An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c28.485

v2.c28.485

*Pd I* (OCW, 1st half of the 2nd millennium B.C.). The thickness of the deposit ranges from 80 cm to 1·5 m the average being 1 m. The OCW sherds are wheel-turned and are so fragile that powder comes off even with slight rubbing. Most of the sherds are thick and their edges rolled. In this respect this pottery is similar to that found at BAHADRABAD, AMBKHERI, HASTINĀPURA SAIPAI, etc. The common shapes are the bowl, vase, knobbed lid, dish-on-stand, handle, etc. A large number reveal a thick slip, some having the traces of painting in black pigment. The decorations mainly comprise incised designs such as triangular notches, parallel lines, wavy lines, rectangular lines forming check pattern, etc. Decorations of such a variety have not been noticed in the OCW of other sites except LAL QILA. The culture is believed to have been destroyed by a great deluge (Lal, 1968, pp. 857-63). The plant remains have proved that the people grew two cereals in a year—rice in summer and barley in winter. This perhaps provides one of the earliest evidences of rice cultivation in India [2.2]. They also grew pulses and used *chir* wood brought from the Himalayan tract [2.9]. Among other familiar woods are the *babul*, *sissoo* and *sal*. The presence of bones with sharp cut marks suggest that the people supplemented their cereal diet with meat. They domesticated animals particularly the cow (*Bos indicus*). Among the other finds of the Pd are sandstone and quartzite objects including querns and pestles [6.19], a terracotta bead, a sling ball (?), potter’s dabber [16.11] and two pottery discs [6.7.3].