Early India and Pakistan to Ashoka c8.39

c8.39

But of published work on the ancient sites of the doāb, the most significant is that carried out in 1950-2 by Mr. B. B. Lal at Hastināpura near an old course of the upper Ganges.⁴⁴ The excavation was designed mainly to reveal the culture-sequence, and was so far successful; the character and function of the buildings sampled at the successive levels remain to be investigated, as they should be, by wider digging. Five main phases of occupation were recognized. The earliest, Period I, was represented by a thin layer, never more than 1½ feet thick and often less, with no structures but with a few much-worn fragments of the Ochre Ware. Neither the shapes nor indeed the technique of the pottery could be ascertained. No implements were found, but the possible association of this ware with the copper hoards has been discussed above.