Abstract
Recent excavations at Shikarpur, a fortified Harappan site situated near the Gulf of Kuchchh in Gujarat, Western India, brought to light a large collection of Rohri chert blades. Chert found in the Rohri hill near Sukkur in Sindh, central Pakistan is distinctive and easily identifiable. The wide distribution of standardized Rohri chert blades is often regarded as a testimony to the Harappan efficiency in long distance trade and craft production. The possibility of localized production of Rohri chert blades in Gujarat is often negated due to the constraints of raw-material availability. The absence of Rohri chert working debitage from most of the sites in Gujarat, has lent support to this position. The Shikarpur Rohri blade assemblage however incorporates more than 650 blades, a large fluted blade-core and a few Rohri chert debitage. These have led the excavators to suggest that some of the blades found at Shikarpur were locally produced from raw materials brought to the site from the Rohri hills. Typo-technological features of the Rohri chert assemblage from Shikarpur have been analysed in this background. These along with metrical features of the assemblage are compared with Rohri chert assemblages from other major Harappan sites in the region to check the validity of the proposed ‘limited local production’.
Highlights
IntroductionThe mound at Shikarpur, known as Valamio Timbo (23o 14’ 15” N; 70o 40’ 39” E) (Figure 1), is a small (approximately 3.4 hectares, see Figure 2) settlement of Urban Harappan Civilization situated near the Gulf of Kachchh in Bhachau Taluka, Kachchh District, Gujarat, India
This type of evidence is generally not found from other Harappan sites in the Gujarat region and this has led us to reinvestigate the role played by Shikarpur in the interregional interaction network and exchange of blade tools in the third millennium BC
After six years of excavations the evidence found from this site strongly points towards a society which was very affluent and most probably was actively involved in trade and exchange networks with other Harappan sites
Summary
The mound at Shikarpur, known as Valamio Timbo (23o 14’ 15” N; 70o 40’ 39” E) (Figure 1), is a small (approximately 3.4 hectares, see Figure 2) settlement of Urban Harappan Civilization situated near the Gulf of Kachchh in Bhachau Taluka, Kachchh District, Gujarat, India. The site was first excavated by the Gujarat State Archaeology Department during 1987-89. The re-excavations have started here from 2007-2008 field season by the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. The main objective of the excavation is to study the overall economic. Journal of Lithic Studies (2014) vol., nr.
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