DANGAWADA (1978-79, 1979-80, 1982-83)
The ancient city of Dangawada (lat, 23º3'N and long. 76º6'E) is situated on the right bank of the river Chambal, about 1 km west of the present village of the same name and 6 km from Ingoria, on the Nagda-Ingoria- Indore road on Badnagar tahsil of Ujjain district. It is 32 Km south-west of Ujjain via Ingoria. The mound is L-shaped with habitation deposit of about 12m. At one end of the mound there is a Siva temple called Boreshwar Mahadeo of the Paramara period, and hence it is locally known as the Boreshwar mound./ On the south-west at a distance of half a km an other small mound of Chalcolitthic period is noticed hear the Kapileswar temple. At the present habitational village of Dangawada there are also two small mounds from where Chalcolithic pottery and other antiquities have been found.
The excavation at Dangawada was conducted jointly by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museum, M.P. Govt. and the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Vikram University, Ujjain, under the directions respectively of M.D. Khare and V.S. Wakankar during three seasons viz. 1978-79, 1979-80 and 1982-83. The excavations conducted in twelve trenches revealed a fairly consistent cultural sequence of ten periods from Kayatha culture to the Muslim period as per outline given below :
Period 1 (Kayatha) : A 5.45 m deposit of this culture was revealed in the centre of the Boreshwar mound. Two phases of this culture were revealed viz, IA representing Kayatha without Ahar (1.10 m deposit) and IB representing Kayatha with Ahar (4.35 m deposit).
| Period II ((Ahar Chalcolithic) : This period is distinguished by the presence of microliths, copper, stone pestles and ceramic industry comprising painted black- and - red, painted black -on-red, and incised grey ware besides lustrous red ware. The white painted designs on black- and- red ware comprise simple bands, straight and wavy lines, strokes and dots. Painted black- and- red ware has predominance over plain black - and- red ware. Another distinguishing feature of this deposit is the occurrence of terracotta bulls and archaic bull forms. Two pot burials were encountered in DGW (12). No structural remains, except a floor consisting of small pebbles were exposed in DGW 1(29). |  |
| Ahar, incised potsherds |
|---|
Period III (Malwa Chalcolithic) : This phase has been divided into four sub- phases as under :
Phase 1: This has yielded only Malwa Chalcolithic pottery along with a limited quantity of Ahar type and microliths, stone objects like querns, pestles, balls and hammer stones. No structural remains were noticed.
Phase 2: This phase has yielded maximum number of antiquities and structural remains. This most notable structure in DGW VII is a brick-built mud-plastered shrine measuring 1.2x0.70 m in close proximity of which symbolic mother goddess and a few mini-lamps were encountered. A sacrificial pit full of charcoal and measuring 1.95 x 1.50 m was exposed at a distance of 1.15 m south of the shrine. A structural complex, possibly of religious significance was another spectacular discovery in DGW VII. A still larger and rectangular room with a number of post-holes was exposed in DGW IV. The ceramic industries of this sub-phase are almost the same as in sub-phase 1 except that the Ahar types are few in number and painted designs are more elaborate and the animal designs make their appearance. |
 |
| Malwa Painted potshered | |
|---|---|
| Phase 3 : This sub-phase is noted for an elliptical structure standing on wooden posts and a kitchen complex, containing besides a few posts, one terracotta ladle with a perforated handle and painted on its exterior from DGM VII, and a copper chisel, a terracotta mould for copper axes and another kitchen complex, from DGW IV. Four storage jars containing charred grains were also recovered from here. The important finds of this deposit are bone tools including a chisel, terracotta earlobe and stone and terracotta balls. There is a high percentage of painted designs on pottery. |  |
| Malwa Painted potshered | |
Phase 4 : In sub-phase 4 of DGW VI was found a compact deposit going to a depth of 3.72 m the exact nature and extent of which could not be ascertained. Towards south of this deposit was a dump. Whether it could be a part of a rampart on a bastion is a matter of conjecture only. A rectangular house measuring 5x6m standing on wooden posts in DGW IV also belong to this sub-phase. Period IV : This period between Pre-Mauryan and Malwa is marked by black and -red ware. in spite of the fact that there is an indication of flood on the south-west side of the mound, there is an evidence of continuous occupation throughout the mound. This deposit is divisible into two sub-phases. |
 Malwa Painted potshered |
Period V : This period is distinguished from the above by the presence of punch-marked coins, NBP ware, abundance of iron and copper, ring-wells and antiquities usually found in contemporary deposits. Period V : This period is distinguished from the above by the presence of punch - marked coins, NBP ware, abundance of iron and copper, ring-wells and antiquities usually found in contemporary deposits.
|
 |
| Malwa Painted potshered | |
Period VI and VII (Sunga- Satavahana - Kshatrapa) : Important remains of this period comprised a sacrificial pit (yajna - kunda), encountered in DGW II, which has also yielded an inscribed seal of terracotta in Brahmi script of second century B.C. reading Damopdara Yajayi. In DGW VI was exposed an elliptical structure which was possibly a temple, measuring 11x 5m. Objects associated with structural were huge terracotta bulls, a small bowl of shell provided with a thin copper handle and two terracotta seals inscribed in Brahmi script of second century B.C. reading Siri Rajno Agni Tapas and Jivamatangsa. Important finds of this period were ivory objects, silver coated bangles, an ear-lobe of lead, a small gold lead, a decorated handle of kaolin, beads of terracotta, semi precious stones and a large number of punch marked coins.
|
 |
| Malwa Painted potshered | |
Period VIII (Gupta) : Three sealing's containing inscriptions in Gupta Brahmi reading Bhattarakapada, Vedisa and Siri Maharaja Pra ..... and a large number of terracotta figurines, both human and animal, decorated bangles of terracotta and shell, a terracotta mould of Yaksa, beads of terracotta as well as chariot are some of the finds of this period. Of the structural remains, a floor packed with pebbles and small stones was exposed in DGW II. Period IX (Paramara) : This period is marked by the presence of early medieval pottery, which has predominance of coarse grey ware over red ware and a few structural remains with re-used bricks of Periods III and IV. Period X (Post-Paramara) : The period is marked by the destruction of the site during Muslim invasions. The temples were brought down and the people left the mound 1 and settled themselves on the present mound.
|
 |
| Copper Objects |
