Explore 5000 Years Old Gufkral Tral! #gufkral #gufktaltral #5000yearsold #kashmir #anarchaeological

Gufkral is an archaeological site of tremendous importance situated adjacent to Bonmir village in Tral Tehsil of Pulwama district, some 41 kilometres south-east of Srinagar, on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. It is situated at an altitude of 1671 metres above mean sea level. The site can be approached from Charsoo, Awantipora on its east just six kilometres, as the crow flies, from the national highway.

In Kashmiri, 'guf ' means a cave and 'kral' a potter. This name probably came to be given to this village because a cluster of caves scooped in the Karewa deposit has been excavated there some time in the past, on the slopes of the upper Karewa which are mostly occupied by the present-day potters for the storage of their finished pottery. The Karewa deposit bearing the archaeological material measures 420 metres north-south and 90 metres east-west and is elevated some 35 metres above the road level, roughly occupying an area of three to four hectares. On the eastern side of the mound at the centre of the site, some menhirs[11] (full size as well as broken), can be seen scattered, none of them in their original upright position. The archaeological mound is on top of the upper Karewa and is surrounded by rice fields below.

The site was first reported by the ASI in 1962-63 and excavations were conducted almost near the centre of the mound in 1981-82 by K.D. Banerji and A.K. Sharma of the Prehistoric Branch of Archaeological Survey of India (Mitra 1984:19-25, 104-105; Rao 1985:147,213-14). An area of approximately 100 square metres was opened up having a maximum cultural deposit of 3.10 metres over the loessic silt (Sharma 2013:19). The excavations yielded five occupation levels. Period IA belongs to aceramic Neolithic (2787-2350 BCE); early Neolithic finds were recovered from Period IB (2347-2000 BCE); Period IC has a late Neolithic assemblage (2000-1850 BCE)[12]; Period II belongs to megalithic period (1850-1300 BCE)[13] and Period III is historical in character (Sharma 2013:20).
The excavations at Gufkral, though they confirmed the three-fold cultural sequence of Burzahom, added some new dimensions to the evolution of the Neolithic culture of Kashmir. Instead of two phases of Neolithic occupation, as reported from Burzahom, Gufkral excavations provided new evidence of the growth and evolution of Neolithic culture in three phases.

A large number of bone and stone tools of various types were recovered from this phase of Neolithic occupation. Bone points, needles and scrapper made from bones of various animals including sheep, goat and stag were significant. The stone tools consisted of axes, drills, picks, pounders, querns and mace heads or ring stones mainly made of Himalayan trap. A few tools of antler horns were also reported.

This cultural assemblage from Gufkral suggested that the stone age economy of Kashmir subsisted on food gathering and cereal farming in addition to the domestication of animals. The bones of both wild—ibex, bear, sheep, goat, cattle, Kashmiri stag, etc., and domesticated animals—sheep and goat were reported from the site. The cultivation of wheat, barley and lentils was also important. (Thapar 1987:248).
The settlement patterning of the subsequent phase IC (period II at Burzahom) saw some significant changes at Gufkral. Instead of dwelling pits as shelters people moved out, filled the pits and covered them with a thin coat of red ochre and constructed their dwellings of mud or mud bricks over the ground. The tool repository of this phase also underwent considerable changes and innovations. The tools recovered from this level included double-edged pick, spindle whorl, small sized bone points and needles and the harvesters probably used for cutting, scraping and harvesting. The plurality of the tool types suggest of contacts with other regions within and outside this geographic zone.

The site was excavated in three different areas (Misra 2004:30) unearthing 39 quadrants of 17 squares (Mani 2000:2). In Rajteng or KNP1 area, a large structure of diaper pebble walls of the Kushana period as well as habitation deposits of the Neolithic period were unearthed. In KNP2, south of KNP1, a pavement marked by decorated terracotta tiles was unearthed which were arranged in a circular fashion. Neolithic finds were also found here. Only one quadrant of KNP3 was excavated bearing a habitational deposit of around 2.50 metres of the Kushana period overlying the natural soil. This mound, according to the excavator, represents the main township of Kaniskapura founded by Kanishka (Mani 2000:12).
From the excavation at these three areas of the site, the following cultural sequence was discerned:

Period I: Aceramic Neolithic (c. 3rd to 2nd Millennium BCE)

Period II: Ceramic Neolithic (c. 2nd to 1st Millennium BCE)

Period III: Kushana (c. 1st to 4th century CE)

Period IV: post Kushana (c. 4th to 6th century CE)

Period V: Kashmir dynasty (7th to 10th century CE)

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