News Excerpt:

The presence of the skeleton excavated from a hillock, locally called Padta Bet, point to the presence of a 5,200-year-old Harappan settlement that was 1.5 km from the mass burial ground of Juna Khatiya, an Early Harappan necropolis.

Background of the discovery:

• In 2018, archeologists had unearthed a mass burial site with 500 graves on the outskirts of Khatiya village in Gujarat’s Kutch district. 
• Since then, the team has been looking for the remains of settlements in the vicinity.
• The latest findings bolsters the theory that the graveyard site may have served as a common facility for a cluster of several such smaller settlements like Juna Khatiya.

Location of the Padta Bet excavations:

• The settlement was excavated from the slopes of a small hillock locally called Padta Bet in Gujarat.

• • The site is located 1.5 km from the mass burial ground of Juna Khatiya, an Early Harappan necropolis.

• Harappan settlements, both small and large, have mostly been discovered and excavated on the plains, while this site is located in a unique setting on top of the hillock. 
• The location of Padta Bet is a strategic one, having a vast view of the valley formed in between the ridged mountainous formations all around. 
• A small stream that flows close to the hillock must have been an active source of water during the thriving periods at the site.

The findings of the excavation:

• Within the four-hectare area of Padta Bet, the researchers identified two localities where the archaeological deposits were found during excavation:
• Locality 2 with artefacts from the Early Harappan era (3,200 BC to 2,600 BC), Mature Harappan era (2600 BC to 1900 BC) and Late Harappan era (1900 BC to 1700 BC).
• Locality 1 with artefacts dating back to the Mature Harappan era and Late Harappan era.
• One hypothesis is that the population may have grown in the area, thus spreading out from Locality 2 to Locality 1 or that the inhabitants selected different areas to stay at different points of time.
• While the habitation site appears to have only a few structures it is possible that much of the structural remains were eroded due to the unstable nature of the landscape.
• Presence of pottery artefacts and the animal bones — representing cattle, sheep or goat and shell fragments that point to possible animal domestication as well as shellfish “exploitation” — are an indication of the occupation of the Harappan people. 
• One of the most striking features of the excavation are the ceramic artefacts, which could be from one of the unidentified pottery traditions of the Harappans, involving large storage jars to small bowls and dishes.
• Semi precious stone beads made of carnelian and agate, terracotta spindle whorls, copper, lithic tools, cores and debitage, grinding stones and hammer stones have also been discovered from the site.
• Archaeobotanical samples too have been collected from the site for further identification of plant exploitation and to understand agricultural practices.

Presence of skeleton remains:

• While Juna Khatiya was a burial ground from the Early Harappan phase, the skeleton at Padta Bet possibly indicates a change in burial practice over time. 
• We have not seen any burial from the Late Harappan era at Juna Khatiya (the mass burial ground).

Importance of the discovery:

• The discovery could shed light on the role played by Harappan settlements around the Juna Khatiya necropolis in the cultural formation of Early Harappan and subsequent occupations in the arid area. 
• The presence of plenty of pottery, artefacts, and a few animal bone fragments from these areas are indicative of the occupation of Harappan people in the region from the Early Harappan to Late Harappan periods, i.e. circa 3200 BCE to 1700 BCE.  The evidence of ceramics also indicate the presence of Early Harappan, Classical Harappan, and Late Harappan types.