out in Deccan College,
Pune Maharashtra state, India, by using an advanced instrument that
gave excellent results. The conclusions are that the pattern of pottery
pieces corresponds very well with the locally available clay of Gulf of
Cambay. The mineral patterns of habitational floor, wattle and daub and
land materials (alluvial deposit) are comparable. The patterns of fired
clay, floor birck piece, vitrified clay, compare very well. All these
indicate that they are genuine artifacts, made from locally available
material and are insitu. It fully confirms the presence of
archaeological sites. The findings indicate that the pottery was
produced locally with levigated clay, fired uniformly at about 700oC.
From the presence of calcite in clays and pottery arid to semi-arid
environmental conditions prior to the submergence of the site could be
deduced. Calcritised alluvial deposits indicate the existence of ancient
rivers which once flowed in the submerged regions of Gulf of Camba
http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/cambay.html
Originally posted by Raman
"There has to be some interconnectedness. If
this is pre-Harappan"
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This demand has already been met as I have explained in my reply.