17 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

2800-year-old settlement discovered in Vadnagar, India

An excavation in Gujarat’s Vadnagar, about 900 km southwest of New Delhi, India, has found the remains of a settlement dating back 2,800 years.

The settlement as ancient as 800 BCE in Vadnagar has been uncovered by researchers from IIT Kharagpur, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and Deccan College.

The human settlement that goes back as old as 800 BC revealed the presence of seven cultural stages, said, officials. The findings thus imply that the “Dark Age” was a myth and that cultures continuously existed in the region without total annihilation during the last 5,500 years.

Researchers said some of their recent unpublished radiocarbon dates suggest that the settlement could be as old as 1400 BC, contemporary to the very late phase of the post-urban Harappan period.

The Dark Age refers to the time period between the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization and the appearance of the Iron Age, which included cities such as Gandhar in modern-day Afghanistan and Koshal in modern-day Uttar Pradesh in India.

The human settlement is contemporary to late-Vedic/pre-Buddhist Mahajanapadas or oligarchic republics,” the institute said in a press release.

ASI archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar, co-author of the paper, told PTI news agency, “Excavation in its several deep trenches revealed the presence of seven cultural stages (periods) namely, Mauryan, Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian or Shaka-Kshatrapas, Hindu-Solankis, Sultanate-Mughal (Islamic) to Gaekwad-British colonial rule and the city is continuing even today. One of the oldest Buddhist monasteries has been discovered during our excavation.”

Archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar added that the archaeological artifacts they found included pottery, copper, gold, silver and iron objects and intricately designed bangles. Coin molds of Greek king Appollodatus from the Indo-Greek rule at Vadnagar were also found, he added.

He also claimed that the remains discovered make Vadnagar the oldest living city within a single fortification unearthed so far in India.

“The earliest settlement period in Vadnagar started at least during 800 year BCE i.e., the early Iron Age or questionably the Late Vedic period and pre-dates both Buddhism and Jainism. This period continues into the Mauryan rule and ends with its fall around 150 year BCE. After the downfall of the Gupta Empire, large-scale de-urbanisation, drying up of water bodies, famines and population contraction across India occurred”, said Dr. Anindya Sarkar, Professor of Geology and Geophysics at IIT Kharagpur.

These findings provide valuable insights into the diverse cultural and historical layers of Vadnagar, highlighting its significance as a hub of civilization throughout the centuries.

The findings were published in a paper titled ‘Climate, human settlement, and migration in South Asia from Early historic to medieval period: Evidence from new archaeological excavation at Vadnagar, Western India’ in the journal ‘Quaternary Science Reviews’.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108470

Related Articles

Spectacular ancient mosaic found in Paphos, Cyprus

21 July 2021

21 July 2021

During the excavations carried out on Fabrika Hill in Kato Paphos, Cyprus, an ancient mosaic floor belonging to the Hellenistic...

Medieval Hub of Arts & Crafts Center discovered in Nola: The discovery could rewrite the history of early medieval Nola

23 August 2023

23 August 2023

On the outskirts of Nola, a district from the early Middle Ages has been discovered. According to the Soprintendenza Archeologia,...

12,000-year-old ‘public building’ unearthed in southeastern Turkey’s Mardin

27 September 2022

27 September 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a “public building” thought to be 12,000 years old at Boncuklu Tarla in the...

A Colonnaded Hall with Extraordinary Frescoes of Still Life Found in Pompeii

27 December 2024

27 December 2024

Archaeologists in the famous ancient Roman city of Pompeii, one of the world’s most iconic archaeological sites, have revealed extraordinary...

2.3-meter sword found in 4th-century tomb in Japan

27 January 2023

27 January 2023

The largest bronze mirror and the largest “dako” iron sword in Japan were discovered at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound...

Stunning carved stone depicting a mystery naked horseman is discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda

30 June 2021

30 June 2021

Near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, archaeologists discovered a carved sandstone slab portraying a naked horseman. During the annual excavations...

Analysis of Butchered Bones, Somerset Pit Reveals Bronze Age Cannibalism

17 December 2024

17 December 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered the bloodiest massacre in early Bronze Age Britain and evidence of Bronze Age cannibalism. It is the...

God Pan statue unearthed at Istanbul’s historical church of St. Polyeuctus

1 June 2023

1 June 2023

A Pan statue thought to belong to the Roman period was recovered during excavation works carried out by Istanbul Metropolitan...

Marvelous Marble Floor Of Sunken Roman Villa Restored in Bacoli

19 July 2024

19 July 2024

In Bacoli, Italy, an underwater restoration project has uncovered the marvelous marble floor of a submerged Roman villa. This remarkable...

From ‘Empty Lands’ to Rich History: Discovery of the First Bronze Age Settlement in Maghreb, Dating to 2,000 BC

15 March 2025

15 March 2025

Researchers at the University of Barcelona have made a remarkable discovery: the first Bronze Age settlement in the Maghreb region...

A huge artificial lake in Sicily is an ancient sacred pool that was aligned with the Stars and used 2,500 years ago, study reveals

17 March 2022

17 March 2022

A sacred freshwater pool on western Sicily’s San Pantaleo Island that dates back some 2,500 years was aligned with the...

Saxon ‘London’ was Bigger Than Previously Believed

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

Archaeologists digging at the northern end of Trafalgar Square found evidence that Saxon London’s center was bigger and extended further...

1700-year-old Roman shoes and craft district found in France

3 June 2023

3 June 2023

An ancient Roman craft district was discovered by archaeologists working in the southwest of the town of Therouanne near a...

3500-year-old ceramic oven discovered in Turkey’s Tepecik Mound

24 August 2021

24 August 2021

A 3,500-year-old ceramic oven was unearthed in Tepecik Mound in the Çine district of Aydın, in western Turkey. Tepecik Höyük,...

Unique Gold Ring and Crystal Amulet among 30,000 Medieval Treasures Uncovered in Sweden

7 March 2024

7 March 2024

In the Swedish medieval city of Kalmar, archaeologists from the State Historical Museums unearthed the remains of over 30,000 objects...