The Chalcolithic Age, also known as the Aeneolithic or Copper Age, is a phase in the development of human culture in which the use of early metal tools appeared alongside the use of stone tools.

The excavators led by Prof Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, chairman of the Department of Archaeology at Jahangirnagar University, traced a pit-dwelling, one of the primary means of living in which people lived in small ditches, at Wari-Bateswar under Belabo upazila, some 70km from the capital.

This is the first discovery of the Chalcolithic occurrence in the country, the earlier findings not dating back before the Mouryan Age in 400BC.

Artefacts of the pit-dwelling era in the Indian subcontinent have been found at places including Burzahom at Swat Valley in Pakistan, which is around 5,000 years old, and Inamgaon in South India, which dated back to around 1400BC-700BC.

The team of Rahman and his students found a water reservoir, a hearth, a storage pit and some household accessories inside the pit-dwelling. They also unearthed an earlier dug-out road, leading to what seems to be a fortified town.

A pioneer in the field, Rahman had started excavating the area in 2000 and unearthed relics and artefacts, challenging the established notion that the region did not have any history of early urbanisation.

The team in March 2004 found a 20-metre stretch of a road, which later tested to be some 2,450 years old. Examining the location and landscape, they claimed it to be a fortified town which is a significant symbol of urbanisation in the area.

This year's excavation, sponsored by GrameenPhone, dug out 180 metres stretch of the road, which is six metre wide and 21-35cm thick, with a by-lane, leading towards a citadel with protecting canals on its four sides.

Rahman said this proves that his earlier much-debated claim of a town buried under earth corresponds to a time much before the Christian era.

Although the finding of the road and a by-lane itself is a major discovery that indicates a planned town, the magnitude of pit-dwelling surpasses by its novelty and old age.

PIT-DWELLING
Rahman and his students started digging a six metre by four metre trench in February last year. They dug up to 1.3 metre deep to find a pit on the ground level of the ancient time.

"We took the hole for a garbage pit," said Rahman. In February this year, the team found a hearth on the other side of the ditch, a dish and bones beside it, which confirmed about the pit-dwelling settlement, Rahman explained.

Usually, Chalcolithic people stored grains in those holes, he said.

They dug another metre horizontally from the hearth and found four bags of ash. They also found a well, a sign of a pillar for supporting the roof, dishes and a coconut, the earliest known botanical remain in the region.

The coconut and two other samples have been sent to the Institute of Archaeology at London University, which took up the task of determining the age of these finds through Carbon-14 dating.

The road, which was exposed after excavating just a few inches from the ground level, dates back to a time older than 450BC. "The water reservoir, hearth, storage pit and other household accessories, which have been found after digging more than a metre, convince me that the pit-dwelling settlement dates back to a much earlier period," Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday.

The archaeologists are now studying the environment of the dwelling place, means of living and other aspects of the time to learn more about the inhabitants who settled there.

The finding has also drawn attention to the time's climate as the rain-prone weather of this region does not permit such living styles, said Rahman. "Pit-dwelling is more suitable in semi-arid or arid weather, which does not match our present conditions," he said.

THE ANCIENT ROAD LINK TO URBANISATION
Rahman's March 2004 discovery of the oldest road, a fortified citadel and a range of artefacts dating back to 450BC in the same area promised to redefine the history of eastern India and embolden the theory of the civilisation on the Brahmaputra valley.

The discoverers claimed the road is a symbol of a planned town with urbanised surroundings. But some archaeologists challenged the claim, saying no structures were found in the area to claim it as a "civilisation". They even questioned the proof of the unearthed structure to be "a road".

The recent discovery, however, not only proves Rahman's claim but also makes the excavators more ambitious who believe the road may lead them to some significant architecture --possibly some building used for dwelling or administrative purposes--as the 180-metre "main" road takes a 90-degree turn to the south protruding a by-lane the other way.

"The base of the road is lime-surki and the road is rammed at several places--a fact that further strengthens the concept of its being a road. We also found brickbats and shards of earthen pots," Rahman said.

"The inhabitants certainly had architects, civil engineers and town-planners which indicate the ancient people were much skilled and had aesthetic sense," he said.

He referred to his early claim of an industrial area at the site manufacturing beads of some semiprecious stones like quartz, amethyst, carnelian, jasper and chalcedony.

"The industry must have had a comprehensive system of labour, trade, administration, guild, trade route and transportation facilities with areas with raw materials--probably to South India--which can be linked to the recent findings," Rahman said.

Rahman's team has suspended the excavation work until next December as the coming rainy weather is not perfect for such work.

EXPERTS' OPINION
Prof Dilip K Chakraborty, an expert on South Asian archaeology and a teacher of Cambridge University, said the discovery of pit-dwelling is historic.

"Hearing about the measurement and description of the site, I think, that is definitely a pit-dwelling," Chakraborty told The Daily Star over telephone. The discovery is historic as no such settlement has been found in the region earlier, he added.

Habibullah Pathan, 68, a local with no academic background in archaeology, first started collecting artefacts and writing books on the site following his father's belief that the place had some archaeological significance. Habib also firmly believes that the road indicates early urbanisation in the area.

"It is now proved that there was a fortified citadel and the more we dig, the more discoveries will come up," Habib told The Daily Star.