Archaeology and History: A Study of the Semthan Site at Bijbehara Town in Kashmir

Abstract

Archaeology offers a unique perspective on human history and culture that has contributed greatly to our understanding of both the ancient and the recent past. Archaeology helps us understand not only where and when people lived on the earth, but also why and how they have lived, examining the changes and causes of changes that have occurred in human cultures over the period of time. One of the archaeology's most important qualities is that it provides historical information on past societies from which we have no written documents. Some societies in the world have only written history for a few millennia, while historical records from other societies, only go back for perhaps five hundred years. Without archaeological investigation, the history of other societies would certainly remain a mystery to us in the present day. Archaeology has the ability to bring communities together in a variety of meaningful ways. Through archaeology, one's national, cultural, and ethnic identity can be preserved and solidified. Therefore the present study is related to a very important site of Semthan in Kashmir district of Anantnag which has bridged the missing gap of history which was unknown to the historians till period of its excavation. The Neolithic period as evidenced at Burzuhom and Gufkral sites in Kashmir came to an end sometime in the last quarter of the second millennium B.C. What happened thereafter and before the advent of the Kushanas in about the first century A.D. in Kashmir is not clear, even though some Indo-Greek coins had been reported from the valley. The time span of more than a millennium was to be bridged and the Semthan excavation was a step in this direction. Therefore this smallest archaeological site contains a wealth of important information through the excavation of artifacts and objects will be highlighted in the present study.