Ahmedabad: A vast settlement surrounded by a fortified structure believed to be about 4,500 years old and belonging to the Harappan civilisation has been excavated at Shikarpur village in Kutch district.
The team which has been excavating the site in Bhachau taluka of Kutch since last three years, is headed by Kuldeep Bhan and P Ajithprasad of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara.
"A huge fortified structure made out of unbaked mud bricks has been excavated by our team. The ratio of height, width and length of the bricks is 1:2:4 which is what we call
Harappan ratio," Ajithprasad told a news agency.
"The fortification is spread over nearly one hectare area, with 10 m thick walls," he said.
"Though the exact period when this structure could have been constructed is yet to be ascertained, primarily it appears to be roughly 4500-years-old, built between 2500 BC
and 2200 BC and is part of the Harappan civilisation," Ajithprasad said.
"The purpose of building such thick walls could be protection from natural calamities, external enemy or to impress upon other settlements," he added.
According to the professor, the fortification has an open space in the centre with small structures surrounding it.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 08, 2010, 12:31