Hikers Discover 1500 Year Old Ruins in Kashmir

From Yahoo News (India):

Expeditioners find ancient artefacts in Kashmir
Thu, Apr 15 11:33 AM
Two Expeditioners of South Kashmir's Anantnag district have stumbled upon what they believe to be a 1500-year-old archaeological site in Zalangam village, 85 kms from here, and have suggested to the ASI to undertake excavation work there.

"When we set out for an expedition in the forest, little did we know that we were to discover an ancient civilization," Malik Tariq, an oncologist at S K Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, and Abdul Rouf, an engineering student told reporters.

They said they were researching the springs of Zalangam when they stumbled upon the site where artifacts, bricks, Neolithic-age rocks, stone sculptures and coins were present. The site is located in a forest at a distance of two km from the famous spring of Kokernag in Anantnag.

"It is a prospective archaeological site. It might prove that Kashmiris were exposed to industrial culture much before 5th century when iron ore was used", Rouf and Tariq said.

The duo said they could not excavate the entire field "without any official authorization" and instead consulted the valley's renowned archaeologists and historians.

After discovering the site on February 28, they have been scanning the area and collecting artefacts like pottery, terracotta tiles, bricks, stone sculptures, metal slag and ancient coins.
The duo also released a monogram 'Zalangam: Archaeological Discovery' that offers vivid details of the findings.

The duo suggested that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) take over the site and initiate excavations.

Noted historian Fida Mohammad Hassnain said artifacts like pottery; tiles and bricks found at the site were of the Buddhist era. "Buddhist monks who participated in the 4th Buddhist Council in Kashmir may have visited the place before 5th century," he said.

Hassnain, who is also the former director of archives, archaeology, research and museums, said, "The discovery also depicts that iron ore was used by Kashmiris in the past".

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Oh no - removing artifacts from context - bad, bad, bad!  And they "wrote a monogram" on their discoveries?  What?  Oh yeah, nothing like inviting all the looters into the area, if they haven't already been there.  Geez!  Why not give out GPS coordinates while you're at it, dudes!  If - and that is a big if - the ASI ever gets someone out to investigate the site, there won't be anything left to investigate. 

Ancient Lakshmi Sculpture Discovered in Kashmir

She's a beauty! Ancient stone sculpture of Goddess of 6th - 7th Century A.D. discovered in Indian Kashmir by Vijay Kumar August 01, 2009 Srinagar, August 01(Vijay Kumar) - In Indian Kashmir, J & K Police department discovered an ancient and magnificent stone sculpture of Goddess Lakshmi from an ancient spring at Village Nagabal Lesser in Kokernag area of South Kashmir. The sculpture is brilliantly carved in limestone (slightly brownish in colour) measuring 9-inches in height and 5-inches in width. The deity is seated on a lotus throne placed in between two lions. The main sculpture is enclosed in a stone frame and the top of which projects in the shape of elephant motifs, towards the head of the deity. However, the right top of the right side is missing. The deity is holding lotus stuck in her right hand, cornucopia in her left hand and shown with smiling face and wearing a very impressive dress. The deity is also shown wearing a necklace with a typical crown mostly seen in Kashmiri sculptures. The drapery covering the lower body of the sculpture does not pass through its shoulders but passes beneath the chest of the deity within series of folds and falls. The carving and costumes of the sculpture is a pure reflection of Gandhara Art, and speaks high of skilled craftsmanship of the ancient art of Kashmir. The preliminary study of the sculpture dates the artifact between 6th - 7th Century A.D. and places it very near to the sculptures previously found at Bijbehara, Anantnag, Kashmir. This is the only kind of artifact found from the Lesser Kokernag area of South Kashmir so far and the presence of pottery in an around Village Lesser reveals that there had been some ancient settlements which requires further examination. The department appreciates the efforts of the J & K Police department and Police Station Kokernag, in particular for recovery of the artifact which shall be shortly on display in the SPS Museum, Srinagar for the general public. http://www.scoopnews.in/ *************************************************************** Interesting points of similarity with much older goddess sculptures: (1) Seated on a throne between two lions - cf. "Mother Goddess" or "Queen" discovered at Catal Hoyuk (I don't have the exact date at hand - it's about 8,000 years old -- 6,000 BCE -- maybe older) (2) Lotus throne - while I am not specifically aware of a lotus throne sculpture from ancient Egypt or a tomb painting or carving, the Egyptians revered the lotus, as did the ancient people of India. I do not know if this is independent development of iconography that happens to be identical or if it demonstrates some as yet undiscovered connection between the two cultures. (3) Elephant "motifs" - This might refer to elephant tusks that were broken off this little sculpture - it appears to me that they would have projected outward over the head of the goddess. Interestingly, I believe that the earliest "house of pharaoh" was a wickerware structure covered by an elephant hide, and over the main entrance was hung a pair of elephant tusks. This is very ancient - predates Dynasty Zero - again, working from my (very faulty) memory, I believe it dates to the time before the climate in Egypt got much drier and the elephants retreated, placing it earlier than about 4500 BCE. I believe that the enclosure symbol (think two brackets facing each other with a small space inbetween) for "par-o" or "per-o" remained the same in Egyptian hieroglypics until the language went extinct. However, there are accounts into historical times that small herds of elephants continued to live in the land between the two rivers (Mesopotamia), long after climate change had driven them out of Egypt. There are accounts preserved of ancient kings hunting elephants in this region. I believe the ancient word used in Persia for elephant was "per-u." Coincidence? (4) The mode of costume - most interesting. In ancient Egypt, Crete and no doubt other places as well, a woman's breasts were not covered by her clothes. Garments were wrapped around underneath the breasts, leaving them exposed; in later Cretan dress, sleeves were added to a sort of blouse that covered the back but left the chest/breasts bare, tightly cinched underneath, providing a sort of platform that projected the woman's breasts forward. I don't know exactly when it became "shameful" for a woman to go about in public with exposed breasts - perhaps with the advent of Christendom???