NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 2, 2019 (Daily Pioneer): Ongoing excavations at 4,000-year-old burial sites at Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat continue to enthrall archeologists as for the first time the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed underground “sacred chambers,” decorated “legged coffins” and fascinating artifacts in what is being claimed to be a first in the Indian subcontinent. The excavation, which is a continuation of the work started last year, is being carried out to understand the extension of burial site and also habitation area in relation with earlier findings.
Sanauli is located on the left bank of River Yamuna, 42 miles north-east of Delhi which brought to light the largest necropolis of late Harappan period datable to around early part of second millennium BCE. Three chariots, some coffins, shields, swords and helmets had been unearthed, pointing towards the existence of a “warrior class in the area around 2,000 BCE,” said an official from the ASI. These findings are being considered important to understand the culture pattern of the Upper Ganga-Yamuna doab. During excavation, the excavators have found copper swords, helmets, shields and chariots. The discovery of furnaces from the site indicates towards habitation activity of the period associated with the necropolis. The nature of burial pottery, coffins, antiquities such as antenna sword, pottery, etc. suggest a complex of late Harappan period.