Anat Cell Biol.  2018 Sep;51(3):200-204. 10.5115/acb.2018.51.3.200.

A young couple's grave found in the Rakhigarhi cemetery of the Harappan Civilization

• Shinde V
• Lee H
• Yadav Y
• Waghmare P
• Jadhav N
• Hong JH
• Kim YJ
• Shin DH

• KMID: 2447013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5115/acb.2018.51.3.200

Abstract

The Harappan Civilization, one of the earliest complex societies in the world, flourished on the Indian subcontinent. Although many additional Harappan settlements and cemeteries have been discovered and investigated, no coupled burials at Harappan cemeteries have been reported to date. In 2013-2016, we excavated the cemetery of the Rakhigarhi site (Haryana), the largest city of the Harappan Civilization. At the site, we found a grave that turned out to be a coupled (joint) burial of the primary type. This report is the first anthropologically confirmed case of coupled burial from a Harappan cemetery.

Keyword

Harappan civilization; Rakhigarhi; Joint burial; Sex determination; Anthropology

MeSH Terms

Anthropology
Burial
Cemeteries*
Civilization*

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Rakhigarhi cemetery (indicated as red dot in Inset map of India). Locality B4 is unearthed by us in 2016. Of the graves in the locality B4, RGR 7.3/B4/BR11 (indicated by arrow) was turned out to be a joint burial of primary type. A.S.I Trench indicates the area where Archaeological Survey of India previously excavated. BR, burial; B1 to B5, localities of the site.

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  Fig. 2 The BR11A and 11B skeletons. Their heads were placed towards north. The burial for 11A and 11B dug over an earlier grave of BR 12. The skeletal remains of 11A and 11B found at the bottom of the grave. Foot bones of 11A were missing at the time of discovery.

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  Fig. 3 Magnified image of 11A and 11B. They were placed in supine position with arms and legs extended. The 11A's head faced towards 11B. Asterisk indicate the banded agate bead found near the right clavicle of the 11B. Inset is the magnified image of a bead. Scale bar=2 cm.

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  Fig. 4 Sex estimation of 11A and 11B. Asterisks for auricular surface. The shapes of greater sciatic notches (SN) clearly show that 11A is a male while 11B is a female. 11A exhibited a narrow greater sciatic notch; 11B showed a wider greater sciatic notch.

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