Expeditioners find ancient artefacts in Kashmir
Thu, Apr 15 11:33 AM
Two Expeditioners of South Kashmir's Anantnag district have stumbled upon what they believe to be a 1500-year-old archaeological site in Zalangam village, 85 kms from here, and have suggested to the ASI to undertake excavation work there.
"When we set out for an expedition in the forest, little did we know that we were to discover an ancient civilization," Malik Tariq, an oncologist at S K Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, and Abdul Rouf, an engineering student told reporters.
They said they were researching the springs of Zalangam when they stumbled upon the site where artifacts, bricks, Neolithic-age rocks, stone sculptures and coins were present. The site is located in a forest at a distance of two km from the famous spring of Kokernag in Anantnag.
"It is a prospective archaeological site. It might prove that Kashmiris were exposed to industrial culture much before 5th century when iron ore was used", Rouf and Tariq said.
The duo said they could not excavate the entire field "without any official authorization" and instead consulted the valley's renowned archaeologists and historians.
After discovering the site on February 28, they have been scanning the area and collecting artefacts like pottery, terracotta tiles, bricks, stone sculptures, metal slag and ancient coins.
The duo also released a monogram 'Zalangam: Archaeological Discovery' that offers vivid details of the findings.
The duo suggested that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) take over the site and initiate excavations.
Noted historian Fida Mohammad Hassnain said artifacts like pottery; tiles and bricks found at the site were of the Buddhist era. "Buddhist monks who participated in the 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir may have visited the place before 5th century," he said.
Hassnain, who is also the former director of archives, archaeology, research and museums, said, "The discovery also depicts that iron ore was used by Kashmiris in the past".
*****************************************************************
Oh no - removing artifacts from context - bad, bad, bad! And they "wrote a monogram" on their discoveries? What? Oh yeah, nothing like inviting all the looters into the area, if they haven't already been there. Geez! Why not give out GPS coordinates while you're at it, dudes! If - and that is a big if - the ASI ever gets someone out to investigate the site, there won't be anything left to investigate.
No comments:
Post a Comment