New research will soon shed light on pot burial a somewhat ‘strange’ funerary practice of the megalithic culture that dates back to 1500 BC. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotony (BSIP), Lucknow is going to decode the mysteries of megalithic culture by extracting DNA from the skulls discovered recently from a construction site in Mizoram.

A pot burial site, quite rare in the north-east, was recently found at a construction site in Muallungthu village, 20km from Mizoram’s capital Aizawal.

After the rare discovery, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Aizawal, sought expertise from scientists of BSIP, to help them know more about pot burial, a common practice in the megalithic culture.

“We found two skulls and bones placed in a pot. We are studying the skulls that were found more than 10 feet below the ground. We are also trying to study the femur bones that were recovered from the burial pot,” said Dr Niraj Rai, senior scientist in Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotony (BSIP).

Though the scientists are yet to assess the age of the skulls, Rai said from the pattern of soil deposition on the skulls and archaeological findings, it could be said that the skulls may be around 2000 years old. However, now the institute is going to extract the DNA from the remains, which will unravel many mysteries related to this particular tribe that had such strange burial practices.

“DNA extraction from the remains would help us in understanding the cultural continuity of these tribes, which is so far unknown. The DNA extraction would be carried out early next month after which the DNA would be matched to our modern population DNA data base of more than 400 population group, from different ethnic backgrounds and linguistic families. We will try to match the DNA to assess the cultural continuity of this community,” Rai added.

Such burial practices were quite common in Asian counties and in India, he said but uncommon in south and north-east India.

He said the findings would help in understanding the migration and mixing pattern of this community and also the population of this community at that time.

Dr Sujeet Nayan, deputy superintending archaeologist Aizawal circle, said the search was on as there are more than three burial sites there. “We are now planning to go for carbon dating. The research and excavation is on. It’s a rare discovery,” he said.

First Published: Feb 26, 2019 11:05 IST