Imlidih Khurd
Imlidih Khurd Sarayupar · Imalidih
Pre-Narhan Neolithic-Chalcolithic 3500–1400 BCE → Overlapped by Narhan·Sarayupar Pre-Narhan (Vindhyan-derived)·🇮🇳 Uttar Pradesh, Gorakhpur District, Sarayupar plain, Imlidih Khurd village near Gorakhpur (Narhan cluster), India
About
About Imlidih Khurd
Pre-Narhan early farming settlement (c.3500–2000 BCE) in the Sarayupar plain at Gorakhpur, immediately preceding Narhan — excavated 1992–96 by Purushottam Singh and Rakesh Tewari, Imlidih Khurd yielded the earliest pottery in the middle Gangetic plain (plain red ware with cord impressions), pre-dating Narhan Ware, plus earliest rice (Oryza sativa) evidence at c.3500 BCE and microliths. The 2 ha low mound with 2.5 m deposit documents sedentary farming centuries before Chalcolithic Narhan, anchoring Vindhyan–Sarayupar Neolithic diffusion.
Why it mattersEarliest ceramics and rice in middle Gangetic plain; proves independent Gangetic Neolithic preceding Narhan and contemporary with Lahuradewa.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Is 3500 BCE rice domesticated japonica or proto-indica?
- 02Cord ware link to Lahuradewa vs Vindhyan?
Theories
- 01Sarayupar as eastern rice domestication corridor; Vindhyan microlithic → sedentary transition
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.3500 BCE earliest plain red ware; continuous to 1400 BCE
- Period
- Pre-Narhan Neolithic-Chalcolithic 3500–1400 BCE → Overlapped by Narhan
- Culture
- Sarayupar Pre-Narhan (Vindhyan-derived)
- Builders
- Early Gangetic farmers (microlithic → sedentary)
- Purpose
- Early rice-farming hamlet at Sarayupar frontier
- Abandoned
- c.1400 BCE merged into Narhan
- Rediscovered
- 1992–96 Singh & Tewari excavation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3500–2500 BCE
Earliest plain red ware, microliths, rice phytoliths
c.2500–1400 BCE
Continuous hamlet with BRW antecedents
1992–96
BHU excavation reveals pre-Narhan horizon beneath Narhan levels
On the ground
Structures & features
26.3800° N · 83.3500° E · 78 m · 2 mapped features
Imlidih Khurd mound
settlementLow mound with pre-Narhan red ware and rice levels
26.3805° N · 83.3505° EMicrolith scatter fringe
lithic scatterMicrolith and rice-tempered sherd scatter at mound toe
26.3795° N · 83.3495° E