The discovery of a 170cm tall adult human skeleton and that of a 70cm tall child is very conspicuous, says Mishra.
The discovery of a 170cm tall adult human skeleton and that of a 70cm tall child is 'very conspicuous', says Mishra.
'A lot of hitherto unknown facts can be unfolded through this discovery related to the culture, customs, lineage or gene-pool, birth, death, disease, health, food habits and even the palaeo-climate,' Mishra says.The Abhaipur site preserves evidence of four different cultural periods, namely Oochre Coloured pottery (OCP), Black-and-Red Ware (BRW) and Northern Black-polished Ware (NBPW). However, only the BRW and PGW cultures have been represented substantially in the excavations, Mishra says.
The PGW culture was first discovered and identified in 1950s at the Ahichchatra in Bareilly and subsequently at Hastinapur in Meerut where it was denominated by Prof. B B Lal. Since then, a number of major excavations of this culture have been conducted and identified.
'Now, these human graves will be sent to the Deccan College, Pune, for further examination by palaeo-anthropologist Prof. S R Walimbe,' informs Mishra.
Says Mishra: 'Until recently, the author of the PGW culture was behind the curtains. We knew about his cultural activities without knowing who he is!' With the discovery of these two burials at Abhipur, one can enumerate a lot about his biology like health, stature, disease, age and cause of mortality, gene pool, lineage or race apart from the additional cultural activities like the mortuary practices, death rites, beliefs and a lot more'.
(Source:PTI News)
