Aryans in Kashmir:
From an archeological point, the Aryans in Kashmir is a misnomer. In the excavations that were conducted at two most important archeological sites in Kashmir: Burzohoum (located on Shalimar road) and Gufkral, no traces of Aryans as such have been found.
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An overview of Burzohoum excavation that every Kashmiri must know:
Burzhoum is dervied from ‘berze’ (berze kul) which is also called Birch tree which is deviduos tree native to Himalayas at high altitudes and has been found in ecavation areas as roofs of houses. (2/n)
The site of Burzahom was discovered by H De Terra and TT Peterson of a Yale-Cambridge expedition in 1935. The trial diggings were further undertaken by TN Khazanchi between 1960 and 1971. Archaeologist excavated subterranean dwellings as well as burial pits at Burzahom (3/n)
along with numerous arts and artefacts.
The excavations pointed to four main eras: Period 1/2: 3-4 millinea BC. (Neolithic), there were coarse hand pottery antiquities found related to this era, with mat prints at the bottom; they were in the shape of bowl or vase. (4/n)
Period 2: Agricultural artefacts. Wheat barley and lentils were grown and trade links were established over central Asia.
Period 3: Megalithic period (1000 B.C) There was finding of copper objects like arrowheads pointing to the fact that Kashmiris had gained a good (5/n)
knowledge of mettalurgy.
Period 4: 100-200 C.E, superior structures made of mudbricks, pottery was also better of red ware type. Iron artefacts too were found.
The excavations suggested that Kashmiris in antique times were traditionally an artisan community, (6/n)
very efficient at weaving and intricate craftsmanship.
Pottery made in Burzahom showed close affinity to those found in the Swat valley, particularly in respect of its shapes and decorations of the black ware pottery.
There were discovries of bone needles, cotton, wool (7/n)
and other fabric proving that Kashmir had a dominant textile industry thousands of years ago.
Kashmir had a huge international trade with neighbours as early as 5000 years ago, A number of artefacts like pendants, beads, terracotta bangles give credence that Kashmir (8/n)
traded with the present day Pakistan, China and other sub-Himalayan areas. The unearthed specimens of art indicate that the prehistoric people of Burzahom established contact with Central Asia, South West Asia and also had links to the Gangetic plains and peninsular India. (n)
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