Odisha: Archaeologists find traces Of Chalcolithic era in Balasore

Balasore, July 2: Archaeologists in Odisha have discovered a fortified historic site at Durgadevi in Remuna tehsil of Balasore district. Traces of belongings found there are cultural deposits from Chalcolithic- Bronze, Iron and Urban Culture. Durgadevi is located 20 kms from Balasore town in Remuna tehsil bordering Mayurbhanj district. The site has circular mud fortification of about 4.9 kms in circumference and in between the river Sona on south and the Burahabalang on its north-eastern margin. The village Durgadevi, named after its presiding deity of the locality. Again two small nullas Gangahara and Prassana joins the site on its north and south forming natural moat of the site which was an ancient water management system developed at least 4000 years back from present. Excavation was started with an aim to correlate the simultaneous growth and development of Maritime activities, and Urbanisations in East Coast of India linking Ganga valley in North and Mahanadi Valley in Central Odisha, more particularly to focus upon on the early cultural development in northern Odisha. The horizontal excavation was concentred on area of two acres of high land where cultural deposit of about 4 to 5 meter is seen. In the first phase of work, the scientific archaeological digging carried out in the selected trenches and gone up to 2.6 meter. Three cultural phases i.e. Chalcolithic (2000 to 1000 B.C.), Iron Age (1000 to 400 B.C.) and Early Historic Period (400 to 200 B.C.) are marked within the time frame of c. 2000 B.C. to c.200 BC ( 4000 to 2000 years from present).