Shikarpur is a village in

Bhachau Bhachau is a city and a municipality in Kutch district in the state of Gujarat, India. Bhachau was one of many devastated towns in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. ...

Taluka of Kutch district of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. Nearby excavations have revealed a site belonging to the

Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

, also known as the

Harappan civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

History

The fort of the village was built in the 19th century. It includes the tombs of three Muslim saints: Patha, Gebansha Multani, and Asaba. Patha, who is said to have come from Sindh, earned his fame by changing salt water into fresh; Gebansha by continuing to fight after his head was cut off; and Asaba by curing the blind. The tombs are simple buildings.

Archeology

Site description

The archaeological site is south of Shikarpur, at Valmio Timbo. It consists of a Harappan settlement covering 3.4 hectares, where the main activity appears to have been the manufacture of artefacts.

Excavation history

Gujarat State Archaeology Department conducted excavations during 1987-1989. These revealed a deposit over thick, with its lower layers representing the Early Harappan period and the upper layers representing Mature Harappan. Further extensive excavations were carried in 2007-2008 by

The Maharaja Sayyajirao University The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

, Baroda. These discovered some important artefacts and other details.

Artifacts

Among the artefacts found are ornaments of semi-precious stones,

steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...

and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

, bangles made of shell and terracotta, copper chisels and knives, arrowheads, rings, terracotta toy cart frames, and animal figures. A depiction of a human torso made of terracotta was another important finding: this is well-baked, but the arms, head and lower part of the body are broken off. Pottery with various types of drawings and engraved designs were also found. Other findings include conch-shell bangles, slice, terracotta toy cartwheels and frame, bangles, triangular cakes, bull figurines, pecker points and trimmer made of bone, micro gold beads, carnelian drill-bits, dish on stand, bowls, miniature pots, etc. An assemblage of Rohri chert blades was also found. There are two terracotta sealings with inscriptions; on one seal is a picture of a three-headed unicorn; second sealing has three consecutive stampings of Harappan seals and the stamping is done in such a manner that the inscribed upper part of all three seals is clear. The reverse of the sealings bear the mark of thread and knots.

Subsistence patterns

15,483 bones pieces, which were excavated at Shikarpur and studied at Archaeology Laboratory, Deccan College Pune, reveal details about subsistence patterns of Harappans. 53.46% of the bones were identified which consisted 47 species including 23 mammals (cattle bones being numerous, wild buffalo, nilgai, blackbuck, deer, wild pig, hare, rhino etc.), three birds, five fish, 13 mollusks etc. which is broadly suggestive of food habits of Harappans. Bones of domesticated animals comprised 85 per cent of faunal assemblance in both early and mature Harappan phase. A small quantity of horse bones were also found here and these occur only in the Mature Harappan Phase.

References

External links

* {{Indus Valley Civilization Villages in Kutch district Archaeological sites in Gujarat Indus Valley civilisation sites