Maharashtra: Solapur excavation of human skeleton sheds light on ritual burial practices

To shed light on the evolution of society and practices of burying the dead in Maharashtra, archaeologists have found a ritual burial, which is estimated to have emerged in the early historic period. Researchers from the University of Solapur, who have unearthed the human skeleton, are planning to conduct DNA tests on it to ascertain the genetic stock of the people who inhabited the site. These people are estimated to have inhabited the site in the Satavahana period.

Maya Patil (Shahapurkar), head of the department of archaeology, University of Solapur, said, the skeleton was found during an excavation at a Satavahana-era site at Narkhed village in Solapur's Mohol taluka.

This early historic site is located near the Bhogawati river, which is a tributary of the Sina, that further merges into the Godavari. It is estimated to have been populated during the Satavahana era (between 200 BC and 200 AD).

"This seems to have been a ritual burial as some pottery was also found above the body. The skeleton was found in a sitting position and had its arms under its hips. It had a copper earring in the right ear and something like a nail or a tooth strung around the neck using a thread," said Patil, adding that it was rare to find such ritual burials from the Satavahana era.

The skeleton was buried in the backyard of what seemed to be a house indicating that the people in that era believed in rebirth. They may have wanted the dead person to be reborn in the same house or family.

"We will study this to understand how society, and especially, practices of cremating or burying the dead have evolved over the years," Patil said.

She said they had also involved anthropologists from the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute in Pune for the study.

"The DNA testing of the skeleton is also proposed to check the age and sex of the individual and if the people who inhabited the site belonged to local genetic stock or were migrants," noted Patil.

Experts in pottery have deduced that the pottery found at the burial site might be from the Chalcolithic period.

Excavations at the site have also revealed that the flourishing agrarian and trading culture faced a decline due to factors like climate change.

The Satavahana dynasty was among the first indigenous rulers of Maharashtra. The kingdom is said to have reached its pinnacle under the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni, who defeated the Western Satrap king Nahapana in the second century. The 'Gatha Saptashati,' a collection of poems and folk songs, was compiled by King Hala Satavahana.