Early India and Pakistan to Ashoka c10.18

c10.18

The excavation of these various constructions was clumsy and produced no associated evidence as to date. A little recent digging¹¹⁷ on this difficult and often water-logged site has recognized five periods, ranging from that of the N.B.P. Ware (c. 5th century B.C. or later) to the Islamic 17th century. The earliest stratum lay on the natural surface and, with the N.B.P. sherds, yielded 'a good number' of polished sandstone pieces, including one large slab showing the typical Mauryan or Persian polish and bearing a palmette and bead-and-reel pattern of appropriate type. Somewhere under the vast site lies doubtless an earlier nucleus, if we may believe that the foundation of Pāṭaliputra as a Magadha border-fortress occurred in the time of the Buddha, about 494 B.C.¹¹⁸ No site in India would better repay sustained and large-scale excavation.