Carbon-14 dating tests conducted at Bhubaneswar showed that they were 638 years old.
The mystery of the 600 skulls unearthed in Annigeri, Dharwad district, over the last seven months, is set to continue a while longer. On Tuesday, the Dharwad district deputy commissioner Darpan Jain announced that he had received results of the carbon-14 dating tests conducted by the Institute of Physics in Bhubaneswar. The skulls were estimated to be buried 638 years ago, and the margin of error was shown as 60 years.
“The district administration had sent two sample skulls for analysis. The head of the laboratory at the Institute of Physics in Bhubaneswar, DP Mahapatra, has sent the test report. The skulls are said to have been buried 638 years ago,” Jain said.
However, the State Archaeology Department, unsatisfied that the margin of error is 60 years, has sought that the skulls be subjected to another test, this time at the National Physical Laboratory in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
“The margin of error, at plus or minus 60 years, given by the Bhubaneswar lab, is too large. We would like to have a more precise result, so that we can more accurately zero in on the historical period in which the mass burial occurred in Annigeri,” said R Gopal, director of State Archaeology and Museums.
Gopal explained that the skulls did not show any indication of injury, so there was also historical interest in finding out the mode of the massacre. Two methods were adopted at the Bhubaneswar laboratory, while performing the carbon-14 tests on the sample skulls.
A material called collagen (naturally occurring proteins found as fibrous tissue in bones and cartilage) was extracted, and subjected to tests, and even a direct ‘assimilation’ method was used, testing bone drawn from the skulls. The result was the same for both methods. Radiocarbon dating is considered to be highly accurate, and is considered a reliable way to arrive at the age of organic material. Carbon-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon. Its presence in organic material is exploited for the purpose of the test.
In August 2010, as drains were being laid in Annigeri, Dharwad, labourers uncovered a large number of skulls that were buried in neatly laid rows. Nearly 600 skulls were unearthed over the following months. The area was declared a protected area.
District deputy commissioner Jain said a report of the Archaeological Survey of India, expected soon, would throw light on how the skulls came to be buried in the area centuries ago.
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