BHUBANESWAR: The excavation branch of the Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI ), Bhubaneswar region, has unearthed signs of an urban civilisation contemporaneous to the Mauryan period (322 -185 BC) at Asurgarh in Kalahandi district During the excavation at an ancient fort, the ASI team found imperial variety silver coins with punch marks, coral and bead jewellery and floor tiles that indicate that it was an urban and cultured civilisation with advanced lifestyle traits.“From the findings of the excavation, it can be concluded that the habitation was an urban settlement belonging to the Mauryan to Kushan period, dating to around 2,300 years ago. The imperial coins with punch marks were issued during the Mauryan and Magadhan period,” said Dibishada Brajasundar Garnayak, superintending archaeologist of ASI’s excavation branch.Besides the silver punch-marked coins, silver and copper toe-ring and earrings, a large number of pottery hopscotches, beads of carnelian, jasper, beryl, garnet, agate and coral, glass bangle pieces of different designs and colours, sling balls, pestle, iron equipment like small wheels, ring, harpoon and arrow heads were found during the excavation.These findings suggest the habitants were living in an urban settlement and had a materialist lifestyle. The material culture in the form beads and bangles in different shapes and colour shows the artistic talent of the natives of that time, the ASI said. “The findings of coral beads and imperial variety of silver punch-marked coins strongly indicate long-distance trade and the association of people from the hinterland with their seafaring counterparts,” Garnayak said.The first excavation at the site was done in 1973 but it was not extensive. The current excavation started in November last year and will continue till April this year. To ascertain the exact age of these remnants, the ASI will conduct both charcoal and ceramic dating at the Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi.

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