The Archaeology of Middle Ganga Plain : New Perspectives (Excavations at Agiabir)/Purushottam Singh and Ashok Kumar Singh. New Delhi, Aryan Books, 2004, xvi, 93 p., tables, figs., plates, $42. ISBN 81-7305-267-0.

    Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. The middle Ganga plain. 2. Results of Agiabir excavations. 3. Metal objects. 4. Seals and sealings. 5. Other finds. 6. Epilogue. Bibliography. Index.

    "The Ganga has been the cradle of Indian culture and civilization. As Sir Mortimer Wheeler said, 'if the Indus gave India a name, it may almost be said that the Ganges gave India a faith'. The entire Ganga Plain is divided into three units: (i) The upper (ii) the middle (iii) the lower. The middle Ganga Plain stretches to about 300 km from the Himalayan foothills in the north and Vindhyan ranges in the south.

    The ancient settlement of Agiabir is situated on the left bank of the Ganga in district Mirzapur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. The present monograph embodies the results of archaeological excavations conducted during 1998-2000 at Agiabir by the authors. The excavations has provided a culture sequence of about two thousand years ranging in date from c. 1500 BC to AD 700 and reveals that many hitherto unrecorded facets of human civilization had remained undocumented so far. The rich find of terracotta discs, metal tools, lamp-stands, etc. make the site all the more important.

    The results of this excavation, spectacular in several ways, have been evaluated against the backdrop of up-to-date discoveries made in the archaeology of the Middle Ganga Plain." (jacket)

Return to Arts of India Catalogue