  Shown within India | |
| Location | Gujarat, India |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 23°36′N71°50′E / 23.600°N 71.833°E |
| History | |
| Cultures | Anarta tradition, Indus Valley civilisation |
Loteshwar is a village and an archaeological site belonging to Indus Valley civilisation located at Patan district, Gujarat, India. This site is locally also known as Khari-no-timbo and located on a high sand dune on left bank of Khari river, a tributary of Rupen river. [1] [2]
Loteshwar is recognized as ancient site occupied since sixth millennium BCE by hunter gatherer community and by fourth millennium BCE domestic animals like sheep and goat were also kept. [3]
Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, M.S.University, Baroda carried out excavation at Loteshwar during 1990-91. The excavation revealed two different cultural periods with Period I belonging to Monolithic culture and Period II belonging to a culture having affinity with the Harappan culture. [1]
Period I, with 60 cm deposit on a sand dune, yielded large number of microlithic tools, flat sandstone "palettes", grinding stones and hammer stones. [1] Tools were made of chert, jasper, agate and quartz. [1] Two burials were also found. [1]
Period II was represented by 80 cm deposits but deposits connected to habitation was about 20 cm to 25 cm thickness. [1] Large number of pits (0.5 m to 2 m diameter, 0.5 m to 2 m depth) which were invariably filled ashy soil, potsherds, animal bones and other insignificant materials were found and the significance of these large number of pits is not fully understood. [1]
Pottery collection from this site was predominated by gritty red ware and red ware, which were analogous in shape and style with similar pottery found at Nagwada and coarse redware and polychrome pottery found at Surkotada. [1] Red ware was usually well fired and made of fine clay.
Bowls and pots with shades of black and red on cream/white background, coarse red ware and grey ware with incised designs, terracotta pinched type lumps, mushtika type lumps, steatite micro beads, agate beads, carnelian beads, amazonite beads etc. [1] Terracotta objects found at this site included a figurine, bangles, clay lumps with impressions of reed etc. [4]
The ceramics found at Loteshwar, distinct from Amri-Nal pottery, [3] is associated with the Anarta tradition. It is of different nature from those of early Harappan period and suggest earlier pot-making activity in this area. [5] The crested ridge technique of blade production is absent in Loteshwar. Loteshwar shows two fold cultural sequence (Mesolithic and Chalcolithic). The site has very thin Chalcolithic deposit showing about 2000 years of occupation which could be seasonal. It has several pits of varying diameter but there are no other structures. After the long time of Chalcolitic occupation, sheep and goats were introduced here. [6]
Other findings from Loteshwar include large amount of funeral remains in the form of skeletal remains of land animals like sheep, goat and cattle [7] and fish as well as turtle. [1]
There is a temple of Loteshvar Mahadev with a reservoir, Loteshwar Kund, in front, called pretgaya. A yearly fair, attended by about thousands of pilgrims, is held here on Phagun vad Amavasya (March - April). A bath in the pool, and certain religious ceremonies, are believed to draw out evil spirits and, at the same time, give them freedom, mukti, and absorption into the eternal Brahma. [8]
Kalibangān is a town located at 29.47°N 74.13°E on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh in Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, India 205 km. from Bikaner. It is also identified as being established in the triangle of land at the confluence of Drishadvati and Sarasvati Rivers. The prehistoric and pre-Mauryan character of Indus Valley civilization was first identified by Luigi Tessitori at this site. Kalibangan's excavation report was published in its entirety in 2003 by the Archaeological Survey of India, 34 years after the completion of excavations. The report concluded that Kalibangan was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and "world's earliest attested ploughed field". It is around 2900 BC that the region of Kalibangan developed into what can be considered a planned city.
Rangpur is an ancient archaeological site in Surendranagar district near Vanala on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, western India. Lying on the tip between the Gulf of Khambhat and Gulf of Kutch, it belongs to the period of the Indus Valley civilization, and lies to the northwest of the larger site of Lothal. It is the type site for the Rangpur culture, a regional form of the late phase of the Indus Valley Civilization that existed in Gujarat during the 2nd millennium BCE.
Bhagatrav is a minor archaeological site belonging to the Indus valley civilization. Excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India led by Dr. S. R. Rao, Bhagatrav is located in Hansot taluka of Bharuch district in south Gujarat, near the coastline with the Arabian Sea, and gives access to the agate-bearing mines and forested hills of the valleys of the rivers Narmada and Tapti.
Khavda is a village in Bhuj Taluka of Kutch district (Kachchh) of Gujarat, India. It lies on the west side of Pachham Island in Greater Rann of Kutch.
Pottery in the Indian subcontinent has an ancient history and is one of the most tangible and iconic elements of Indian art. Evidence of pottery has been found in the early settlements of Lahuradewa and later the Indus Valley Civilisation. Today, it is a cultural art that is still practiced extensively in the subcontinent. Until recent times all Indian pottery has been earthenware, including terracotta.
Bhirrana, also Bhirdana and Birhana, is an archaeological site, located in a small village in the Fatehabad district of the north Indian state of Haryana. Bhirrana's earliest archaeological layers predates the Indus Valley civilisation times, dating to the 8th-7th millennium BCE. The site is one of the many sites seen along the channels of the seasonal Ghaggar river, thought by some to be the Rigvedic Saraswati river.
Alamgirpur is an archaeological site of the Indus Valley civilization that thrived along Yamuna River from the Harappan-Bara period, located in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the easternmost known site of the civilization.
Siswal is a village in Hisar district, Haryana, India. It located 28 km from Hisar city. It is a site of Chalcolithic age. It is a typesite for Siswal culture, dating from around 3800 BC, also known as Sothi–Siswal culture.
Daimabad is a deserted village and archaeological site on the left bank of the Pravara River, a tributary of the Godavari River in Shrirampur taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state in India. This site was discovered by B. P. Bopardikar in 1958. It has been excavated three times so far by the Archaeological Survey of India teams. The first excavation in 1958-59 was carried out under the direction of M. N. Deshpande. The second excavation in 1974-75 was led by S. R. Rao. Finally, the excavations between 1975-76 and 1978-79 were carried out under the direction of S. A. Sali. Discoveries at Daimabad suggest that Late Harappan culture extended into the Deccan Plateau in India. Daimabad is famous for the recovery of many bronze goods, some of which were influenced by the Harappan culture.
Desalpar Gunthli is a village and site belonging to Indus Valley civilisation located at Nakhtrana Taluka, Kutch District, Gujarat, India. Desalpar is approx 25 km away from Bhuj. This site is of modest dimensions,(130 m by 100 m ) situated on the northern banks of once depredatory (erosive) stream, Bamu-Chela, an affluent of the Dhrud river.
Amrapar is a village in Kutch district, Gujarat, India.
Tigrana is a village and Indus Valley civilisation (IVC) archaeological sites in the Bhiwani district of Haryana state of India. It lies on the NH-709A approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of the district headquarters town of Bhiwani.
The history of Kutch, (kachchh) a region in the extreme west of the western Indian state of Gujarat, can be traced back to prehistorical times. There are several sites related to Indus valley civilization in region and is mentioned in Hindu mythology. In historical times, Kutch is mentioned in Greek writings during Alexander. It was ruled by Menander I of Greco-Bactrian Kingdom which was overthrown by Indo-Scythians followed by Maurya Empire and Sakas. in the first century, it was under Western Satraps followed by Gupta Empire. By fifth century, Maitraka of Valabhi took over from which its close association with ruling clans of Gujarat started. Chavdas ruled the eastern and central parts by seventh century but then came under Chaulukyas by tenth century. After fall of Chaulukya, Vaghelas ruled the state. Following conquest of Sindh by Muslim rulers, Rajput Samma started moving southwards to Kutch and ruled western regions initially. By tenth century, they controlled significant area of Kutch and by thirteenth century they controlled whole of Kutch and adopted a new dynastic identity, Jadeja.
Santalpur is a village in Santalpur Taluka of Patan district of Gujarat state, India.
Suigam was a village in Vav Taluka of Maratha Riyasat in Gujarat, India, but it is now a Taluka of Banaskantha district in Gujarat.
Panchasar is a village in Shankheshwar Taluka of Patan district of Gujarat, India.
Vadhiyar, also spelled Vadhiar, is a region of sami, shankheshwar and Harij Taluka of Patan district of Gujarat, India.
Vejalka is a village in the Ranpur Taluka of Botad district in Gujarat, India. An Indus Valley Civilisation archeological site was found and excavated near this village in 2014.
Sohr Damb, c. 3800–2300 BC, is an archaeological site, located near Nal, in central Balochistan, Pakistan that begins before the Indus Valley civilization featuring Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg pottery styles. It has also been known as Naal, Balochistan, and gave its name to the prehistoric Amri-Nal culture, which is attributed to the dual typesites of Amri and Nal.
The Anarta tradition or Anarta ware is a chalcolithic culture tentatively dated between c. 3950 BCE to 1900 BCE based on radio carbon dates from Loteshwar and Gola Dhoro. The sites associated with it are located in Gujarat, India.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Government Central Press. 1880. p. 337.