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Researchers said some of their recent unpublished radiocarbon dates suggest that the settlement could be as old as 1400 BC, contemporary to the very late phase of the post-urban Harappan period.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

Ancient City Cistern Found Near Croatia’s Iconic Fountain

15 February 2024

15 February 2024

An island-speckled coastline and ancient walled towns place Croatia among the world’s best-beauty cities. But there’s even more to this...

The human remains dating back 10,000 years unearthed in Vietnam

15 November 2023

15 November 2023

In Ha Nam Province, northern Vietnam, skeletal remains dating back 10,000 years have been discovered. This is marking the oldest...

Ancient Egyptian Kohl recipes more diversified than previously thought

28 April 2022

28 April 2022

Researchers analyzed the contents of 11 kohl containers from the Petrie Museum collection in London and have revealed that the...

A relief of a man holding his Phallus was found in Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler

18 October 2021

18 October 2021

In Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler in Şanlıurfa, a five-figure scene consisting of humans, leopards, and a bull was...

Archaeologists uncovered largest Bronze Age burial site of Nitra culture in Czech Republic

19 October 2024

19 October 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered the Nitra culture’s largest Bronze Age burial site near Olomouc in Central Moravia, during their rescue research...

Game Bone Stones from a Roman Military Strategy Game Found in Hadrianopolis Ancient City, Türkiye

10 January 2025

10 January 2025

During the excavations in Hadrianopolis Ancient City in Eskipazar district of Karabük, 2 bone game stones belonging to the military...

Archaeologists found a noble woman buried beside her ‘husband’ 1,000 years ago with the top of her face hollowed out

4 November 2023

4 November 2023

Archaeologists unearthed the 1,000-year-old remains of a woman with her face and head hollowed out buried next to her husband...

A Rare Ancient Saber Discovered in Kyrgyzstan

5 August 2023

5 August 2023

An ancient saber (heavy military sword with a long cutting edge and, often, a curved blade) was found by three...

A Christian monastery, possibly pre-dating Islam, found in UAE

6 November 2022

6 November 2022

A Christian monastery has been discovered on the island of Siniyah off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE),...

Roman Mosaic found during rescue excavation in southeast Türkiye

13 December 2023

13 December 2023

Archaeologists discovered mosaics believed to be from the Roman era during a rescue excavation undertaken in a rural expanse in...

“Scythian golds” will be returned to Ukraine

15 November 2021

15 November 2021

The fate of the Scythian Golds, which were sent to be exhibited in the Allard Pierson Museum before the Russian...

Underneath an Illegal Excavation House, a Subterranean City Is Revealed!

25 June 2021

25 June 2021

Upon the information that illegal excavations were carried out in a house in the İscehisar district of Afyonkarahisar in western...

Precious Roman Gem Engraved with Mythological Figure Discovered in Italian Lagoon

8 August 2023

8 August 2023

During excavations at Lio Piccolo (Cavallino-Treporti), conducted by Ca’ Foscari University, a precious agate stone carved with a mythological figure...

Ancient stone grenades discovered at Badaling Great Wall in Beijing

16 October 2023

16 October 2023

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 59 ancient stone grenades from the ruins of a building in the western section of the...