ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI) officials today informed that sites from two necropolisesfrom different ends of the country in Mizoram's Champhai district and UttarPradesh's Sanauli will be granted as 'protected sites.'
This includesfour sites from Champhai district where menhirs, megaliths and rock engravingsdating back to 15-18 AD have been excavated. According to ASI, the site inSanauli dates back to 2BC or the late Harappan period where a pre-Iron Age specimenof a chariot was found. Necropolises are ancient cities built around burialgrounds in obeisance to the dead.
The ASIAizawl circle has put forwarded the proposal of the protected site status tothe Champhai sites which has termed the findings important cultural remains ofpre-British era Mizoram and the proposal is with the Union Cultural Ministry. Thenotification of the Sanauli site was published last week.
The foursites at Champhai district are Lianpui, Lungfulian, Dungtlang and Farkawn andlie within a 100 km radius from the district headquarters.
Meanhwile,earlier this year, at Sanauli, excavations by a 10-member team led by SK Manjulof the Institute of Archaeology pointed to existence of a warrior class livingat the Pre-Iron or Bronze Age in 2000-1800 BC. According to experts, this ledto the redefining of the Mahabharata Age. Coffins and burial sites, rice andpulses in a pot, copper helmets and cattle bones were dug up at the 4,000-yearold burial site at Baghpat district.
