An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s17.67

v1.c9.s17.67

The site of NAIKUND, 45 km n.-e. of Nagpur, excavated in 1978-9 by the Deccan College, had a habitational mound with a deposit of 1·5 m on an average, about 75 stone circles around the habitational area and evidence of iron smelting. Here the evidence of houses was in the form of circular huts, 6 m in diameter and with wooden posts supporting possibly a conical roof above. The floor inside the house was plastered with lime and in one corner was a horseshoe-shaped hearth of clay. The house debris, besides giving evidence of iron daggers, spears, axes, nail-parers, handled lamps and the black-and-red ware, micaceous red ware and painted black-on-red ware, also gave burnt grains of wheat, common pea, lentil and black gram. The stone circles gave identical pottery and iron objects besides remains of the horse and its copper trippings.