BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, February 20, 2008: Indian archaeologists say they have found remains which point to the existence of a city which flourished 2,500 years ago in eastern India. Discovered at Sisupalgarh, near Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa, the items found during point to a highly developed urban settlement. The population of the city could have been in the region of 20,000 to 25,000, the archaeologists claim.
The excavations include 18 stone pillars, pottery, terracotta ornaments and bangles, finger rings, ear spools and pendants made of clay.
R.K. Mohanty of the department of archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who is one of the two researchers involved in the excavations, said “The significance of this ancient city becomes clear when one bears in mind the fact that the population of classical Athens was barely 10,00.” Mr. Mohanty, along with Monica Smith of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, has been carrying out limited excavations at the site every year since 2005.