Bharatpur/Deeg: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found tools made from bones of Mahabharata period (1100-1200 BC) during an ongoing excavation in Bahaj village of Rajasthan's Deeg district.
The unique needle-shaped bone tools found here have not been sighted anywhere in India before. The excavation is underway and there is a possibility of finding evidence of an entire civilization from the Mahabharata period here, ASI officials said.
Superintendent of Archeology Department, Vinay Gupta said the excavation work has been started since January 10 in Bahaj village. "So far, the digging has been completed upto a depth of about 20 metres from the surface of the mound. We have found remains from Kushan period, Sunga period, Maurya period, Mahajanapada period and Mahabharata period. Infact, the evidence we got here have not been found anywhere else before," he said.
The Braj region where Bahaj village falls is considered to be associated with the Mahabharata period. Gupta said evidence of a huge bone industry has been found in Bahj. "Needle-shaped tools made from bones have been found here. It is probable that these might have been used for writing, weaving or some other work. These kinds of tools have not been found anywhere else in India. The tools have excellent carvings on them," he said.
Another rare recovery from the site is black beads. Gupta said that usually white coloured beads are found in the excavation sites, but this time a large number of black coloured beads have been found in the mound of Bahj village. These are very rare and most of the beads are from the Shunga period, he said adding that the beads change colour when engraved.
This apart, there were ancient baked clay sculptures and pottery, he added.
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