Jaintapur findings unique among megalithic culture

An archaeological team of Jahangirnagar University excavate a site at Jaintapur in Syhet district as part of their research work on instances of megalithic period.Photo: STAR

An archaeological excavation team of Jahangirnagar University on Sunday completed their eight-day research work, the first part of the programme at Jaintapur megalithic site in Sylhet, revealing valuable instances that would reflect on the lifestyle of the then people.
"As we have observed, this megalithic assemblage is outstanding and bears uniqueness among the Asian megalithic culture. In the context of India and Asian region, this culture comprises a great variety of styles," Syed Rezaul Kabir Rana, the deputy chief of the programme, said yesterday.
"The megalithic instances with stylistic features found in Jainta, close to the Khasia Hills, are among the richest regional varieties. Here we find unique types of stands, dolmen and menhir that are rare in other megalithic findings in Turkey, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands and Denmark," he said.
"The date of Jaintapur megalithic cultural assemblage has not been determined. But we are hopeful that we can easily deduce the time and cultural practices mainly the burial and sacrificing attitude of the then people through study of artefacts yielded from the excavation. The megalithic cultures earlier recorded in India and other Asian sites go back to 1500BC to 100AD.
"The pictures of megalithic era bear testimony to the heritage and glory of Bangladesh. Our ongoing excavation yielded a profuse amount of different types of fragmentary pottery objects, organic objects, stratigraphic positions which are important sources for better understanding the whole site. The pottery making process and their functional uses are also helpful to recast their burial practices. Their lifestyle, faiths and beliefs and the structural designs of the megalithic contains may be clearly spelt out by using scientific methods.
"This excavation team introduces a methodology styled 'Triangular Cross Matching Method' which is easier to detect, locate and analyse the accurate record of the excavated materials. To ascertain the accurate date of the megalithic assemblage of Jaintapur, we will testify the recorded organic objects using C-14 dating," said Rezaul.
Professor Dr Mostafizur Rahman Khan leads the research sponsored by the Ministry of Education.
The second part of the excavation will start two or three weeks later, officials said.