Chirand Gangetic Settlement
Chirand Saran Neolithic Site · Chirand Bihar
Neolithic 2500–1500 → Chalcolithic 1500–600 BCE → NBPW 600 BCE·Mid-Gangetic Neolithic–Chalcolithic — Chirand facies·🇮🇳 Bihar, Saran District, Chirand village on Ghaghara River confluence with Gandak and Ganges, 14 km east of Chhapra, mid-Gangetic plain, India
About
About Chirand Gangetic Settlement
Chirand Gangetic Settlement — Neolithic–Chalcolithic–NBPW stratified mega-mound (2500 BCE–600 BCE) on Ghaghara–Gandak–Ganges triple confluence 14 km east Chhapra, excavated 1960–71 and 2004 by B.N. Narayan–B.P. Sinha (Bihar State Archaeology). Chirand revealed Neolithic ( handmade grey ware, bone tools, pit dwellings, rice and wheat) → Chalcolithic Black-and-Red with copper → NBPW Early Historic 600 BCE urban. Antler and bone industry (500+ tools), terracotta figurines, and Hindu Kush cattle show mid-Gangetic sedentary revolution. 3.5-m mound over 8 ha.
Why it mattersGangetic Neolithic type-site — largest bone industry and triple-confluence ecotone settlement
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Neolithic rice-wheat dual cropping origin
Theories
- 01Chirand as Gangetic urbanization precursor
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.2500 BCE Neolithic Chirand I
- Period
- Neolithic 2500–1500 → Chalcolithic 1500–600 BCE → NBPW 600 BCE
- Culture
- Mid-Gangetic Neolithic–Chalcolithic — Chirand facies
- Builders
- Gangetic Neolithic rice-wheat farmers
- Purpose
- Triple-confluence farming mega-village documenting mid-Gangetic Neolithic to urban transition
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.2500 BCE
Neolithic pit village with bone industry founded
c.1500 BCE
Chalcolithic Black-and-Red and copper
1960–71
Verma excavations reveal triple-confluence mound
On the ground
Structures & features
25.7330° N · 84.8200° E · 55 m · 2 mapped features
Western Neolithic Pit Dwelling Area
settlementPit dwellings with grey ware and bone tool workshop on western mound
25.7340° N · 84.8190° EEastern Chalcolithic Hearth and Storage
hearthBlack-and-Red hearths and grain storage pits on eastern terrace
25.7320° N · 84.8210° E