Prehistoric tools, artefacts found in Chhattisgarh
In an “incredibly significant find,” archaeologists have discovered prehistoric remains at a river bank in Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja district, indicating continued settlements in the area from prehistoric to late medieval period.
The tools and artefacts were found during exploration survey by archaeological department of Chhattisgarh government in January this year on the banks of river Renuka (called Renu by locals) in Mahespur area, nearly 40 km from district headquarters town of Ambikapur and around 350 km from Raipur.
“We have discovered earliest stone age tools on the banks of river Renu. This is an incredibly significant find, since this is the first time Palaeolithic (stone age) tools have been discovered in Chhattisgarh. The remains, retrieved from Mahespur, also establishes for the first time a continuance cultural sequence from prehistoric to late medieval period,” archaeologist Atul Kumar Pradhan disclosed exclusively to this newspaper on Sunday. “The survey has yielded ten lower palaeolithic, twelve middle palaeolithic, seven upper palaeolithic and fifteen mesolithic artefacts. This indicates that the area had been inhabited from prehistoric to late medieval period,” the young archaeologist said.
Mr Kumar played a key role in throwing light on the Phani-Nagvamsi era, considered a dark age in Chhattisgarh history till recently, following the epoch-making archaeological discovery at Pachrahi in Kawardha district half-a-decade ago. Remains of a temple dated back to 8th-9th century have been discovered in the nearby area in 2008. “We are planning to propose excavation of the prehistoric site either by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or by state archaeological department for further probe,” he added.
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