Balathal

Balathal is an archaeological site located in Vallabhnagar tehsil of Udaipur district of Rajasthan state in western India. The Kataranadi River is very close to the site and archaeologists believe there may have been another large body of water that existed but has since become dry.

This site, located 6 km from Vallabhnagar town and 42 km from Udaipur city, was discovered by V. N. Misra during a survey in 1962-63. It was excavated from 1994 to 2000, jointly by the Department of Archaeology of the Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute, Pune and the Institute of Rajasthan Studies, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur under the direction of V. N. Misra of the Deccan College.[1]

This ancient site was occupied during two cultural periods: the Chalcolithic and the Early Historic. There was also a significant amount of time that the site was abandoned after its earliest period of occupation. The houses found at the site are square or rectangular made of mud brick, stone, and wattle and daub. It has been determined that the people practiced agro-pastoralism, which is a mixture of both farming and herding animals. Pottery at the site has been thoroughly analyzed and tells much about life at this ancient site. Balathal is part of the Ahar-Banas Complex and can be connected to other Ahar-Banas culture sites through artifacts that have been discovered. Some of the pottery from Balathal was locally produced, while other types found at Balathal came from other sites in the Ahar-Banas Complex, such as Gilund, Ojiyana, Marmi, and Ahar.

References

  1. Bisht, R. S. and others (ed.) (2000), Indian Archaeology 1993-94 - A Review, New Delhi:Archaeological Survey of India, pp.93-7

Coordinates: 24°43′N 73°59′E / 24.717°N 73.983°E / 24.717; 73.983

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