Baror is an archeological site in

Sri Ganganagar district Sri Ganganagar district is the northernmost district of Rajasthan state of India. History Named after Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner State, Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar district was part of Bikaner state. This was a mostly uninhabited region. T ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, India. It belongs with ancient

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

. Pre Harappan and Harappan pottery has been found after excavation.

Location

It is located in the south part of

, about 13 km northeast of Anupgarh, near the Pakistan border. It is situated about 100 km southwest of

Kalibangan Kalibangān is a town located at on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar (Ghaggar-Hakra River) in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh in Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, India 205 km from Bikaner. It is also ident ...

, in the dry bed of

Ghaggar The Ghaggar-Hakra River () is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at , and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert. In pr ...

river. The mound of Baror measures about 200 × 150 m and rises to a height of 11 m from its surrounding plain.

Discovery

The identity of Baror a pre-historic site was discovered by

Luigi Pio Tessitori Luigi Pio Tessitori (13 December 1887, in Udine – 22 November 1919, in Bikaner) was an Italian Indologist and linguist. Biography Tessitori was born in the north-eastern Italian town of Udine on 13 December 1887, to Guido Tessitori, a worker ...

, an Italian

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

(1887–1919) in 1916–17. After independence of India, Amlānand Ghosh (Ex. Director General,

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

) did a detailed survey of this site. In 2003–04, the Indian archaeological survey started excavation under Sarasvati Heritage Project. A 400×300 square area was selected for excavation. In 2006–07, houses constructed with tiles, as well roads were discovered.

Excavation

* Archeological Findings ** Period I –

Pre-Harappan Several periodisations are employed for the periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation. While the Indus Valley Civilisation was divided into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan by archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler, newer periodisations incl ...

*** Characteristics: **** Ceramics made on wheel **** Red-colored without painting **** Coarse to medium fabric **** Well-levigated

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

*** Discoveries: **** Storage jars and miniature pots **** Few sherds of grey color **** Remains of Hakra period ware ** Period II – Harappan *** Discoveries: ****

Mud brick Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From ...

houses (oriented north-south) ** Period III –

Mature Harappan The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE t ...

*** Discoveries: **** Remains of mud brick houses (oriented north-south along roads) ** Other Discoveries **** Terracotta Items: **** Circular and triangular

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

s **** Sling balls with pinched decoration **** Circular beads and spacer **** Jewelry and Ornaments: **** Skeleton with ornaments **** Pitcher with 8000 pearls **** Miscellaneous Finds: **** Stones producing red-colored dust **** 5-meter long, 3-meter clay oven The archeologists have found

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

of Pre Harappan and Harappan period. A three-fold cultural sequence was established, *Period I – Pre-Harappan Ceramics were made on wheel; they were red coloured and devoid of any painting. The fabric is coarse to medium, and made out of well-levigated clay. Storage jars, and miniature pots were found, as well as a few sherds of grey colour. The remains of the Hakra period ware were found here at the lowest levels.Samunder and Vivek Dangi (2014)
Explorations along "Lost" River Sarasvati (SuratgarhTehsil, Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan)
/ref> *Period II – Harappan *Period III – Mature Harappan The remains of mud brick houses were exposed. They were oriented north south along roads

Other discoveries

The circular and triangular terracotta cakes, sling balls with pinched decoration, circular beads and spacer, terracotta, faience and shell bangles, were also found. Other discoveries include, * 1. A skeleton of a human with ornaments has been found. * 2. Two stones have been found which produce red-coloured dust after rubbing with each other. * 3. A 5-meter long and 3-meter clay oven also has been discovered. * 4. A pitcher filled with 8000 pearls has been found here.

References

Bibliography

*A. Ghosh (ed.), An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology in 2 Volumes, II (New Delhi 1989) *S.P. Gupta (ed.), An Archaeological Tour Along the Ghaggar-Hakra River by Sir Aurel Stein (Meerut 1989) *Urmila Sant, Terracotta Art of Rajasthan (New Delhi 1997) {{coord, 29.169, 73.3136, display=title Archaeological sites in Rajasthan Sri Ganganagar district Pre-Indus Valley civilisation sites