Burnt remnants of ancient city found

Raipur: Remnants of a burnt ancient city, believed to be dating back to second century BC, have been found in an archaeological site at Tarighat, nearly 30 km from here. The “gutted settlement” reminds of Roman city Pompeii that was buried under 13-20 ft of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The remains of the charred city have been found around 20 ft below the Tarighat archaeological site which came into national focus when excavation had brought to surface a 2500-year-old urban centre last year.

“A huge burnt patch of around 8 ft height was unearthed at 9-12 th layer believed to be dating back to second century BC,” Tarighat excavation director and archaeologist J.R.Bhagat said exclusively to DC on Thursday.

According to him, evidences establishing that the settlement was completely devastated by a huge fire have been found.

The Tarighat site provides evidence of four continuous cultural sequences during which four settlements — of Gupta period (sixth century AD), Satavahan period (third century AD), Kushan period (1st-2nd century AD) and early history period (1st-2nd century BC) had come up.

The site is situated on the bank of river Kharoun.