Posted on 06/29/2005 9:32:38 PM PDT by FairOpinion
Srinagar, June 29: THE State Archaeology Department has discovered remains of some hitherto unknown civilisation on plateau at Kutbal in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
In a statement, the department said that the remains of the civilisation were scattered over several kanals of land of this plateau. A portion of the land was given a trial dig and at depth of five feet, the first layer of the ancient settlement, probably of the Buddhist period, consisting of a tile pavement laid out in concentric circle with a full-blown lotus in the centre, was found. This pavement was laid in such a beautiful sequence that it left excavators baffled. Most amazing were the tiles which were stamped in variety of motifs, presenting effective and colorful pictures of human beings, animals, mystical creatures, flora and fauna and other abstract designs.
These archaeological findings were of tremendous historical significance, given the fact that the tiles depict various facets of that era of civilisation. One of the tiles, first of its kind, shows a mahavat on elephant, fish, deer, swan and other creatures. Most of the tiles were inscribed in Kharoshthi numerals. Their features speak of some highly-advanced urban civilisation, which seems to have flourished on this plateau. The human and animal motif forms found on a few exposed tiles have been noticed for the first time on any archaeological site. The experts said that the findings throw light on religious, social, economical, trade and artistic facets of that period.
The excavation was under initial stage and more teams were being deputed to the site. The findings of the first layer were being investigated by a team of experts.
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Thanks for all the great articles lately. I plan to get caught up on them this weekend.
Very cool. Thanks for posting this.
(Wonders how long before the muslims blow up the ruins.)
Ping
"probably of Buddhist period"
So, around 500 BC?
Very interesting.
How deep did Alexander get into India? Would this be something he built or would it be something built later that depicted him?
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