Bagor
Bagor Mesolithic Dune · Mahasati Dune · Bagore
Mesolithic (7000–2800) → Chalcolithic (2800 BCE–500 BCE)·Mesolithic Mewar microlithic → Ahar-Chalcolithic (Mewar)·🇮🇳 Rajasthan, Bhilwara District, Mandal Tehsil, on Mahasati sand dune above Kothari River (Banas tributary), 25 km west of Bhilwara, India
About
About Bagor
N. S. Leshnik, Deccan College–Heidelberg). Bagor's 150×100 m dune yielded three phases: Phase I (7000–5000 BCE) microlithic hunter camps with geometric tools and seasonal occupation; Phase II (5000–2800 BCE) domed huts, paved floors with schist packing, early copper and hand-made pottery; Phase III (2800 BCE–500 BCE) Chalcolithic with wheel-made ware, burials with extended inhumation and earliest Indian copper. Contains India's longest Mesolithic–Chalcolithic continuity with human burials and livestock (sheep/goat 5000 BCE).
Why it mattersLargest Indian Mesolithic excavation — proves long continuity hunter → pastoral → Chalcolithic farmer without break; earliest copper in India horizon.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why continuous 6000 years on dune — monsoon refugium?
Theories
- 01Rajasthan early domestication independent of Harappan (Misra model)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.7000 BCE Mesolithic camp; hut village 5000 BCE
- Period
- Mesolithic (7000–2800) → Chalcolithic (2800 BCE–500 BCE)
- Culture
- Mesolithic Mewar microlithic → Ahar-Chalcolithic (Mewar)
- Builders
- Microlithic hunter-gatherers → early farmers
- Purpose
- Seasonal dune camp then semi-permanent pastoral-hunter village bridging foraging to farming
- Abandoned
- c.500 BCE (Iron Age shift to Banas plains)
- Rediscovered
- 1967 discovery; 1968–70 Misra excavations; 1980s re-analysis
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.7000–5000 BCE
Phase I: microlithic hunter camp, geometric tools, seasonal hearths
c.5000–2800 BCE
Phase II: hut floors, earliest copper, handmade pottery, livestock
c.2800–500 BCE
Phase III: Chalcolithic wheel pottery, extended burials, iron at top
On the ground
Structures & features
25.3575° N · 74.3731° E · 360 m · 2 mapped features
Mahasati Dune Phase II Hut Floors
settlementSchist-paved hut floors 2.5 m diameter and hearths on dune summit (5000–2800 BCE)
25.3578° N · 74.3733° EPhase III Burial Cluster
cemeteryExtended inhumations with copper and pottery on northern dune flank
25.3572° N · 74.3729° E