BURZAHOM PITS
34.168100,74.877800
Description
Burzahom (de TERRA 1940: 153) or »Burzuhom« (PARRAY, K A 2011: 805) is the type site of the man-made, neolithic –>Kashmir-Swat pits. The currently known 82 soil sunken pits are situated 20 km along the road north-east of Srinagar at the foot of Mahadeva Hill (STRASSER 1993: 347) and reached by the shortest route (16 km) via Naseem / Nasim Bagh (note 1) or (19 + 5 km) via the famous Shalimar Garden (note 2) of Jahangir. The site was known to the archaeological world due to the Yale-Cambridge expedition lead by Helmut de Terra and T. T. Paterson who discovered it and conducted small excavations in 1935 (de TERRA 1940: 153). Between 1961 to 1967 archaeological excavations under the supervision of T. N. Khazanchi (IAR 1961-1967) revealed circular pits (up to 4 m deep and up to 4.6 m in diameter) in addition to square and rectangular pits (up to 6.4 x 7 x 1 m) featuring steps, niches, inter-connecting arched corridors, adjacent pits (0.6 to 0.9 m in diameter), post-holes (to support thatched wooden superstructures ?), plaster, and hearths made from stone and clay.
NOTE 1: Nasim Bagh N34°08'10”: E074°50'25” (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). De TERRA (1940: 153-154): »Die Straße zu den Mogulgärten führt am Dalsee entlang, in den die Platanen ihre rostbraunen Blätter warfen. Im Nischatbagh plätscherten Märchenbrunnen, und Asterbeete glühten aus dem satten Grün der schattigen Rasen. Dann bog der Wagen in einen Feldweg ein. Durch Reisfelder schlängelte er sich bis zum Dorf, das von einer ebenen Terasse überragt wird. Der Dorfälteste führte mich hinauf zu dem Monument [menhir], in dem ich graben wollte. … Vor mir standen sieben etwa vier Meter hohe Steine plattigen Formats. … Erst beim näherkommen merkte ich, daß fünf solcher Säulen halb im Boden vergraben lagen …«NOTE 2: Shalimar Bagh N34°09': E074°52' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003).
Documents
Bibliography 24/03/2016- Agrawal, Dharma Pal 1982; Conningham, R A E & Sutherland, T L 1997; Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1966-67; Joshi, Jagat Prati & Deva, Krishna 1998; Khazanchi, T N 1976; Pande, B M 1970; Sant, Urmila 1991; Sharma, A K 1982, 1998, 2001; [de] Terra, Helmut de 1940; Terra, Helmut de & Paterson, T T "Tom" 1939.
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.5 | HARAMUKH SINKHOLES AND SWALLETS | ||
| 12.5 | NARA NAG SPRING | ||
| 14.8 | KHIR BHAWANI SPRING | ||
| 17.9 | PHUK NAG | ||
| 19.5 | LASHIMARG SINK | ||
| 20.3 | TOOMOO CRATER | ||
| 20.4 | FAKIR'S GARDEN CAVE, Manasbal | ||
| 20.4 | MANASBAL (Waltham 1971) (Cave at) | ||
| 21.8 | MAHANILA CAVES |