Plant remains from Atranji Khera phase III (1200-600)

Abstract

Atranji Khera, on the bank of the river Kalinadi, a tributary of the Ganga, is in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. The site was excavated from 1962 to 1966 by the History Department of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. It has revealed a chronology of human habitation from C. 2,000 to 200 B.C., determined by radio carbon method. The plant remains recovered from Phase III, i.e. C. 1,200-600 B.C., are rice, barley and wheat as well as two different plant fibres. The archaeological and botanical significances of these finds in relation to plant remains of earlier age are discussed in some detail.