Mud for poor, stones for rich in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Four new archaeological sites recently identified in Nalgonda district by state archaeologists have been kept under wraps to facilitate excavations in other sites at Pajjuru and Erragaddaguda in Nalgonda district.

Excavation work will be taken up after completion of the existing ones. At Pajjuru and Erragaddaguda, archaeologists have found rare beads dating back to the 1st to 3rd Century AD when the villages were under the Satavahanas.

“We found some rare beads. Terracotta red and black beads made of burnt mud were generally worn by the poor. The rich went for Jasper beads made of glass, rare Chert (red), steatite (soft stone), precious and semi precious stones,” said assistant director P. Nagaraju, of the department of archaeology and museums (Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar). There is a diamond shaped bead made of red stone.

Department director N.R. Visalatchy had flag-ged off the excavations at Pajjuru on February 18. It will continue for another one month. Archaeologists found a bowl made of terracotta, three terracotta spools used for winding thread and a female figurine.

“The poor normally make use of items made of locally available wood while the rich opt for precious and rarestones. The dwellings that we have unearthed so far indicate it was a location for well to do families,” Mr Nagaraju said. Located 14 km from Nalgonda, the 30-acre excavation site belongs to farmers and is still under cutivation.