Investigating late Harappan fauna: preliminary archaeozoological observations from Tigrana, Bhiwani District, Haryana

Abstract

The archaeological site of Tigrana (28°53’25.9” N; 76°08’08.8” E), situated in the Bhiwani district of Haryana, is locally known as Rurki wala Khera (Fig. 1). The site is approximately 3 km north of the main village. Initially discovered by Suraj Bhan in 1975, the site was attributed to a twofold cultural sequence: Late Siswal and Late Harappan. Subsequently, extensive excavations conducted by the Central University of Haryana revealed that the site encompasses all three phases of Harappan occupation: Early Harappan, Mature Harappan, and Late Harappan (Parmar 2019).The excavations at the site also yielded a good number of skeletal elements of animals, which were systematically collected during the course of excavation. Later, these were transported to the Archaeozoology Laboratory of Deccan College, Pune for a systematic study.