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WARI-BATESHWAR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Govt's stop order throws excavation into uncertainty

PINAKI ROY
Uncertainty looms over the excavation in Wari-Bateshwar area of Narsingdi where archaeologists discovered artifacts believed to be about 2,450 years old following government orders to stop the digging.
A team of the Archaeology Department of Jahangirnagar University (JU) has been conducting the excavation since 2000 at the site of one of the oldest civilisations in the country. The second phase of excavation completed in February this year.
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Sources said the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in a letter asked the team to stop excavation and return the artifacts found at the site. The team of archaeologists are now examining the artifacts that include a furnace, earthen pots and bronze items.
Head of the JU excavation team Prof SS Mostafizur Rahman has confirmed receipt of the March 9 letter signed by Manoj Mohan Mitra, senior assistant secretary of the ministry.
The discoveries of young archaeologists drew a huge attention of the archaeologists from home and abroad but the government, instead of assisting the excavation, has stopped the digging of a glorious past, the team members alleged.
Many experts believe the discoveries revealed that the area was the eastern limit of Mauryan Empire and that Buddhism was practised there. The remains of the Wari-Bateshwar also show that the region was developed in trade and industry.
The knobbed pottery pieces found at the site suggest the practice of Buddhism in the locality in the ancient period, the archaeologists observed.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Prof Mostafizur said they are now examining the relics to make a final report on the archaeological site. "Obviously we will give back the national treasure but we have to analyse and make report out of those."
"We have been digging the site to reveal the history of a glorious civilisation with the prior permission of the government. We have not done anything wrong," he said.
During the third-phase excavation that ended on February 8, the team discovered a furnace from the mortar pavement at the site. Experts believe it had been used in domestic work or to melt iron.
Earlier, the team discovered the mortar pavement and a road. After the discovery, a carbon-14 dating showed the two villages (Wari and Bateshwar) were part of an ancient city, possibly of the oldest civilisation in this region.
During the first-phase excavation in 2000, a team of JU students
led by Prof Mustafizur found some symbols of an ancient fort city of 450 BC. Pundrabardhan, now known as Mahasthan Garh, is a civilisation of 400 BC.
"If we want to say anything about the civilisation, we have to keep on excavating the site. It's a huge task. Now we are just assuming things based on some artifacts," said Prof Mustafizur who along with his students arranged funds for the excavation.
Asked why the ministry directed him to stop excavation, Mustafizur blamed one official of the Department of Archaeology. "It is nothing but professional jealousy," he said.