A NEW LOOK AT ANCIENT PUNE THROUGH SALVAGE ARCHAEOLOGY (2004-2006)

Author(s): P.P. JOGLEKAR, SUSHAMA G. DEO, PANDURANG BALAKAWADE, ARATI

DESHPANDE-MUKHERJEE, S.N. RAJAGURU and AMOL N. KULKARNI
Source: Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute , 2006-2007,
Vol. 66/67 (2006-2007), pp. 211-225
Published by: Vice Chancellor, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute
(Deemed University), Pune

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 A NEW LOOK AT ANCIENT PUNE THROUGH SALVAGE
ARCHAEOLOGY (2004-2006)

P.P. JOGLEKAR, SUSHAMA G. DEO, PANDURANG BALAKAWADE,

ARATI DESHPANDE-MUKHERJEE, S.N. RAJAGURU
and AMOL N. KULKARNI

Introduction city) dated to about 8th century A.D., and to

the fact that area near the caves on the left
The city of Pune is situated on the river Mutha
in Pune District, Western Maharashtra. Thebank of Mutha river till recently was known
river Mutha flows through modern Pune city.as "pandhari" (in Marathi meaning an old
It is an allochthonous bedrock stream that habitation). Another corroborative evidence
in the form of a copper plate inscription dated
originates in the Western Ghats. It is joined
to c. A.D. 758 is available (Dhere 2000: 11-
by the river Mula within Pune city at a place
called Sangam. From here onwards the river 12). This inscription clearly refers to a land
is known as Mula-Mutha. The archaeology grant given by Rashtrakuta king Krishna-I
of Mula-Mutha river basins has been studied in several villages in the "Punya Vishaya"
by a few earlier scholars and the area gave(i.e. Pune province). Another such inscription
evidence of human activity during prehistoricof the 10th century A.D. of Shilahara king
times. Sankalia (1958) first discovered a few Aparajita (A.D. 993) mentions "Punaka
Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in the exposed Vishaya". Thus it is clear that at least between
gravel near Bund Garden. Subsequently Joshi8th and 10th centuries A.D., Pune was
(1964) reported a fresh core-chopper made onan important political unit, and perhaps
dolerite near Dattawadi on the bank of riverpresent Pune city was the original place for
Mutha. Rajaguru (1970) studied Pleistoceneadministering the province (Dhere 2000:
alluvial and colluvial formations exposed on 11-12).
the banks of Mula-Mutha. He also reported A glance through previous discussions
a few Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from about antiquity of Pune brings quite interesting
the Bund Garden area near Sangam. Latertheoretical constraints that historical narratives
Sankalia (1987) found a Palaeolithic site on from. All the evidence has been
suffer
the Deccan College campus. interpreted by earlier scholars on the premise
that Pune was a small-scale settlement of
In spite of the above evidence many
a rural
scholars while discussing historicity of nature, and it did not exist before
Pune as a settlement tend to ignore this emergence
rich of the Rashtrakutas as a dominant
political force in Maharashtra. This assumption
archaeological data. For example, Diddee
about historicity of Pune continues in spite of
and Gupta (2000: 23-26) refer to the origin
of Pune from three village settlements.a fewIt isolated but important references to the
is clear from their account that theysettlement
are of an older period (Kantak 2002:
47).
referring to villages during recent medieval Pune was perhaps known to the western
world
past. Dhavalikar (2000: 21) points to the as Punnala. Ptolemy refers to a place
Punnala' in western Maharashtra that supplied
rock-cut caves at Pataleshwar (now within

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212 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)

Fig. 1 : Location of trenches

trenches.
beryls. It is interesting to note that One of their important contribu
one Mr.
in thetofield
Fryer, a 1 7th century traveller, referred Pune of alluvial geomorpholog
the detection
by a similar name - 'Punnata' ( Gazetteer of the of increase in flood freq
duringthese
Bombay Presidency 1885: 402). Besides the Early Historic period and de
in the same during the Muslim-Ma
textual references, recent multi-disciplinary
(Late Medieval)
archaeological investigations within Pune period in response to
climaticdates
city have revealed that its antiquity changes. It was also suggested
back considerably (Shinde et al.low-energy
2002-2003). nuisance floods affected
Historic
This work was possible due to settlement. This work establish
constant
vigilance by two of the authors existence
(Pandurang ofpre-Rashtrakuta (Satavahan
Balakawade and S.N. Rajaguru) who look for century B.C. to 4th-5th cen
Vakataka: 2nd
A.D.) trenches
any archaeological material whenever settlements in the older parts of Pu
the
are dug for constructing buildings first
and time through salvage archaeol
laying
the pipelines within the Pune city area.
This paper is an outcome of continuatio
Foundation pits taken at building salvagecon-
archaeological work that was in
in 2002-2003.
struction sites provide good opportunity to It summarises the archaeo
data and
unearth archaeological material. Shinde et provides
al. a new interpretation
ancient
(2002-2003) through such salvage operations settlement pattern on the backg
within Pune city collected relevant of field
recent geoarchaeological observation
data
for understanding the geoarchaeological
order to verify these preliminary geom
background of historical antiquities findings on the behaviour of river Mut
found in the

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A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology (2004-2006) 2 1 3

Fig. 2: Location PN6

its tributaries during the Late Holocene we

continued our examinations of foundation
trenches in Old Pune city during 2004 and
2006. Here we are reporting some of the
new findings, particularly related to the site
formation process and flood hydrology of theFig. 3: Location PN8
river Mutha and its tributaries.

2.5 m below the surface. Invariably in all the

Salvage Work (2004-2006) trenches top 40-50 cm is ' bharav ' (filling)
Shinde et al (2002-2003) studied five which is not older than 200 years B.P. This
foundation trenches taken for the construction layer is underlain by brownish silty clay to
of modern buildings in the old city area. In clayey silt with primary and semi-primary
addition, between 2004 and 2006, we made habitation material of last 2000 years (this
observations at eight foundation trenches chronology is based on typology of potsherds
(Fig. 1), and collected archaeological material and of other antiquities, e.g. brick size).
(Fig. 2). The locations are Pawale Chowk The thickness of brownish silt (clay) as
(PN 6), Sattoti Chowk (PN7), Kasba Ganpati observed in these trenches does not exceed 2.5
Temple (PN8), Jogeshwari Temple (PN9), to 3 m. The brownish silt disconformably caps
Assorted locations (PN 10), Shaniwar Peth
either non-calcretised reddish brown-clayey-
(PN11), Koregaon Park Area (PN 12) and silt (PN 1 1) or dark brown clay-silt with well-
Bund Garden Area (PN 13). Locations PN
developed blocky and crumb structures (PN 8).
6 to PN 10 revealed evidence of habitation
The trench PN 9 showed weakly consolidated
material such as a brick wall at PN 7 at a
1 m thick cobbly-pebbly and well-rounded
depth of 1 m below the surface; ash lenses
gravel with predominance of compact and
with abundant charcoal at (PN 6 to PN 8),
tachylitic basalt. This gravel is moderately
and almost intact pots at PN 8 at a depth of
sorted, clast-supported, non-stratified and

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2 1 4 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)

brownish clayey-silt of 2 m thickness. It has

preserved ash lenses varying in thickness from
20 cm to 50 cm, charcoal pieces, and a few
intact pots and unrolled potsherds (Fig. 4). One
of the interesting finds here was large number
of broken shells and shell bangle fragments at a
depth of 1 .8 m from the surface. The brownish
clayey silt was found to be disconformably
capping reddish brown non-kankary clayey
silt without any traces of antiquities. The
reddish-brown silt continued up to a depth of
3 m below the surface.

Investigation of a number of foundation

trenches in 2004-2006 revealed that non-
calcretised silt yielded potsherds, animal
bones, complete pots, broken but un-abraded
large pots, glass bangles, shell bangles and
workshop debitage, and remains of a brick
wall structure. Along with these antiquities,
thin lenses of ash layers, charcoal specks
Fig. 4: Ash lenses found in PN8 are also found in brownish silt. Antiquity-
bearing brownish silt appears to be capping
non-calcretised reddish brown silt in three
un-graded. Proportion of amygdaloidal
trenchesbasalt
(PN6, PN7 and PN8) and a weakly
and chalcedonic silica is less than 2%. The
consolidated gravel bed in trench PN8.
gravel did not yield any antiquities. The base
From the studies of the foundation pits it
of the gravel could not be exposed. The gravel
is clear that primary context of the habitation
was disconformably capped by dark brown material is the stabilised surface. This surface
clayey silt with development of blocky pods.
developed either on the Late Pleistocene
The silt is 30 cm thick and has preserved un-
alluvium, or on the Holocene silts. Shell
abraded potsherds, brickbats and charcoal
debitage and bangle pieces were resting on
pieces (probably medieval). Presence of
brownish silt. Crumb peds indicate that this
channel gravel establishes that Ambii Odha,
silt is moderately pedogenised. In PN7 a
a tributary stream, was flowing at 548-549m
brick wall was noticed (Fig. 5). Brownish
AMSL sometimes during the Holocene.
silt underlying this brick structure also has
This confirms historical documentation
developed blocky peds. These two examples
of the existence of Ambii Odha near
clearly demonstrate that antiquities in primary
Jogeshwari temple during the 1 7th century A.D.
context are preserved on the stable and weakly
Trench PN 8 is located about 500 m south
pedogenised surface. On the other hand,
of the present bank of the river Mutha (Fig. 3).
antiquities in semi-primary context occur in
The depth of this trench is about 3 m below the
non-pedogenised flood silts, thereby indicating
surface. Old foundation stony fill was capping
disturbance due to 'nuisance floods' either of

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A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology (2004-2006) 2 1 5

Fig. 5: Bricķ wall at PN7

the river Mutha, or of its southerly tributaries section is near Bund Garden (PN 13) and the
like Ambii Odha and Nagzari Naia. These second near Koregaon Park (PN12). The
floods are short-lived and of low energy. basal unit of both these sections is basalt and
It appears that such 'nuisance floods' were is capped either by calcretised reddish brown
mainly böcause of the back-ponding effect of alluvium or yellow silt. Both these sections
the Mutha River on its tributaries during the have preserved channel gravel deposit which
later half of monsoon season (i.e. in the month comprised moderately weathered pebbles
of August and September). (heterogeneous in composition) and it is clast-
During this period the drainage basin of supported and crudely laminated. This gravel
the Mutha is saturated with surface as well as indicates the lateral shifting of the channel
sub-surface water. Thus our field examination from south to north. This older channel-gravel
is overlain by yellow silt with sandy lenses
of various trenches throw some light on the site
formation process. Weak pedogenesis of flood (with microliths). The yellow silt is covered
silts and back-ponding effect of the Mutha on with black fissured clay. The antiquity of this
its tributaries have played an important role silt goes back to early late Pleistocene.
in the preservation of historical antiquities
in flood deposit in primary and semi-primary Alluvial Geomorphology of Historical
context. Pune

We studied two foundation pits on the Rajaguru ( 1 970) and Shinde et al. (2002-2003)
studied alluvial deposits preserved on the
right bank of the river Mula-Mutha. The first
♦

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216 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)

toconfluence
right bank of river Mutha from its black soil, technically known as v
with the Mula to about 1.5 km upstream
with a maximum thickness of 1 .5 m. Raja
in old parts of Pune city. In this paper
(1970) we our detailed laboratory s
carried
discussed alluvial fills of the Late including
Pleistocene
petrography, clay mineralog
age (Rajaguru 1970) briefly as our main
elementary chemistry on varieties of si
thrust is to understand Late Holocene alluvial
clays and tried to interpret palaeoenviron
geomorphology in the context of against his
discovery ofgeneral studies of Quate
Early Historical antiquities. alluvial fills in Upland Maharashtra.
tentatively
The maximum depth of alluvium is not assigned Late Pleistocene age t
calcretised alluvial fill and argued that t
more than 10 m and it extends laterally (1.5
km) on the right bank of the Mutha. The both by the Mutha (as ind
was deposited
alluvial fill has developed threeby reddish brown silt) and by sou
permanent
benches at 550-552 AMSL, 547-545 m AMSL (as indicated by yellowish b
tributaries
and 543-541 m AMSL, whereas silt). On the basis of presence of dominan
the present
mineral-montmorillonite Rajaguru sug
channel level of the Mutha near Omkareshwar
Temple is 539 m AMSL. The that the climate
alluvial fill remained primarily sem
However, isolated inliers of reddish brown
has been dissected by southern ephemeral
streams like Ambii Odha and Nagzari naia, around Datta Wadi in Pun
particularly
contain
which originate in the footslopes of significant amount of kaolinite
Sinhgarh-
Bhuleshwar west-east runningsuggest presence of sub-humid climate
hill range.
catchment area of the Mutha and it§ tribu
The alluvium can be mainly sub-divided into
following two types: sometime during the Late Pleistocene.
gravel lenses are channel bars and in
(A) Calcretised alluvial fill with that the Mutha has been flowing at its pr
a maximum
thickness of 10 m is commonly observedlevel
channel in since the early Late Pleis
and has
old Pune city. The fill predominantly consistsmarginally shifted its course b
of reddish or yellowish brown 300 m from
sandy silt south to north at some p
The calcretised alluvial fill over which
with lenses of dark brown fissured silty clay
550-552well-
and cobbly-pebbly clast-supported bench has developed, belongs to
the Latelenses
cemented gravel. Generally gravel Pleistocene and has preserved very
good
occur in the basal part of the fill evidence
and they of flood activity of Seasonally
flowing
rest unconformably on varieties of basalt.streams in semiarid environment.
The Late Pleistocene fill has been strongly
The gravel is dominated by sub-rounded to
dissected and
rounded compact basalt. It is un-graded and a younger non-calcretised
weakly laminated in its sandyalluvial
facies. fill has developed as an inset fill within
The
the Late Pleistocene fill.
thickness of the gravel varies from 1.0 to 2.5
m. The overlying silt is affected by cumulic
calcisol development, as indicated(B)
by Non-calcretised
excellent brownish and reddish
rhizoconretions and prismatic peds.brown silt (3 to 5 m thick) ¿ generally
Fissured
rest disconformably on or against older
clay lenses are common in upper part of the
Late Pleistocene deposit and on varieties of
fill and they vary in thickness from 1 m to 2 m.
basalt.
The upper most part of the fill has weathered

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A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology (2004-2006) 217

Fig. 6: Red ware at Pune

Fig. 7: Red ware at Pune

Three benches developed on the alluvial Mutha rivers in response to changes in summer
fill are related to erosion due to the Mutha monsoonal rains in Peninsular India. These
river and its tributaries during the Holocene. scholars, based on well-dated slack water
The higher bench (550-552 m) is relatively flood deposits and archaeobotanical data,
well-preserved and the lowest (542-543 m) have argued that summer monsoon rainfall
bench has sharp contact with the middle bench was better during the Early Historic period
(545-547 m) which grades to the highest (~2000-1200 B.P.) than during the Medieval
bench. Such benches commonly develop period (14th -18th centuries A.D.).
in a doab region where flood activity of the
main stream is not in harmony with flood Ceramic Assemblage
activity of the tributaries. These benches are The most common ceramic findings from all
therefore, not terraces of the Mutha but are
the locations include vessels of various types
related to normal cut and fill activity in the that are used for daily activities such as cooking
doab region. Variation in frequency of high and storage. These vessels are useful indicators
floods is other important factor responsible of the technological development, food habits,
for the development of these benches during artistic and aesthetic qualities, trade patterns
the Late Holocene. High floods were more
and general economic conditions in the past.
frequent during Early Historic period and In the present work the ceramic fragments
less frequent during the Late Medieval period were not collected with stratigraphie control.
(~15th to 18th centuries A.D.) (Shinde et al. Hence, the pottery finds described below are
2002-200^). Recently Kale and Baker (2006), classified purely on the forms and fabric. At all
Deotare (2006) and Deotare et al. (2006) the locations in Pune city pottery included the
have argued for changes in flood regime in Red ware, Red Slipped ware, Burnished black
Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, Purna and Mula-
slipped ware, and Black burnished ware.
J

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2 1 8 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)

Table 1 . Red ware fragments found at various locations

Reg. No. Description

PN 12- 12 Fragment of a lid with a well projected roof-edge

rounded edge

PN 10-5 Fragment of a globular pot with out-turned beaded

a prominent groove on the shoulder of the pot

PN 1 0-26 Fragment of a globular pot with short neck and r

slightly angular external edge having a groove inside; t
of the rim marked by a deep groove, one prominent rid
shoulder portion of the pot

PN 10- 16 Fragment of vessel with external projecting round

an angular carination; two shallow grooves above the c
round base

PNI 0-10 Fragment of a vessel with out carved rim with a groove inside and
prominent ring outside having a round edge; straight neck with three
raised bands, two of them on the upper end and one is on fhe junction
of shoulder and neck

PN 10- 15 Fragment of round pot with external projecting tapered rim;

constricted neck; sloping shoulder, thin groove lines round the
shoulder

PN 10-23 Complete bowl; flaring sides having a gentle curve and narrow
discoid base; deep inner base

PN8-15 Fragment of globular pot with short neck and external projecting
square rim; flat on top

Red ware (Figs. 6-7, Table 1) beaded, round, flattened, ridged, grooved on
The fabric of the Red ware varies from well- the inside, etc., but they are mostly everted.

levigated clay to gritty with a lot of grass and

Identifiable shapes are small and medium
sand tempering making the fabric porous, but
sized globular pots, carinated bowls, V-shaped
it is medium-fired in most cases. Coarse clay; bowls, storage jars, and lid-cum-bowls,
finely burnished slipped ware to rough red
ware; bright red colour to dull-red and brown Red slipped ware (Figs. 8-9, Table 2)
colours are discovered. Some potshards bear Fabric of this category is medium coarse. A
decoration in thin lines (incised marks) and thick coat of slip is applied. In some cases the
grooves The rims are of various types, like slip is burnished. Colour varies from pale red

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A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology (2004-2006) 2 1 9

to deep brick red/ brown. Identifiable shapes

are small and medium sized pots, globular
pots with out turned rim and constricted neck,
storage jars, 4 dish, carinated pots, etc.
A few Red Slipped ware fragments found
at PN7 showed fabric and shapes similar to
those found at PN 10. It included a fragment
of globular,pot with short neck (PN7-14).
This pot was ill- fired. Another fragment of
a globular pot (PN7-2) has a medium-sized
neck, and externally projecting (short beaked)
rim. The core of this pot is medium-coarse.
A globular pot with a medium-coarse core
(PN7-8) found from the same context has a
rounded rim and a deep groove inside the rim Fig. 8: Red slipped ware at Pune
A small pot with everted rounded rim (PN7-9)
has two visible grooves on the shoulder. This
pot is medium-coarse and well-fired.

BurnishecĻ black slipped ware

Burnished black slipped ware was noticed
only at PN 10 where a handful of fragments
were recovered. The fabric of this category
varied from coarse to fine. The slip is thin
and shows various shades of grey and black.
The shapes are medium globular pots with an
out-turned rim and constricted neck. Some
amount of decoration is seen in the form of
parallel horizontal grooves. Fragment of a
globular pot (PN 10-20) with a constricted
neck has a shallow groove on the shoulder.
PN 10-20 is a fragment of a globular pot with
externally projecting rounded under-cut rim.
It has decorated grooves on the shoulder. This
pot is coarse.

Black burnished ware (Fig. 10, Table 3)

Several fragments of the Black burnished
ware were recovered from two locations Fig. 9: Red slipped ware at Pune
- PN7 and PN8. This ware was not noticed at
other locations.

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220 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)

Table 2: Red slipped ware fragments found at PN8 and PN 10

Reg. No. Description

PN8-13 Fragment of globular pot with short neck; slightly f

rounded edge, flat on top.(Red slipped ware)

PN8-14 Fragment of globular pot with constricted neck; e

rim and rounded edge.(Red slipped ware)

PN 10- 11 Fragment of globular pot with medium sized neck

triangular rim.

PN 10- 19 Fragment of globular pot with external projecting

in external edges; flat and one shallow groove on top. F
shallow grooves on shoulder are visible.

PN 1 0-26 Fragment of globular pot with a beaded out rim one

the rim and medium sized neck; outer edge of the rim m
grooves.

PN10-25 Fragment of a pot with external projecting tapered rim flat on top;
sloping shoulder three parallel shallow^roove on the shoulder.

PN 10-8 Fragment of pot with short neck and out turned rim of rounded edge and
with an angular carinated body with a raised band on the shoulder.

PN 10-6 Fragment of globular pot with flaring rim and rounded in external
edges; two well-cut parallel grooves on the shoulder.

PN 10-1 Fragment of vessel with an out-turned rim of rounded edge having

a groove on the top; carinated body and rounded base; two bands in
relief of equal thickness just above the carination

PN10-9 Fragment of a possible dish having external projecting tapered rim; flat
on top

PNI 0-7 Fragment of storage jar with medium sized nick cut-edged, wider
rim with a shallow groove inside the rim and prominent ridge on the
shoulder.

PN 10-2 Fragment of globular pot with a short neck and everted rim having
broad corrugation on its upper surface and faceted edges.

PN 10-27 Fragment of a storage jar with a grooved rim divided into two edges;
the lower showing a wavy decoration; deep groove inside the rim.

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A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology (2004-2006) 22 1

Fig. 10: Black burnished ware

Fig. 1 1 : Animal remains

Animal Skeletal Remains (Figs. 11-12)
A few animal bones (n=16) showing fairly sp., Oliva sp., Nerita sp. and Turbinella pyrum
good preservation were also recovered. (Fig. 13). The freshwater shells comprised
Amongst these only one bone was measurable. Lamellidens sp., Pareyssia sp. and Bellamya
Some of the bones show traces of cut marks bengalensis. None of these shells show any
and charring. The following species were signs of working or modification. From the
identified (Table 4). Most of the bones belong appearance of these freshwater shells it is
to cattle while representation of wild species clear that these have not been used as a food
is limited. This very small collection showed resource.
presence of cattle, domestic buffalo, goat,
wild pig, spotted deer, hare, porcupine and Shell objects: A total of 95 bangle fragm
peafowl (Fig. 14) were recorded out of which 11
decorated and the rest are without any d
Molluscan Shell Remains or decoration. These were made from the
Turbinella pyrum shell. The fragments are
A total of 1 80 molluscan shell fragments were
mostly narrow. Both finished and unfinished
studied that comprised isolated shells, shell
bangle fragments were recovered. The
objects (bangles and a bead), and fragments
of Turbinella pyrum shell. decorations on the bangles consist slight
incisions, circles, rope-like pattern, embossed
knobs and channelled grooves. The designs
Isolated ¡hells: These consist of both
freshwater and marine shells. The shells engraved on the bangles are typical of the
ranged from complete to the fragmented ones. Early Historic period and are quite similar to
Five species of the marine molluscs identifiedthose found at other sites in Maharashtra like
from the collection were Cypraea sp., AnadaraPaithan, Nevasa, Bhokardan, Ter, etc. One

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222 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)

Table 3: Black burnished ware fragments found at PN7 and PN8

Reg. No. Description

PN8-2 Fragment of a vessel with constricted neck; quadrangu

edge of rim marked by a deep broad groove, flat an
groove on the top; carinated body; parallel shallow g
shoulder.

PN8-6 Fragment of globular pot with short neck; external p

rim; one shallow groove on the top of the rim; fore p
grooves on the shoulder.

PN7-13 Fragment of a pot with externally projecting square

inside ripple marks on the shoulder. Core is gritty and i

PN7-5 Fragment of a pot with medium sized neck, externally projecting

slightly rounded rim, a shallow groove inside the rim.

Table 4: Animal skeletal elements found from Pune

Species Bone description

Bos indicus Shaft portion of Femur unfused, young
Bos indicus Shaft portion of Tibia
Bos indicus Calcaneum, distal end broken, young
Bos/Bubalus Proximal part of Radius with ulna attached
Bubalus bubalis Vertical ramus of Mandible with condoyle, Large with cut and chop
marks

Bos/Bubalus Scapula blade

Capra hircus Small rib fragment
Bos/Bubalus Shaft of radius

Capra hircus Part of pelvis

Capra hircus Small rib fragment
Axis axis Distal portion of tibia
Sus scrofa Isolated canine
Lepus nigricollis Shaft of Femur
Hystrix indica Isolated incisor
Pavo cristatus Long bone shaft
Pavo cristatus Long bone shaft

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A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology > (2004-2006) 223

Fig. 12: Fish remains Fig. 13: Molhiscan shells

circular cylindrical bead made from the central Concluding Remarks

part of T. pyrum columella shell was found in The salvage work done between 2004-2006,
the collection made at PN 10 location.
a continuation of previous such efforts in
Pune city, proved to be of immense value. It
T. pyrum shell fragments comprising portions provided new data and adequate material for
from the spire, columella, main whorl, base, interpreting archaeological record in terms
etc. are present in the collection (Figs. 15-of both historicity of settlement and alluvial/
16). Their edges are sawn indicating cutting hydrological/climate history of Pune. It is
activity using a sharp saw-like instrument. clear that new observations made during
Similar types of sawn shell fragments are2004-2006 confirmed earlier finding that Pune
observed during the manufacture of banglesexisted at least from the early centuries of the
using T. pyrum shells in West Bengal. Today Christian era. Further, this work established
it is only in this region that this particular that not only Pune was a settlement, but was a
type of manufacture is carried out. Hence, it permanent township spread over a large area
is inferred that the cut shells represent shell-much before it was thought to exist.
working debitage that had resulted during
Our limited geomorphological studies of
the manufacture of bangles at the site itself.
foundation trenches helped us in understanding
However, considering the limited evidence, it
changes in flood regime of the Mutha river,
is difficult to estimate the extent of the activity.
and its close relation with human activity
It is quite possible that localised shell working
during the early historic and medieval
was carried out by procuring T. pyrum shells
times, approximately covering a period from
from either Gujarat or from the Southeastern
2000 years B.P. to 200 years B.P. The Late
coast. The evidence for shell working at Pune
Pleistocene calcretised alluvial fill (about 10
is significant since Pune lies on the ancient
trade route from the west coast to the Deccan m thick) is a dominant landscape element
developed at 550 m to 540 m AMSL in the
region.
present study area. This fill formed in response
to climatic changes, which were of degree only

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224 Bulletin of the Deccan College 66-67 (2006-2007)
Fig. 14: Shell bangles
Fig. 15: Body whorls of T. pyrttm
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and not of a kind during the Late Pleisto
The Late Pleistocene alluvial fill has been
dissected strongly probably during the Early
Holocene in response to rainfall increase.
The Late Holocene non-calcretised
alluvial fill, which is 3 to 5 m thick, is inset
into the Late Pleistocene alluvial fill. It has
preserved antiquities on weakly pedogenised
flood silts in primary context, and antiquities
in semi-primaiy context in flood silts deposited
due to back-ponding effect of flood waters
in the later part of summer monsoon. Three
bench levels (550-552 m, 4545-547 m, 541-
543 m AMSL) have developed in response to
significant changes in flood activity of river
Mutha and its tributaries during the Early
Historic and Late Medieval period. These
changes most likely were in response to Late
Holocene climatic changes.
Our geoarchaeological interpretations of
Late Holocene period in Old Pune city have
obvious limitations. Foundation trenches are
kept open for a short period. Excavation by
construction workers is rapid, and at times
they use bulldozers. Due to such reasons it
was not possible to make detailed observations
and use proper sampling strategy. Therefore,
we refrain from drawing firm conclusions
on formation processes responsible for the
preservation of antiquities of historical period
in the Mutha valley at Pune. Though any
salvage archaeological investigation obviously
has serious limitations of recording data, this
work spread over a span of three years has
opened up new avenues of investigation.
At present, the work is limited to only
observations whenever contractors/builders
allowed us to observe the archaeological
finds for a day or two before they resume
construction activity. In such a scenario it
was not possible to observe strict stratigraphie
controls and collect data in a systematic way.
A New Look at Ancient Pune through Salvage Archaeology (2004-2006) 225

In summary it can be said that if systematic

efforts are made to uncover the city's past,
there is immense potential for getting a rich
archaeological record of ancient settlements
of Pune. Such endeavours would enhance
our understanding of social and economic
conditions of people living in Pune through
ages and their adaptations to the climatic/
environmental changes in the past.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank builders/contractors for
allowing them to observe their foundation
Fig. 16: Debitage of shell working
trenches. Mr. Shrikant Pradhan helped in
making neat pottery drawings.

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