NEW DELHI: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is all set to begin excavation at Delhi’s Purana Qila once again. The excavation will be led by Vasant Swarnkar and will be the third season of excavation at Purana Qila after excavations in 2013-14 and 2017-18.
As per an official statement, this season’s excavation focuses on accomplishing the traces of Painted Grey Ware found in a stratigraphical context.
“The objective of the latest excavation is the exposure and preservation of the trenches that were excavated in the previous years (2013-14 and 2017- 18). During the closure of the previous season’s excavation, evidence of layers predating the Mauryan period was found. During this season’s excavation, the focus would also be to accomplish the traces of Painted Grey Ware finding in a stratigraphical context. Identified as the ancient settlement of Indraprastha, a continuous habitation of 2,500 years at Purana Qila was established in earlier excavations”, an official statement from the Ministry of Culture said.
The findings and artefacts unearthed in earlier excavations comprise painted grey ware, belonging to 900 BC, an earthen pottery sequence from Maurya to Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Rajput, Sultanates and Mughal periods. Artefacts such as sickles, parers, terracotta toys, kiln-burnt bricks, beads, terracotta figurines, seals and dealings etc., excavated earlier, are now displayed at the Archaeological Museum inside the fort complex, it added.
Purana Qilla, the 16th-century fort, was built by Sher Shah Suri and the second Mughal emperor Humayun. The fort is standing on a site with thousands of years of history. Padma Vibhushana Prof B B Lal also carried out excavation works inside the fort and its premises in the years 1954 and 1969-73. (ANI)