ASI Unearths Iron Age Settlement At The Banks Of Purna In Maharastra’s Phupgaon, Dates It Back To 7th-4th Century BCE

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed an iron age settlement along the bank of River Purna in Maharastra’s Phupgaon which it has chronologically dated to between 7th and 4th century BCE, a press release by the government said.

River Purna, a major tributary of Tapi, used to be a perennial river, but at present is completely dried-up due to the dam construction in the upper stream. The site is located in one of its meanders about 20 meters away from the river bed. A third of the site had unfortunately been subjected to frequent erosion during the heavy water current in the earlier times.

A total of nine trenches were taken up for the excavations by the ASI, which brought to light the house remains and other associated features like hearth, post-holes and artefacts. Iron and copper objects have also been collected from all the trenches. Large quantity of graffiti marks had been observed on the potsherds.

The finding from Phupgaon, classified under the category of a small village, indicates its contemporaneity with other Iron Age settlements of Vidarbha like Naikund, Mahurjhari, Bhagimori and Thakalkat.

Having placed the site between 7th and 4th century BCE, ASI is undertaking further detailed studies of the site with chronometric dating to reveal further aspects of Iron Age of Vidarbha.