Pr ade e p k. Be h e r a an d Pr an a b k c h at toPadh YaY

Figure 6
: trench-i, excavated in the northern sector, showing habitational layers and sequence of cultures.
Table 2
: radiocarbon dates from the iron age deposit of Badmal asurgarh.
Sl. no.
trench no./
depth (cm)
cultural affiliation
& Periods
Lab. code
calendar age
(Bce)
1
trench-i/120
iron age (ic)
iP-275
468±76
2
trench-i/160
iron age (iB)
iP-274
838±86
3
trench-ii/45
iron age (iB)
iP-285
803±44
4
trench-ii/50
iron age (iB)
Kia-20155
617±27
5
trench-ii/115
iron age (iB)
Kia-20154
785±12
6
trench-ii/125
iron age (iB)
Kia-20153
786±11

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i ron age – e ar LY h i Stor i c Pe r i od i n e a Ste r n i n di a . a St u dY i n M ate r i aL c u Lt u r e an d tec h n o Lo gY: 
eV i de n c e FroM th e Site oF B adM aL -a Su rgar h, di Str i c t Sa MB aL P u r , or i SSa , i n di a 
129
after a short occupational break, it was reoccupied during 
Early Historic times, probably by about the early 4
th
century 
BCE. The date of the construction of the rampart could be 
considered as falling within the Early Historic period based 
on circumstantial evidence.
Period I (Iron Age)
During this period the settlement was confined to a limited 
area, situated
towards the highest north-western part of the 
mound, and lacked any fortification wall. The inhabitants 
lived in wattle-and-daub houses. They used a variety of 
materials, including iron spears and arrow-heads and copper 
bangle, bone and antler tools, sling balls of stone, pottery discs 
and a variety of earthen wares. Although they were exposed 
to locally available precious and semi-precious stones, none 
of these materials were found during the trial excavations. 
The early settlers mainly subsisted on limited agriculture and 
domestic as well as wild animals. The deposit of this period 
yielded a large quantity of charred and un-charred skeletal 
remains of wild and domesticated animals bearing distinct 
butchery marks (Fig. 7). The ceramic assemblages, which 
demonstrate close affinity with those from contemporary 
Iron Age settlements of the middle Mahanadi Valley, are 
represented by black-and-red ware pottery of fine to medium 
fabric, black slipped ware, red slipped ware and plain red 
ware pottery. Important shapes in the black-and-red ware 
include flat and round-based convex-sided bowls, dishes and 
medium-sized vases (Fig. 8). While vases of different sizes 
and forms predominate in the red slipped ware group, large-
sized storage vessels of coarse fabric are rare and confined 
to the plain red ware.