Pre-Harappan Bricks Found In Gulf Of Cambay (9,500 Years Old)

Times Of India ^ | 7-18-2004

[blam]

Pre-Harappan bricks found in Gulf of Cambay

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2004 10:09:31 PM ]

VADODARA: In an underwater exploration in the Gulf of Cambay, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) scientists discovered almost 9,500-year-old bricks made of clay and straw.

Archaeological experts of the MS University who, too, are involved in a part of the exploration near Surat and the coast of Gulf of Cambay, however, feel that a further insight into the size of the bricks can confirm its age and its period.

The bricks, believed to be pre-Harappan, have been identified to be of the Holocene age.

In the NIOT surveys in the 17 sq km area, stone artefacts like blade scraper, perforated stones and beads were found.

The bricks, according to NIOT scientists, were used for construction.

It indicates that the people of that age led an advanced form of life. The artefacts found on the seabed, 20 to 40 ft below the present sea level, consisted of housing material.

"It is important to confirm the brick size as people of the pre-Harappan age made bricks in the ratio of 1:2:3. A confirmation on the brick size can add more credence to the discovery," says head of the archealogy and ancient history department V H Sonawane.

[azhenfud]

Some were used as ballast for sailing ships.

[TommyDale]

I don't know who built it, but I can tell you who tore it down!

[dirtboy]

Personally I believe that several civilizations that were highly intelligent

If they were so smart, then why did they build in the floodplain?

Oops, we do that too. Nevermind...

[N. Theknow]

almost 9,500-year-old bricks

They were actually 9,478-year-old bricks?

[ElTianti]

I thought the earth was only 8,000 years old?

[GSlob]

I believe stones were used for ballast: cheaper (so one does not have to make them), more dense than brick (i.e. take less space), and available if not at the point of origin, then at almost any destination.

[blam]

"If they were so smart, then why did they build in the floodplain?"

I've read that when Abraham lived in Ur, it was a seaside town. I have a map in front of me that shows Ur as a seaside town in 3,000BC. In fact, this map shows the Persian Gulf going all the way to Lagash, almost half-way between (present day) Basra and Babylon.

[TheRightGuy]

... hhmmm ...
9500 year old straw and clay bricks surviving in saltwater.

The only way clay bricks would stay intact over time in water is if they were completely vitrified by kiln-firing to extremely high temperatures, about 1200-1400 F, which may or may not have been achievable in those times -- and even if it were, the straw would certainly have been destroyed in the process.

[Fedora]

Thanks, I didn't know that. How old is Jerico? Who built Jerico, the Ubaidians?

Here's an article with some background and references. The oldest layer of Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) is from a strata archaeologists estimate to date to about 9000 BC (which is a very rough estimate and arguable because of the problems with dating things that far back). If this estimate is accurate this would've been almost 4000 years before the Ubaidians. I don't think anyone knows who built Jericho because we don't have any written records, but whoever they were, they were part of a commerce network stretching throughout Syria-Palestine into what is now Turkey, which may be inferred from obsidian found at various sites that has been traced to Turkey.

[blam]

Good info. Thanks.

[Steve0113]

The only way clay bricks would stay intact over time in water is if they were completely vitrified by kiln-firing to extremely high temperatures, about 1200-1400 F, which may or may not have been achievable in those times...

1200 to 1400 F is not an extremely high temperature. I've done better than that in my backyard with firewood. Aluminum melts around 1700 F, and I've built fires that turned aluminum cans to puddles.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 7/19/2004. Thanks blam.

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[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 07/19/2004. Thanks blam.

• Lost Civilisation From 7,500 BC Discovered Off Indian Coast [2002]
• Drowned Indian city could be world's oldest [2002]
• Submerged City May Be Older Than Mesopotamia [2003]