On Bihar march, CM Nitish spots valuable artefacts

◗ A mound spotted by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at a village in Sheikhpura district has yielded potsherds, perhaps dating back to 1000 BC

Patna, Jan. 1: A mound spotted by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at a village in Sheikhpura district has yielded potsherds, perhaps dating back to 1000 BC.

Potsherds are pieces of broken ceramic pot or other earthenware that have archaeological significance.

“We visited the site yesterday and were thrilled to discover a number of potsherds which give a hint about the antiquity of the mound,” executive director of the K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, Bijoy Kumar Chaudhary, said on Sunday.

The state- run institute, located in the Patna Museum building, researches in the field of history and archaeology.

“Black slip wares and black and red wares found at the site appear to be of a period around 1000 BC. We also found some red furnished ware that could date back to the Neolithic period,” Mr Chaudhary said.

A team of archaeologists conducted explorations at Pharpar village in Ariyari block after getting a call from chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh.

The chief secretary, who was accompanying the CM during his visit to the village on Friday, telephoned Mr Chaudhary after Mr Kumar noticed the mound and observed it looked like a site of historical and archaeological importance, he said.

The village is about 120 km from Patna.

The archaeologists also found some fragmented sculptures of Buddha, Lord Vishnu and some female deities.

“Fragmented sculptures had been found in the village earlier also when our institute was carrying out state- wide explorations. But the mound was overlooked at that time,” Mr Chaudhary said.