2,000-year-old artefacts believed to be of post-Mauryan period found in Odisha's Bargarh

Sambalpur: Excavations at Barpali in Odisha's Bargarh district have unearthed 2,000-year-old artefacts, uncovering a civilisation dating back to the post-Mauryan period. With an objective to ascertain the cultural sequence of Asurgarh in Barpali, the excavation was started at the site by the history department of Gangadhar Meher University on May 31.

Around 60 students took part in the excavation. The site extended over 17 hectares. It has two moats and two forts with three gateways, assistant professor Atul Pradhan said. From the excavations and recovered artefacts, it could be concluded that the habitation was an urban settlement belonging to the post-Mauryan period, which was about 2,000 years ago, he said. During excavations, ancient artefacts such as coins, seals, iron weapons, fragmented terracotta figurines, black slipped ware and red slipped ware were found. There were large numbers of knobbed ware pottery, which is a unique feature of early urbanisation.agencies