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Tuesday 29 March 2016

Ancient Brahmi epigraphic text found ?

An ancient Brahmi inscription found at Mayiladumparain Kannur.
 An ancient Brahmi inscription found at Mayiladumparain Kannur.

An inscription found on a granite rock at Mayiladumpara in Malur panchayat here is said to be an ancient two-line epigraphical text that can be dated back to a period between 3500 and 1700 BC.

The inscription was discovered and deciphered by a team of epigraphy enthusiasts headed by P. Pavithran, former head of the Department of Malayalam Studies of the Kozhikode University, who is currently UGC Emeritus Fellow involved in research of epigraphical texts in Kerala and Sri Lanka. The discovery of this five-letter Indus inscription in an area known for its Adivasi settlement is a continuation of earlier finding and deciphering of such scripts in other parts of the region.

“This ancient Brahmi script is in Sabarpari style as it is written from bottom to top and right to left,” said Dr. Pavithran. He said he deciphered the script as a reference to a resolute ruler. The inscription is believed to be older than the inscription he found in the Maruthom forest area of Kasaragod, which, he said, was Boustrophedon style, and the scripts found at Edakkal in Wayanad.

Dr. Pavithran had earlier deciphered a coin inscription found from Madayipara and a two-line Brahmi inscription found at Makreri Subramanya Temple at Peralassery here. But it is for the first time that the Indus inscription has been found in the district. He says the inscriptions found in the region, especially in the tribal settlements, could be information meant for ancient traders who had used the route. More excavations are required to unravel the history of these ancient inscriptions in the region, he added.

These inscriptions are often mistaken for ancient drawings, he noted.

See also :

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Upcoming Paper on Sindhu-Sarasvati Valley Civilization

The papers abstract seems fantastic. Unfortunately it is not available yet.

 Harappan Burial Sites in India: Recent Research Trends


Astha Dibyopama1, Vasant Shinde1, Dong Hoon Shin2, Chang Seok Oh2 and Nilesh P. Jadhav1
1Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, India
2Institute of Forensic Science, Seoul National University, Korea


Harappan civilization flourished mainly in northwestern province of Indian subcontinent, roughly from between 4000 to 1500 BCE. There are about more than fifty burial sites of the Harappa Civilization discovered so far most of them belonging to a period between 2500-1500 BCE. Lothal, Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi, Farmana, Tarkhanwala Dera, Sanauli, Bedwa, Puthi Seman, Bhorgarh, etc. are major sites yielding the remains of Harappan burial. Until the early 1980’s, the study of human skeletal were primarily focused to answer specific questions pertaining to establishing the ethnic or racial identity of the concerned population and was used primarily to complement archaeological hypotheses of cultural migration or diffusion. Recently, however, efforts are made to study diet, health and composition of Harappan population. Some of these issues are tackled by using Stable Isotope and DNA analyses. The aim of present paper is to focus how these scientific methods that are recently applied to Harappan burial studies are quite useful for reconstruction of various aspects of Harappan civilization.

UPDATE : 24.03.2016
The papers abstract is modified :

Harappan civilization flourished mainly in northwestern province of Indian subcontinent, roughly between 4000 to 1500 BCE. There are about more than fifty burial sites of the Harappa Civilization discovered so far. Of them, Lothal, Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi, Farmana, Tarkhanwala Dera, Sanauli, Bedwa, Puthi Seman, Bhorgarh etc. are major sites yielding the remains of Harappan burial. Until the early 1980’s, the study of human skeletons was primarily focused to answer specific questions pertaining to establishing the ethnic or racial identity of the concerned population and was used primarily to complement archaeological hypotheses of cultural migration or diffusion. Recently, however, more efforts are also made to study diet, health and genetics of Harappan population. The aim of present paper is to show how these scientific methods that are recently applied to Harappan burial studies are useful for the complete reconstruction of Harappan civilization and its people.

UPDATE II : 26.03.2016
Another modification :

Harappan civilization flourished mainly in northwestern province of Indian subcontinent, roughly between 4000 to 1500 BCE. There are about more than fifty burial sites of the Harappa Civilization discovered so far. Among them, Lothal, Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi, Farmana etc. are major sites yielding the remains of Harappan burial. Until the early 1980’s, the study of human skeletons was primarily focused to answer specific questions pertaining to establishing the ethnic or racial identity of the concerned population. Recently, however, more efforts are made to study the diet, health and DNA of Harappan population, assuming a new aspect of research trends on this. The aim of present paper is to show how the scientific methods applied to Harappan burials are used for the complete reconstruction of Harappan civilization and its people.Queries about this poster might be sent to A.Dibyopama(astha2sep@gmail.com), the major author of this study.

Yog.

See also :
Rakhigarhi: Indian town could unlock mystery of Indus civilisation
Rakhigarhi more important than Mohenjo Daro: Data

Friday 11 March 2016

Ancient infrastructure found in Tilaurakot dig



 - MANOJ PAUDEL, KAPILVASTU

 The findings at Tilaurakot are at least 2,800 years old.
Mar 11, 2016- A team of archaeologists, including some foreign experts involved in excavation works at ancient Shakya Capital city of Tilaurakot, have claimed proofs to support the existence of historical stupas, monasteries and palaces in Kapilvastu district.

The team has unearthed an ancient city of Tilaurakot believed to be the one mentioned by Chinese travellers Fa Hian and Hiuen Tsang in their travel accounts when they visited there in the
fifth and seventh century respectively.

Kosh Prasad Acharya, a senior archaeologist, said they have found the remnants of houses, roads, walls and wells after three years of digging. “These findings match what the two Chinese travellers had mentioned in their travel accounts. We are still exploring the site,” he said.
Robin Coningham, the chief archaeologist, said the ancient infrastructure could be at least 2,800 years old.

The excavation began after a geophysical survey showed structure and an entry gate. Archaeologists suspect the structure could have been an administrative building of the time. A one-and-a-half-metre wide wall was also found 25-30cm below the ground during the excavation.

Chief of the Department of Archaeology (DoA) Ram Bahadur Kunwar said they a large ancient infrastructure in the central part of Tilaurakot was found this year. “We have found the several remains of the ancient city underneath,” he said.

The archaeologist’s team comprised mainly of 10 professors from Stirling University and Durham University of the United Kingdom, two Unesco consultants, five experts from the DoA and four from the Lumbini Development Trust. Thirteen students studying culture and archaeology at Tribhuvan University also have been involved in the excavation.

Thursday 10 March 2016

“We drank Soma, we became immortal...”

 

For over a hundred years now, scientists have been discussing what plant was used to prepare Soma (Haoma), a sacred drink of the ancient Indians and Iranians, which "inspired poets and seers, made warriors fearless." The hypotheses were plenty: from ephedra, cannabis, and opium poppy to blue water lily (Nymphaea caerulea) and fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). The answer was found in a grave of a noble woman buried in an elite burial ground of the Xiongnu, the famous nomads of Central Asia



Importantly, none of the researchers denies the fact that the ancient Indians and Iranians consumed a drink with a psychoactive substance as a sacrament. However, the precise identity of the substance and its plant source, as well as its influence on human consciousness, are still being debated.
The translator and greatest authority on the Rigveda Tatyana Ya. Elizarenkova wrote: “Judging by the Rigveda hymns, Soma was not only stimulating but also a hallucinogenic drink. It is difficult to be more specific not only because none of the plants suggested as soma satisfies all the parameters and only partially answers the description of soma given in the hymns but mainly because the language and style of the Rigveda, an archaic religious tome with the typical features of ‘Indo-European poetic speech’, pose a formidable obstacle to soma identification.” Knowing perfectly well that all the possibilities of the written source had been exhausted, Elizarenkova believed that the answer could come from archaeologists, from “their findings in North-Western India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (and not in remote Central Asia).”

Remarkably, her opinion, expressed 25 years ago, was confirmed by new findings made in Mongolia. No one could have suspected that a grave of a noble woman buried in an elite burial ground of the Xiongnu, the famous nomads of Central Asia, would answer the question asked long ago.
It happened in 2009. A team from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, which was led by Natalia Polosmak, was performing archaeological excavations in the Noin-Ula Mountains, Northern Mongolia. In tumulus 31, at a depth of 13 meters, the archaeologists discovered a wooden burial chamber. On the floor, which was covered with a thick layer of blue clay, around an old tomb ruined by ancient robbers, there were visible traces of a woollen fabric; this was all that was left of an embroidered strip, which was of great historical value even in this fragmentary state. Textiles are virtually never preserved in ancient graves, and such findings are exceptionally rare. The remains of the textile were retrieved from the grave and delivered to the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS. The second life of this remarkable artefact began thanks to Russian restorers.

The craftsmanship and the story unfolding on the threadbare fabric are truly amazing. Embroidered in woollen thread on the thin cloth is a procession of Zoroastrian warriors marching towards an altar; one of them, standing at the altar, is holding a mushroom in his hands.

A distinguishing feature of this embroidery is that the craftsmen did their best to depict the faces, costume, arms, plants, and insects, trying to copy everything from life. According to the mycologist I.A. Gorbunova (Candidate of Biology, senior researcher with the Inferior Plant Laboratory, Central Siberian Botanical Garden, SB RAS), the mushroom depicted on the carpet belongs to the Strophariaceae family. In some ways—the general habitus, shape of the cap, stitches along the edge of the cap reminding of the radial folding or remnants of the partial veil and dark inclusions on the stipe that can remind of a paleaceous ring, which blackens after the spores are puffed—it is similar to Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Singer [Stropharia cubensis Earle]. Some of the mushrooms of the genus Stropharia cubensis, or Psilocybe cubensis, contain psilocybin—a unique stimulator of the nervous system. In their psychoactive properties, psilocybin mushrooms are much more befitting as vegetative equivalents of Soma, or Hoama, than fly agaric, which was identified with Soma in the Rigveda by R.G. Wasson in his well-known book. His point of view was supported by many famous scientists; the psychedelic theory proposed by T. McKenna even assigns the main role in human evolution to psilocybin-containing mushrooms.

For the first time, we can see vivid evidence, embroidered on an ancient cloth discovered by archaeological excavations, for the use of mushrooms for religious purposes, probably, to make Haoma, a “sacred drink.''

 The origin of this embroidery and characters depicted on it is associated with North-Western India and the Indo-Scythians (Sakas). How the embroidered cloth made it into a Xiongnu grave is a surprise of the so-called Silk Road, a network of trade routes crossing the whole of Eurasia. Judging by the Chinese chronicles, veils and blankets from Northern India were highly valued in the Han China.

The woollen curtain with an amazing plot was discovered after its 2,000-year-long confinement in a deep grave, which is a miracle in itself. The curtain is not only a fine example of ancient art, which was recovered thanks to the meticulous work of Russian restorers, but a unique source of information casting light on one of the obscure periods of ancient history.

Monday 7 March 2016

Scientific Study of Soma and Its Use in Rituals of Somayagna: A Review

  

B R Divya1, H R Nagendra2 
1Research Scholar, Division of Yoga - Spirituality, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 2 Chancellor, SVYASA Yoga University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

A performance of sacrificial rituals is harmonious to all living beings of the cosmos. There is a negative impact on man, society and atmosphere due to the ecological imbalance; global warming is creating a more heat and pressure on the earth. Somayaga is performed for rain formation and to balance the six seasons. The ingredient and rituals of the yaga appear to be a promising, scientific, cost-effective, eco-friendly method to counter the ever-increasing deadly pollution of the environment, and purify and enrich the environment. A review of various sections of Vedic literature was performed with regard to Somayaga. The scientific interpretation and researches on the sacrificial rituals can build a more faith and deeper understanding of such customs. The rituals of yaga have been observed in influencing the collective consciousness fields of the people participating in the yaga as measured by REG. Hence, for the survival of the Vedic culture, welfare of the creation and mankind Somayaga must be performed. The present paper is aimed to briefly compile and bring out the studies, information, and researches on Soma as a plant, drink and its use in the rituals of Somayaga.