Excavation of the Early Village Farming Communities of Pandurajar Dhibi West Bengal

The main objective of the present work is to write a simple report on the material remains of Early Village farming communities, tentatively emerged around second half of the second millennium BC in West Bengal, with special reference to excavation at Pandurajar Dhibi, Burdwan, West Bengal. The compilation of reported materials other than Pandurajar Dhibi, presented in this work is an attempt coming from my personal initiative to subject since my joining in the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, West Bengal. The special initiative as well as working interest on the excavated materials of Pandurajar Dhibi has been taken State Archaeological Museum at Behala, Kolkata started functioning in the year 1980. Fortunately, the Directorate has chosen me for cataloguing the archaeological objects and the display works of collected antiquities of the said museum in January 1986.

The author has completed his post-graduation in Archaeology from University of Calcutta in 1977. though my career began as a cataloguer since December 1980, at Hazarduari palace, Mushidabad under the same Directorate. After rendering his routine work in state Archaeological Museum in the post of Keeper, author has completed his PhD work on Pandurajar Dhibi in the year of 2006.

The main objective of the present work is to write a simple report on the material remains of Early Village Farming (E.V.F.) communities, tentatively emerged around second half of the second millenium B.C. in West Bengal, with special reference to excavation at Pandurajar Dhibi, Burdwan, West Bengal. The compilation of reported materials other than Pandurajar Dhibi, presented in this work is an attempt coming from my personal initiative to the subject since my joining in the Directorate of Archacology & Museums (D.A.& M.). West Bengal. The special initiative as well as working interest on the excavated materials of Pandurajar Dhibi has been taken when State Archaeological Museum (S.A.M.) at Behala. Kolkata started functioning in the year 1980. Fortunately the Directorate has chosen me for cataloguing the archaeological objects and the display works of collected antiquities of the said museum in January 1986, though my career began as a Cataloguer since December 1980, at Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad under the same Directorate.

It was from 1986, I had an opportunity to conceive diverse materials coming from different parts of West Bengal recorded by the D.A.& M. In turn, with the data, I had enough scope to trace it's relationship with rise and growth of society in ancient Bengal through the ages. Interestingly the collected materials of Protohistoric period attract much rather than other antiquities ranging from Prehistory to Premodern period. Subsequently in the year 2000-2001, I have able to come out with a specific research frame work which ultimately took shape as Ph. D. research topic. The present work is the culmination of research material housed in the State Archaeological Museum, W.B., though the enormous data in the form of artefacts certainly has a route towards the understanding of village society particularly through the ages.

The B.R.W. cultural phase of West Bengal archaeology is also termed as Ferro- chalcolithic / Iron Age, scattered over on the different parts of the region specially covering the districts of Bankura, Birbhum, Burdwan and undivided Medinipur forms a matrix which is essentially a formative stage of farming and village cultural society.