--- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
>
> [Piotr:] I haven't seen any Harappan chariots as yet; the presence
or absence of horses is really irrelevant inasmuch as horses don't
speak Indo-Aryan or PIE, and the evidence of "Vedic" fire altars in
the Indus Valley materials is debatable,
VA: On Fire Altars, numerous examples may be given although some
Linguists will continue to deny them. For a start, here is a quote -
Vagad in Gujarat [SONAWANE and MEHTA 1985] -
In this site dated to Late Harappan period or around the middle of
second millennium BCE [page 43], fire altars have been discovered at
the earliest levels. These altars are clearly distinguished from
cooking fireplaces, which were also found during excavations.
Describing these fire-altars, the excavators state [page 40] "The
discovery of four circular clay-lined fire pits constructed within a
slightly raised mud platform on the floor level of period IA deserves
special mention. Of these, three bigger ones with saggering base were
dug in the north, south and western portions of the trench, their
diameters being 1 m, 1.45 m and 1.30 m respectively. They were
arranged in a triangular form at an approximate distance of about 90
cm between the two. The fourth one, cylindrical in shape, having a
diameter of 40 cm., was placed a little inside between the southern
and the western pits. All of them were internally neatly plastered
with cow-dung paste mixed with clay. These pits contained ash,
possibly of cow-dung cakes. In the absence of bone or any kind of
industrial material, these fire pits appear to have been used for
some kind of ritualistic purpose.
Offering in fire was a well-known practice in the Yajnas. From Vedic
times the practice of the performance of Istis or Yajnas is fairly
common and widespread. The Vedic texts mention three fires, namely
the Garhapatya, Ahavaniya and Daksinatya. Along with these, there is
also a provision for one more circular pit (smaller one, generally at
the center), known as Utkar in the traditional Vedic Yajnas-Salas.
The present evidence from Vagad, therefore certainly shows some close
resemblance with the Vedic practice of fire worship. It may be worth
recalling at this juncture that Lothal (Rao 1973:139-140), Kalibangan
(Thapar 1974:85, fig. 1), Navdatoli (Sankalia et al 1971: pl. IV B,
p. 49) and Dangwada (Khare 1979-80:119) excavations have also yielded
somewhat similar evidence regarding the performance of Yajnas. More
work in this direction is necessary to say more on the point of
identification and nature of fire-pits found at Vagad. It is
interesting to note that the northern and western circular fire pits
at Vagad have been provided with a square raised mud platforms
probably for officiating the ritual."
Reference:
RAO, S. R. 1973. Lothal and the Indus Civilization
SANKALIA H. D., DEO S. B. and ANSARI Z. D. 1971, Chalcolithic
Navdatoli.
SONAWANE V. H. and MEHTA R. N. 1985. Vagad A Rural Harappan
Settlement in Gujarat. Man and Environment, vol. IX, pp. 38-44
THAPAR B. K. 1974. Kalibangan A Harappan Metropolis beyond the
Indus Valley. Expedition, vol. XVII, no. 1
******
It must be noticed that almost for a century, the Archaeologists,
misled by Linguists and Philologists, continued to believe that while
the Indus Valley Civilization religion was iconic and mother goddess
based, the Aryans were more patriarchical and worshipped fire.
As site after site dug in the civilization showed fire altars,
archaeologists had no choice but to square up with the evidence. And
most linguists (except 1 of course) have also fallen in line.
Something amiss about methodology I suppose.
Sincerely,
Vishal