Notes & News 201

Investigating Activities and Spatial Use at Early Historic Site of Ahichchhatra,

Uttar Pradesh: An Ethno-Archaeological Approach

Ahichchhatra (Latitude 28° 21’ 52” N to 28° 22 ’ located at Ramnagar in Aonla tehsil situated in Bareilly
42” N and Longitude 79° 07 ’ 38” E to 79° 08’ 54” E) is district of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated about 55 km away

Fig. 1: The site of Ahichchhatra: 1A. Location in the Ganga plain 1B. Google Earth Image of the site 1C. Different mounds at the site
202
from the Bareilly city in the north-west direction. It
is located between river Ramganga and Ariel, 11 km
away from Aonla. The ruins of Ahichchhatra cover an
area of about 187 hectres, enclosed by a high rampart
wall forming an irregular triangle having a perimeter of
almost 6 km (Fig. 1). It is one of the largest (area-wise)
and probably the longest surviving site in the Ganga
plain (Vikrama 2010: 301).
How space is used informs us much about human
behaviour and how activity areas are distributed tells
us about the material culture of a site. Anthropologists,
such as Gould (1980), Nicholas David and Carol
Kramer (2001) and Susan Kent (1984), have discussed
on the relevance of the ethno-archeological approach
in understanding the spatial patterning in their case
studies. Inspiration is also to be noted from Adrian
Forty’s suggestion on three different uses of the term
‘space’: ‘space as enclosure, space as continuum and
space as extension of body’ (Forty 2000: 206). The
central idea behind the spatial investigation in the
present paper is that distributions of finds and features
at an archaeological site like Ahichchhatra reflect the
past human behaviours and ideas. However attention is
called upon two major aspects in treating this issue in
the present paper: firstly, space is often multifunctional
and there are times when activity changes but the space
is slow in its alteration (Conklin 1990: 43-74). Secondly,
material remains that we find in excavation might have
changed its context by its host or due to secondary and
post-secondary tampering of materials. Thus, whatever
distribution we get today could be misleading. Keeping
this issue in mind, we may proceed in present discussion.
Ahichchhatra has immense potentiality in
identification of intra-site spatial organizations and
related human interactions. Present paper aims at
achieving an understanding about individual, communal
and social space use with the help of material and digital
data. Ethnographic parallels looking into continuities
Pura¯tattva 46
and changes in use of space and similar spatial activities
discussed in present paper will help achieving that
understanding.
Excavations at Ahichchhatra and cultural
sequence
Excavations at Ahichchhatra have been carried out
at several instances by different excavators such as
by Alexander Cunningham in 1862-63 (Cunningham
1871), Fuhrer in 1888 (Fuhrer 1892: 1-4) and after
the recommendations of L. Woolley in 1939 by Rao
Bahadur K.N. Dikshit in 1939-40, A. Ghosh from 1940-
44, in 1963-65 by N. R. Banerjee (IAR 1963-64: 43-44,
1964-65: 39-42) in ACT I and II and later in 2004 by
D. Dyalan near north-western gateway. Excavations at
the site continued under different directors - in 2007-08,
2008-09 by D.N. Dimri, in 2009-2010 by Siddiqui, in
2010-11 by I.D. Dwivedi and in 2012-13, 2013-14 by
B. Vikrama in different localities both inside and outside
of fortification at this site.
The excavations by A. Ghosh had given a chronology
of the site but the position regarding the earliest horizon
of the cultural sequence became cleared in 1965 when
Dr. N.R. Banerjee brought about definite evidence of
the chalcolithic phase designated by Ochre coloured
pottery, further confirmed in excavation during 2012-
13 and 2013-14.
After almost 150 years of intermittent investigation,
with ever growing body of evidence and intelligence,
a clear zeal for fresh understanding of stratigraphy was
understood. This new cultural sequence acknowledges
the cultural commonality of sites of Ganga plain along
with the individual uniqueness of the site.
In absence of Radio Carbon dates, tentative time
periods supported by material and numismatic evidence
are adopted for the cultural phases.
Notes & News
Period I – OCP Period
Period II – Pre-PGW Period (Proto-PGW)
Period III – Early PGW Period architecture. The maximum point of expansion of the
Period IV – Late PGW Period (800 BCE to 300 BCE)
Period V – Mitra Panchal Period (300 BCE to 300 CE)
Period VI – Gupta Period (300 CE to 550 CE)
Period VII – Post-Gupta Period (550 CE- 850 CE)
Period VIII – Early Medieval Period (850 CE to 1200
CE)
This settlement made a modest beginning with OCP
using people and became a substantial settlement under
the Painted Grey Ware cultural phase. The generally
accepted temporal brackets for the Painted Grey Ware
(PGW) phase which is 1500-300 BCE, is recognized at
the site. The defense fortification was constructed by
the people of Late PGW phase. The carbon dates are
available only from Late phase of Painted Grey Ware
475 BCE (Srivastava 2004: 161-168) and 325 to 342
BCE (Pokharia et al. 2015: 1293-1304) up to historical
levels (dating 475 BCE to CE 1280). The stability and
the cultural enrichment reached its zenith during the rule
of ‘Mitra-Panchala’ (approx. the 3rd century BCE to the
4th century CE), a local dynasty at Ahichchhatra until
this rule was dismissed by the Gupta ruler Samudragupta
and annexed to Gupta empire during the 4th century
CE. The Mitra-Panchalas is the longest surviving
local dynasty of Ahichchhatra. They formed a major
power in northern India during the 3rd century BCE
Table 1: Basic layout of the individual and community area
Context Archaeological evidence of Ahichchhatra
Individual activity area Floors, hearth, storage
Community area Market, manufacturing area, potter’s kiln
Supra-community area Royal and religious architecture
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and continued until the rise of Samudragupta. During
the Mitra-Panchala period, Ahichchhatra stabilized
as a center of the Panchala style of terracotta art and
site was achieved during the Mitra-Panchala period. It
is estimated that in this period the excess of population
made the inhabitants cut through the defense wall and
settled outside, to the west of the city. The present paper
examines different activities on and off site during the
Painted Grey Ware and Mitra-Panchala cultural phases.
Seismological evidence as noted by the excavator could
be an indicator of an abrupt end to the habitation at the
site some time in around the 13th – 14th centuries CE.
Research frame
With such information on hand from many
excavations, location of different zones of activities and
the spatial arrangement of recovered cultural material
has been commenced at the site. Three such activities
namely belonging to individual household, potter’s
workshop and market areas were selectively studied in
archaeological context as well as ethnographic settings.
Archaeological temporal context of these three types of
activities is the Painted Grey Ware and Mitra-Panchala
cultural phases. Ethnographic study of plural spatial and
behavioral patterns related with household, communal
and social activities were carried out in the villages
within a range of 6-7 km from the site. Such villages
are Anandpur, Nusratganj, Ramnagar, Baragaon and
Guleria.
Ethno archaeological evidence from nearby villages
House, kitchen, storage area
Market and manufacturing, potter’s household
Shrines, rituals
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Analysis of correlation and interpretation of
information aiming to reconstruct the activity pattern at
Ahichchhatra is discussed at the end of the article. The
inter-relationship between past and present individual
and communal space usage at and around Ahichchhatra
is shown with the help of Table 1.
Archaeological Evidence
Individual Activity Area; House and household
activities:
Houses provide one of our basic necessities. It
represents different concepts to different groups of
people. Activities that are carried out in a house structure
are defined by a social group’s idea of house (Rapoport
1990). Space utilization in early historic multicultural
Fig. 2: Structural activities in trenches B 88, 100, and B 98, 10
Pura¯tattva 46
sites like Ahichchhatra cannot be assigned to labels
such as bedroom, pantry or kitchen. A set of activities
described with western term ‘bed-room’ might not
imply correctly the behaviours and related artifacts
recovered from an early historic abode structure in
India. Nonetheless, a house in western and south Asian
society, as in many cultures throughout the world,
contains a typical number of tasks within its space or
adjacent and associated spaces. At Ahichchhatra authors
investigated the location of hearth, storage jars or bins,
refuse activities like dumps, drain, refuse pits, refuse
bins, ring well, garbage jar in household activities. Large
number and types of pottery point towards variety of
household activities.
At Ahichchhatra, abode structures of the Painted
Grey Ware (PGW) and Mitra-Panchala phases were
Notes & News
built differently by groups of people depending upon
their cultural differences in social organization, resource
management and domestic necessity. In PGW phase,
houses were built by mud and other perishable materials
like bamboo, wood and reed. Two recent seasons of
excavations could not reveal any complete plan of a
household, but burnt and rammed floors were exposed
in many trenches in the eastern part of the site. The walls
were built with mostly mud lumps and burnt bricks with
rare occurrence of mud bricks. Floors were made with
mixture of pottery and clay and sometimes by burnt
wattle and daub materials and other identified types are
mud floor, floor with postholes, rammed brick floor and
rammed pottery floor. In particular area AC-XV, trench
no. BX89X11X2 and BX98X10X4 (Fig. 2) have given
the evidence of successive (Plate 1A) rammed floors
and associated materials, respectively. In Area AC-V,
in trenches BX70X77X1 and BX70X77X2, two abode
plans belonging to the transitional phase of the late
PGW and early Mitra-Panchala periods were exposed.
In the first house one storage jar of red corded ware was
noticed along the mud wall. Towards south of the bin a
clay bin was exposed. The second house had an indirect
entry (made of perishable material) on the west side
as identified from the pattern of post-holes. However
many irregular post-holes of later phase disturb the
layout of second house. In many trenches of locality
ACT-XII and ACT-II, similar kind of the evidence of
house plan with burnt and rammed floor, mud wall and
post-holes have been found along the storage facilities
suggesting houses made by burnt bricks in the mature
and late phase of the Mitra-Panchala period. Interesting
is the brick structure which was found outside the
western gateway with rammed floor and post-holes
in an alignment along the mud wall. This structure
also had two working levels of mud floor with hearth
made of burnt bricks. From the same loci evidence of
broken sherds of storage jars, terracotta balls, potsherds
of vessels used in cooking, water jars and bowls were
recovered. All these information indicate to a possible
abode structure with working levels of open kitchen
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furnished by hearth, storage jar and other ceramics used
in food preparation. Such open kitchen called chaonka
in front of house is a common picture in this region of
Uttar Pradesh.
The evidence of storage activities is reported from
all excavated mounds (AC-XV, AC-V, AC-III, AC-XII,
ACT-VI, and AC-II) of the Ahichchhatra belonging to
conservation of food and manufacturing items or as
well as container. Most important of such evidence of
storage is reported from earliest levels (PGW) of AC-
XV. Here plan of a circular hut with mud walls and
post-holes was exposed belonging to cultural phase of
PGW. Inside the room no evidence of hearth and other
household material was recovered but on the eastern
side of the hut, a circular clay bin of approximately one
meter height was found with sealed storage of freshwater
shells (Plate 1D) for food. Another notable evidence of
storage facility has come from AC-XII, where a rammed
floor with four storage jars of red ware in two rows
was recovered. The upper parts of all four storage jars
were broken and missing, only the bases were found
in the undisturbed context. A small storage bin, full of
grain (pea-?) has been found on floor in an undisturbed
context from locality AC-XV. Another dwelling edifice
at AC-XII with two rooms with rammed floor and mud
wall has been reported along with two clay bins along
the wall inside both rooms. Some lime coated clay bins
were reported from AC-XV but associated house plan
or floor was not coherently found.
In regard to daily activities such as refuse disposal,
the trenches in Ahichchhatra present evidence of refuse
pits, dumps and drains (Plate 1B, 1C), ring wells,
garbage jars and pits. Mostly the pits and garbage
containing fragment of cooking pots, bowls, water jar,
storage jar, animal and human figurines, charred animal
bones, grains and other household materials are of
irregular shapes and sizes. In most examples these are
found in a particular area near habitation but almost in
all cases inside of the fortified area. Eastern part of the
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mound AC-II and AC-XII were used as the ‘community
refuse’ area. The eastern parts of both mounds have
yielded lots of ashy refuse, dump and ring-wells quarried
over the earlier habitational areas. A series of ring wells
was noticed at ACT-II with orientation east to west.
Some garbage jars and pits are also found from AC-V
in the front of a brunt-brick drain.
Pottery making activity
The distribution pattern of different shapes and types
of pottery from different area at Ahichchhatra suggest
variety and diverse activity zones as well as nature of
different archaeological mounds inside the fortification.
Certain mounds were specifically meant for habitation.
Fig. 3: Pottery kiln, structures and refuse activates of Mitra-Panchal period
Market as a communal activity area
Identification of market area in archaeology would
be a very difficult work because some markets might
have had formally constructed stalls and some markets
Pura¯tattva 46
Increasing number of incurved rim bowls and water jar
of red ware found mostly from mound AC-V belonging
to Mitra-Panchala cultural phase indicates growing
habitation. This inference was also supported by the
structural activities recovered at the same mound.
The evidence of a potter’s workshop has been found
from trench BX74X75X2 in AC-V, where an open
pottery kiln was reported. In following abandoning
periods, it was used for ash dumping, so it was covered
by ash. Excavators identified two phases of activity in
this kiln. In the second phase, the new kiln was made
over the older kiln. In course of excavation both outlines
of a kiln were visible (Fig. 3). This workshop is located
near the fortification with a small gate nearby.
did not (Carrasco V. et al. 2009: 19245-19249; Dahlin
et al. 2007: 363-384, 2010: 191-232; Jones 1996).
Periodic markets or Bazars do not require permanent
market stalls and hence such areas are likely to be
cleaned in between uses (Hirth 1998: 453). The market
Notes & News
is most important aspect for any planned city or town.
Generally, a tendency is seen in people to select the area
closest to the main road having the benefit of visibility
by all passerby people, even the over-route merchants.
Hirth (1998: 453–454; 2009: 89–90) has defined three
ways to identify ancient Mesoamerican markets:
A, “configurational approach attempts to identify
the location of the marketplace and its associated
activities” by analyzing the physical remains of market
activities; B, “distributional approach seeks to identify
market activity from the predicted material outcomes
of market exchange and the distribution of products
that it creates,” again by analyzing physical remains;
and C, “contextual approach relies on inferences drawn
on indirect data such as the presence of large urban
populations and full-time craft specialization believed to
require marketplaces to exist.” Present authors collected
data from exploration and GPS total station information.
The information provided on craft manufacturing and
distribution in excavation in similar context of the site
was collaborated for better understanding. Limitation
however should be acknowledged in this case. The
identified market area was not taken for excavation.
Hence observation regarding archaeological context
of the ancient market is a thread which we wish to
explore by excavatory means in future. Ethnographic
observations regarding location of market, spatial
relation with nearby settlements and the road-systems
have proved to be helpful.
Based on observation from exploration, two market
areas of Ahichchhatra are identified in the western and
north-western parts inside the fortification. Both areas
are located in front of the western and north-western
gateways of Ahichchhatra. The elevated area identified
as western market is divided into seven small elongated
blocks, separated by lanes or streets. Exploration of
this area has reported sherds having a radius of in
60 cm diameter, apparently belonging to storage jars
as well as other large sherds of household pottery.
207
Situated immediately after main junction, four large
blocks separated by different roads and streets are also
considered as part of the market. The elevated projection
has small cell like divisions. Structures made by bricks
with similarity of shop-quarters are observed on surface.
The Arthashastra (2.4.1-31) mentions an analogous
location and description of market area within an ideal
city/town:
“……..to the west, artisans manufacturing worsted
threads, cotton threads, bamboo-mats, skins, armors,
weapons, and gloves as well as the people of Sudra caste
shall have their dwellings”. The Arthashastra further
reads, “……..to the north by west, shops and hospitals.”
The area identified as north-western market is also
divided in four large elongated blocks and separated
by streets. There is evidence of square blocks of bricks
apparently shops on the surface as surface study reveals.
Ethnographic evidence
Present day domestic and residential activity
pattern
The definition of a residential structure or house
for the purpose of this study was based on ideas about
domestic activity drawn from recent ethnographic
studies of Nusratganj village. For understanding
the household activities, authors conduct a detailed
survey of two houses and communal activities areas in
Nusratganj village, located on the north side of fort along
the fortification. Most of the people of the village are
farmers; very few have any job (private or government)
and shops. The composition of the population including
Pandit, Mauraya, Lodhi, Muslim, Yadva, Thakur, Nai,
Dhobi, Lohar and the people of Scheduled Caste. Every
Caste and category has a particular placement and
direction for habitation in the village and their areas are
separated by lanes and streets.
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Fig. 4: Present day household space distribution; 4A case study 1, 4B case study 2
It is possible that some of the household practices
carried out by modern peoples are similar to the past. It is
also likely that practices have changed a great deal with
the potential for innovation over last two thousand years
and with the arrival of western ideas and technologies.
A rational rather cosmological explanation (patterns of
wind, light, heat, etc.) behind the placement of hearths
and other activity zones was understood by this study.
Case Study 1
First study area situated in the center of the village
is a house of a small Muslim farmer, Ali Mohamed.
Ali and his family is hardworking and honest, partially
he works on daily wages. He has father, mother, one
sister, wife and two children in his family. The house
of Ali covers 4 m x 6 m area, consisting of 2 m x 2 m
room, a 2 m x 2 m storage room, 1.5 m x 1 m kitchen,
Pura¯tattva 46
a small cow shade attached with kitchen and one open
platform for cow, and a hand pump and bathroom and
an outer wall (Fig. 4A).
The room, storage room and outer wall are made of
burnt bricks and mud mortar; kitchen and cow shade
are made of mud wall having shade of plastics. As the
figure shows all storage jars, utensils, cot and clothes
are stored in the 2 m x 2 m room. As noticed in other
villager’s houses today mostly people use tin storage
drums and boxes on the places of traditional terracotta
storage jar and wood box. These big tin storage drums
are used for wheat and rice storage and small storage
drums are used for flour and sugar. A plastic can of
mobile engine oil is reused for mustard oil storage and
a wooden rack for food storage. Iron trunks are used
for clothes and a temporary wooden slab is used for
storing utensil. Store compartment was filled with husk,
Notes & News
food of the cattle. The small kitchen contained hearth,
oven, pestle, quern, some wooden logs and cow dung
cakes for food preparing. His wife and sister still cook
with traditional technique using wood and cow dung
which she gathers in daily course. If there is much ash
and refuse inside hearths, initially the ladies clean the
hearth by scooping out the ash and dump it near open
platform along with cow dung and in the spare time she
shifts it to permanent dumping area outside the village
near fortification wall of the Ahichchhatra with help of
a basket. The waste water of the house goes outside of
the village in a drain.
Case Study 2
Second study area is the house of Jai Parkash, who
is a barber by caste but by profession he is a tailor while
his father and brother are farmers. His house is also
situated in the central part of the village. Jai Parkash
has a brother, father, mother, wife and two children.
In his house there are four rooms with one corridor or
baramda. His house is made of burnt bricks and it is
facing north (Fig. 4B). Two of the rooms are used for
storing of husks and other essentials like flour, sugar,
oil, rice and other food items. The third room has two
big tin storage jars, positioned along the western wall
and a cot along the southern wall. This room is used
for both habitation and storage. Forth room is used
for both storage and dwelling. A storage jar of tin and
some plastic bags containing wheat are stored near the
western wall of this room. Two hearths are positioned
in front of the third room, one of which is facing west
and another facing north. The sewing machine of Jai
Parkash, an instrument of his livelihood, is placed in
south-west corner of the baramda. The cow shade and
daily temporary dumping area are located outside the
house complex. His permanent dumping area of daily
refuse is outside of the village. A cemented drain is
made for transporting waste-water, going outside from
the village.
209
Types of storage facility
Two types of storing facilities were observed in
field-study. Before the advent of tin storage facility or
wooden food storage rack these people traditionally used
a big clay bin, known as ‘ramadha’(Plate 2A) in local
language for grain storage and a clay shelf locally called
‘kutiya’ (Plate 2B). Mostly householders made their own
ramadha and fix its corner to the floor of corridor. The
structure of this clay bin is made by clay and mixture
of husk like material by using coil technique. Mostly
the height varies around 157.48 cm, maximum inner
diameter around 139.7 cm and rim diameter around 66
cm. Kutiya or the second type of storage facility in form
of shelf having a size of 1.75 m x 1.20 m x 0.66 m is
also locally made by senior members of household by
coil method using clay and it is also permanently fixed
to the floor near ramadha. Mostly kutiyas contained
two to four racks for storing of cooked food items as
well as vegetables and occasionally vessels with milk.
Outer walls of both ramadha and kutiya were decorative
with animal and vegetal motifs and painted by colors. In
many houses the authors noticed these types of storing
facilities being replaced by tin storage bins and boxes
because of affordability and spaciousness. Milk is a
precious and important food item of the local people
and guests are welcomed by offering a glass of milk.
An open mouth and perforated cylindrical hearths were
(Plate 2C, 2D, 2E) noticed in most of the household
where milk is kept for warming up whole day. In most
of the household such hearths are located in the open
courtyard.
Contemporary potter’s workshop at Anandpur
and Baragaon
Presently, in and around Ahichchhatra site in the
villages the potters have a reputed place in the society.
At Anandpur, located 1 km south-east direction of
the Ahichchhatra, the workshops of potters used to
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Fig. 5: Household and activity areas of present day potters; 5A Anandpur, 5B Baragaon
be situated on the north-western corner of the village
earlier. With addition of time more houses were built in
the north and all around in the main potter household.
The main potter in the Anandpur village is a mason by
profession and potter on available time similarly like his
father. Both the houses of present potter and his older
generation are located side by side in the same complex
(Fig. 5A). The workshop is constituted of two rooms
attached to one baramda/ corridor, a small courtyard
and a cow shade in the front of the house. The wheel
is placed in centre of the open courtyard and in front
of the rooms. The kiln is placed in between cow shade
and the area with the wheel. Courtyard is also used for
drying of the pots whereas the other part of it is used for
clay storage, preparation, and terracotta molding. The
western corner of corridor/baramda is used for dabbing,
rubbing, washing and painting of pot. Complete pots
are sun-dried and stored on the roof of house. Bowls
are stored on a slab over door head in the western part
of baramda.
At Baragaon, (Fig. 5B) the potter households are
clustered in a pattern, by the side of road. The house
and workshop of the Baragaon potters are situated in the
southern area of the village. Baragaon is located 2-3 km
Pura¯tattva 46
north of the Ahichchhatra. There are two houses of full
time potters who supply most of the pots used in villages
all-around of Ahichchhatra. Both the families of potters
belong to an extended clan. The positioning of kiln,
potter’s wheel and unbaked pot for drying are specific to
direction of wind and light. The workshop and house of
potters are situated on the eastern side, facing the road.
The pottery workshop is situated between main door and
road, on the open courtyard area. The wheel is placed
almost in centre of the open courtyard by the side of
the road while activities such as rubbing, dabbing and
painting are done on the eastern side of the wheel along
the house wall far from the workspace, approximately 10
m south. The complete pots are stored on the roof. Two
main important workspaces, the courtyard and the roof
are utilized for carrying out different types of activities
related with pottery making. The entire process does
not include mono functionality of loci but few of the
works are very much gender specific. In Baragaon, space
in front of the house, facing the main road is utilized
for advertising pottery in form of display of the main
pottery types. However specific area is reserved for
different (unusual, ritualistic) completed pottery, made
on demand, which are not put in display.
Notes & News
Fig. 6: Commodity distribution at contemporary market of Ramnagar
Contemporary market
The authors conducted a case study of Ramnagar
weekly market, located almost at a distance of half
kilometer from proposed market area of Ahichchhatra
towards the south-west direction. By road it is connected
to Moradabad and Bareilly city, the nearest cities. It
passes by the northern side of the village Nusratganj.
An almost rectangular plot of is used for bi-weekly
market, locally called bazar on the right side of the main
road. This area is divided in two unequal parts, east and
west. Eastern area is used for cereal market (anaj bazar),
where the people sell and purchase wheat, barley, rice,
dals, mustard and other cereals. The stalls are without
any platform in this part of the market (Fig. 6). Western
area is divided into forty small plots with uneven
211
platforms, of which twelve are made of bricks and all
the others are made of only mud. The stalls having brick
platforms are used for marketing the comparatively
valuable items such as garments and clothes, spices,
shoes, books and stationary and groceries. The stalls
with mud platforms used as vegetable shops, are more
in number as it is a daily requirement of people. Shops
associated with snacks, samosa and tea forms a row
alongside the main shops and are not included inside
cluster of stalls with platforms. Cobbler, ironsmith,
carpenter and barber shops are situated in south-western
corner. Fish, chicken, and mutton shops are located at
little distance from the main market area as social taboos
on these commodities are still present. It was found
that the arrangements of stalls and shops follow certain
arrangement motivated by availability, affordability
212
and acceptability of the product in the community.
Location of the shops of barber, cobbler or ironsmiths
is often directed by social values such as caste. Gender
also affects the location of stall for merchandise used
commonly by ladies as these types of stalls are never
seen to be located among the cluster of shops for
beginning of the market on brick- built platform. It was
noticed that shops keeper and consumers both follow
these patterns. A similar spatial setting was observed
in the market of Guliria village. This market is located
on the north side of the Shahbad-Guliria road and the
north-western side of the village.
To understand its archaeological importance a
survey during the market days and immediately (Plate
3) following days were carried out and it was found that
all the shops were of temporary nature, leaving behind
no traces of activities carried out on the platforms.
Apart from the brick and mud structures, the remains
noticed after two days from the market-days were of
vegetables at the spots where cattle were fed (for bullock
carts), other remains include hair from barber shops,
scattered plastic wrappers and hearths from sweet shops
and iron smiths. After a few days in course of survey
the perishable items like vegetables remains and hair
vanished, leaving behind only hearths, mud and brick
platform, postholes. Thus it became more and more
difficult to analyze what kind of activities were carried
out in this kind of big open space with platforms in rows
and columns forming blocks, where four roads including
one highway and three paths from surrounding villages
are meeting. This practice has been an eye opener
in understanding the value of large open space with
compartmentalized divisions and frequent roads nearby
looking back in identifying markets in archaeological
context of Ahichchhatra.
Inference from Ethnographic studies
Analogical observations, bridging past and present
context have had their limitations. However such
Pura¯tattva 46
limitations do not stop us from understanding the basic
correlates behind past and present human behavior.
Human need has been same though time and technology
has advanced. Comparing Ahichchhatra’s past urban
setting with present day semi-rural settlement around
the site in regard to different activities has limitations.
However such endeavors have not been methodological
wrong seeing in the light of basic necessities of life, such
as household activities, pottery making or commercial
transactions.
A. The two case studies on use of domestic space
have helped us to interpret and understand use of
individual and household activities of the houses of
the Mitra-Panchala period. On the basis of the above,
authors have reached the conclusion that use of space
by individual depend mainly availability of space,
here on the size of the house and number of rooms. As
we found in Ali’s house there are five adults and two
children living in a comparatively small house and the
size of room is also very small. Arrangement of storage
facilities follows similar adjustment given the small size
of the house. The big tin storage jars, one big tin trunk,
one wooden rack of medium size, one medium size tine
storage jar, small tin container and one plastic can all
have been placed in two rows without any gap. Looking
at the other case study, availability of sufficient space
has enabled categorization space allowing different
divisions for different type of household work. For
example products used in daily kitchen are stored in
second room, and rice in third room and wheat in forth
room. Hence we arrive to the understanding apart from
apprehending to the cosmological norms in construction
of a house or execution of household works, there are no
strict rules regarding use of particular space for specific
activities. It depends upon the availability. Excavation
in the Mitra-Panchala layers of Ahichchhatra has
unearthed interesting parallels of abode structures. We
observed cells with varying number of storage facilities,
from one to four, in similar layer of occupation. This
might hint towards an existing unequal social status
Notes & News
among inhabitants.
B. Two type of locations were observed for refusal
of daily wastage in course of the surveys; first is
temporary one in near the kitchen or cow shade, personal
in nature and second is the periodical dumping ground
(for six month) communal in nature, generally outside
of the village of habitation. Archaeological evidence
of two different types of drainage system was better
apprehended with the ethnographic analogy. Evidence
of individual nature of refuse disposal in form of drain,
ring well and garbage pit was noticed in AC-III, AC-XII,
AC-XV, AC-VA and AC-II. The series of ring-wells,
noticed in mounds AC-XV, AC-XII and ACT-II were
located away from areas exhibiting signs of habitation.
In AC-XII and ACT-II eastern-most point of the mound
was chosen for periodic dumping.
C. Any local market points towards the continuing
production and exchange system taking place in that
particular geographical area as noted by Chase and
Chase in case of Mayan markets which were much
like some modern markets containing wide variety of
food items, including staples. They denoted the Maya
markets as the primary venues for administration and the
exchange of both food and nonfood items and special
venue for exchanging household surplus crafts and for
obtaining non-local goods (Chase 1998: 26-44; Chase
and Chase 2001: 273-281, 2004: 115-127, 2007: 60-71).
A careful study of the present day markets near the site
of Ahichchhatra and other case studies by archaeologists
as Chase and others, we can hypothesize that in early
historic sites exchange, trade and production must have
depended upon primarily local needs. However, we also
find mention of popularity of beads from Ahichchhatra
(Ahichhatrak) and the huge number of stone beads from
the Mitra-Panchala levels indicate good amount of
inter-regional interactions for manufacturing and trade.
Local needs at market might have depended on risks
such as crop shortages. Moreover, it can be presumed
213
that a similar spatial pattering within the market existed
in the proposed market zones of the site, arranged into
compartments depending upon production, material,
gender, cast, taboo and social values, closely situated
near the roads within fortification. Iron smith and
carpentry workshops in local markets of Ramnagar and
Guliria were placed in outer most location of the market.
Excavation at Ahichchhatra in 2007-08 reported iron
and copper manufacturing units close to the gateways
and on outer part of the fortification.
D. A similarity in the spatial setting and practice of
the potters were noticed in the recent excavations at
Ahichchhatra and ethnographic survey of the nearby
villages. As noticed a specific corner of the mound,
AC-V was explicitly used by the potters during the
Mitra-Panchala period, demarked by open kilns, rooms
with pottery, pottery dumping area, reported during
2013-14 season of excavation. In present day context,
the potters’ workshops in both villages are situated in
specific corners, mostly towards the end of the villages.
The potters of Anandpur live in the northern end of
village and the workshop of Baragaon potters is located
towards the southern end of the village.
E. Coming to a general observation, we generally
think that in archaeology, activity areas can be discerned
from the content and spatial patterning of artifacts
and faunal remains. Present findings seem to differ
to this generalized notion. The authors found while
inspecting the periodical debris-accumulation and
formation process of the market space that judging
the nature of activity areas by features like platform,
post holes and hearth can be totally misleading. The
fruitful archaeological investigation on post market-
days informed that hearth and platforms may mislead
in understanding of structural and spatial analysis on
many accounts, so refuse patterning in pit and dumps
should be regarded as important scale for denoting a
habitation area.
214
F. The second general observation acquired rejects
the common notion that many activities are gender
specific. As noticed in the potter’s workshop, the loci
were being used by both genders for ranging activities;
pottery making is not solely a male practice neither
pottery drawing is a female one. Moreover the same
space used for pottery making is also used for other
general household activities, making the archaeological
context as a singular activity zone difficult to retrieve.
G. An interesting pattern emerges after studying
the caste wise distribution in the two nearby villages,
Nusratganj and Anandpur. The houses of socio-
economically flouring castes such as the Pandit
(Brahmins), Maurya (Kshatriyas) and Lodhis (Muslims)
are located on the sides of the main road upon
entering the villages. On the other hand houses of the
occupational castes such as ironsmiths, washer men and
backward communities are grouped in clusters towards
the outskirts of the villages. The cremation ground for
the Brahmins has a different location on the southern
side of the village whereas cremation ground and burial
ground for the Muslims are located on a different
location on the north-eastern corner. This observation
can lead us to presume that physical separation of
mounds or in other words inter mound spacing in
Ahichchhatra might be indicative of social/economic/
communal grouping. However this presumption has
been not archaeologically proved yet. In Ahichchhatra,
spacing between two mounds may explain use of natural
boundaries behind clustering of household of one class
or occupational groups from the other. Kautilya’s
Arthashastra has discussed separate zones/quarters for
specific activities within a fort.
Conclusion
The investigation of the activity areas at Ahichchhatra
has been explained in present paper through a comparison
of excavated architectural remains, the arrangement
Pura¯tattva 46
and frequency of artifacts within architectural space,
surface features and ethno-archaeological data from
surrounding villages. The acquired observations based
on analogy were further examined and collaborated
with Arthashastra a contemporary historical document.
The authors have pointed out that the use of space or
lay-out of space at communal or individual level has
been decided by occupational, symbolic, cosmological
and functional requirement of society. The use of space
and plan of house at individual level was and is still
dependent on social status of individual and, therefore,
on availability of the space. The public activity areas
of Ahichchhatra denote (we only studied one of such
areas in this paper, the market space) a definite set
of parameters was in action behind town planning,
location of market areas, religious areas, royal palace,
manufactory areas, and residential zones during the time
of Mitra-Panchala period which had much to do with
social and occupational categorization of space. S.C.
Malik has argued on similar lines. He is of the opinion
that terminologies such as ‘Indian Civilization’ or the
‘Indian Style’ can be characterized by three traits: caste,
the genealogical means of the perpetuation of caste by
birth, and the importance of orality and memorization in
the transmission of ritual and other forms of knowledge
(1968:106-108). Spatial arrangement of activity zones at
the early historic Ahichchhatra was hence influenced by
multiple factors such as social distinctions, agricultural
economy, life-styles and fashion, inter-regional trade,
scared knowledge, rituals, architecture and orally
transmitted code of legal, ethical and social behavior.
Ethnographic understanding of the ways of the life of
the people of Nusratganj, Anandpur, Baragaon and
Ramnagar still bear the same social footprints.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the villagers of
Nusratganj, Anandpur, Baragaon for their extensive
help, care and love.
Notes & News 215

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Bhuvan Vikrama* and Elora Tribedy**
*
Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Agra Circle, Agra, Uttar Pradesh. E-mail: bhushri007@gmail.com
**
Research Scholar, Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune- 411006. E-mail: elora.tribedy@gmail.com
Plates 39

Vikrama and Tribedy, Pl. 1: Different

household activities: 1A. Successive
floor levels in trench of mound AC XV
belonging to early Panchala period 1B.
Evidence of burnt drain in mound AC
XV belonging to Mitra-Panchala period
1C. Evidence of structural activity along
with ring wells for disposal of refuse of
Mitra-Panchala period 1D. Evidence of
storing of shells along with circular hut

Vikrama and Tribedy, Pl. 2: Different

types of storage in local villages
around Ahichchhatra; 2A. Ramdah 2B.
Kuthiya 2C-E. Milk storing hearths

Vikrama and Tribedy, Pl.3: Three

locations of local market at Ramnagar
on market day and post market days