The windswept semi-arid scrublands of Kutch in Gujarat was once home to an affluent urbanised people who inhabited a vast swathe of land that we now know as sites of the Indus Civilisation that existed between 5000 and 1000 B.C (in the context of Gujarat the date is between 3900 and 1000 BC) The little that has been revealed about the people and their civilisation have enthused and mystified archaeologists all over the world.
In January last year, a team of archaeologists began digging for a treasure in the dry lands of Navinal, a few kilometres from the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat.
During the next two months what they found during the fieldwork did prove to be a treasure. However, it was not the kind of find that would have enthused raiders of tombs and arks.
Instead, it created ripples in the rarefied realms of archaeology all over the world for this treasure consisted of shards of ceramics, pieces of stone tools, bits of pottery, copper pieces, beads, shell bangles and so on that pointed to evidence of a flourishing culture of various craftsmen.
With infinite care the archaeologists brushed away the dust of the ages and carefully examined their finds, which proved that Navinal was an urban and post-urban Harappan site of the Indus Civilisation.
These archaeologists were on a quest to understand the reach and expanse of the Indus Civilisation.
“Once we discovered remnants of copper melting and evidence of ceramics and pottery, we knew for sure the potential of the site at Navinal,” recalls Rajesh S.V., assistant professor of archaeology, University of Kerala.
As project director, 33-year-old Rajesh works with four co-directors, Saleem Shaikh, Brad Chase, Y.S. Rawat and Ambika Patel, to understand the trading links between this site and similar other sites of the Indus Civilisation and also the similarities and differences among the regional sites in Gujarat itself, which is home to 750 such sites.
It is also to throw light on the production and inter-regional interaction network that existed during that period.
Rajesh visited these sites while doing his thesis at the MS University at Vadodara in Gujarat. As a student of history, he had always been curious to learn about the Indus Civilisation. His thesis was also on the Indus civilisation (A comprehensive study of the regional chalcolithic cultures of Gujarat). “So it was a dream come true to explore this site. The amount of material we have collected is amazing. I have already presented paperson the finds thrown up by this site at four international conferences, including one at University of Wisconsin. We hope to begin the second phase in March this year,” says Rajesh.
Till then Rajesh is confident that the site will be carefully guarded by the villagers in the nearby village where the team stays during their fieldwork.
He explains that the team of 25 students and archaeologists could not have done without the help of the villagers who also assist in the excavation of the site. In fact, even when they come across occasional finds of gold bits, it is all carefully handed over the team. "We have sensitised them to the importance of the site and so they are very cooperative. But Navinal falls in the forest area that has been promised for the Adani power project. So we are raising awareness about the importance of this find to protect it for further studies," says Rajesh.
He adds that the fact that a scholar like Jonathan Mark Kenoyer is one of the advisers of the project underlines the importance of the site. Dr. Kenoyer, Chair and professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a specialist in Harappan archaeology with more than 35 years’ of field experience. The other advisers are Dr. Ajithprasad (The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda) and Dr. Marco Madella (Department ofArchaeology and Anthropology, Spanish National Research Council).
Pointing out that this is the first time that any university in south India is involved in such a project on the Indus civilisation, Rajesh is all thanks to the university for their funding and help for the project and to Ajith Kumar, head of the department of archaeology, and his colleague Abhayan G.S. assistant professor.
As he gears up for the second phase of the excavation, Rajesh is all gung go about making a difference to our understanding of our heritage.
Historic trails
The site at Navinal was discovered in 1950 by P.P. Pandya of the Department of Archaeology, Saurashtra and first reported by S.R. Rao in 1963 and identified as a Harappan site. In 2011, it was explored by P. Ajithprasad, of the M.S. University. “Last year, we explored the site again as part of a joint team from the University of Kerala, Kachchh University, Albion College, U.S., Gujarata State Archaeology and M.S. University of Vadodara,” says Rajesh.
