Babina at 12:51, 31 December 2025

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{{Short description|Village and archaeological site in Patan, Gujarat, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Loteshwar
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|map_type = India
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|coordinates = {{coord|23|36|N|71|50|E|display=inline,title}}
|location = [[Gujarat]], [[India]]
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|cultures = [[Anarta tradition]], [[Indus Valley Civilisation]]
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'''Loteshwar''' is a village and an archaeological site belonging to [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] located at [[Patan district]], [[Gujarat]], India. This site is locally also known as Khari-no-timbo and located on a high sand dune on left bank of Khari river, a tributary of [[Rupen River|Rupen]] river.<ref name=asi>{{cite book|editor-last=Mahapatra|editor-first=S.K. |title=Indian Archaeology 1990-91, A Review|year=1995|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|location=New Delhi|pages=12–13|url=http://asi.nic.in/nmma_reviews/Indian%20Archaeology%201990-91%20A%20Review.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=C.S.|first1=Gadekar|last2=P.|first2=Ajithprasad|last3=Marco|first3=Madella|last4=Andrea|first4=Balbo|last5=S.V.|first5=Rajesh|last6=B.|first6=Rondelli|last7=José|first7=García-Granero Fos, Juan|last8=David|first8=Rodríguez Antón|last9=V.|first9=Yannitto|date=2014|title=Continuation of a Tradition over Five Thousand Years: Lithic Assemblage from Loteshwar, North Gujarat, Western India|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271195286|via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

==Archeology==
===Ancient site===
The 2009 excavation at Loteshwar uncovered one of the earliest Mesolithic sites in Western India, with levels containing radiocarbon evidence of human activity since 8000 BCE as well as evidence of continuous microlithic tool traditions spanning over 5,000 years. These findings suggest a stable and long-term human presence in the region, contributing new insights into early settlement patterns in South Asia.<ref>Gadekar, Charusmita; Ajithprasad, P.; Madella, M.; Balbo, A.; Rajesh, S. V.; Rondelli, B.; García-Granero, J. J.; Rodriguez, D.; Yanitto, V. (2014). "Continuation of a Tradition over Five Thousand Years: Lithic Assemblage from Loteshwar, North Gujarat, Western India." Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 2, 283-304. [http://www.heritageuniversityofkerala.com/JournalPDF/Volume2/283-304.pdf](http://www.heritageuniversityofkerala.com/JournalPDF/Volume2/283-304.pdf).</ref>

===Excavation===
Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, M.S.University, Baroda carried out excavation at Loteshwar during 1990-91. The excavation revealed two different cultural periods with Period I belonging to Monolithic culture and Period II belonging to a culture having affinity with the Harappan culture.<ref name=asi/>

====Period I====
Period I, with 60 cm deposit on a sand dune, yielded large number of microlithic tools, flat sandstone "palettes", grinding stones and hammer stones.<ref name=asi/> Tools were made of chert, jasper, agate and quartz.<ref name=asi/> Two burials were also found.<ref name=asi/>

====Period II====
Period II was represented by 80 cm deposits but deposits connected to habitation was about 20 cm to 25 cm thickness.<ref name=asi/> Large number of pits (0.5 m to 2 m diameter, 0.5 m to 2 m depth) which were invariably filled ashy soil, potsherds, animal bones and other insignificant materials were found and the significance of these large number of pits is not fully understood.<ref name=asi/>

Pottery collection from this site was predominated by gritty red ware and red ware, which were analogous in shape and style with similar pottery found at [[Nagwada]] and coarse redware and polychrome pottery found at [[Surkotada]].<ref name=asi/> Red ware was usually well fired and made of fine clay.

====Artefacts====
Bowls and pots with shades of black and red on cream/white background, coarse red ware and grey ware with incised designs, terracotta pinched type lumps, ''mushtika'' type lumps, steatite micro beads, agate beads, carnelian beads, amazonite beads etc.<ref name=asi/> Terracotta objects found at this site included a figurine, bangles, clay lumps with impressions of reed etc.<ref name=antiquity>{{cite web|last=Madella|first=M and 12 other writers|title=Social and environmental transitions in arid zones: the North Gujarat Archaeological Project — NoGAP|url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/madella325/|publisher=World Archaeology Ed.Martin Carver|access-date=12 July 2012}}</ref>

===Culture===
The ceramics found at Loteshwar, distinct from Amri-Nal pottery,<ref name=jane>{{cite book|last=McIntosh|first=Jane R.|title=The Ancient Indus Valley : New Perspectives|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=9781576079072|pages=62,74,412|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&q=loteshwar}}</ref> is associated with the [[Anarta tradition]]. It is of different nature from those of early Harappan period and suggest earlier pot-making activity in this area.<ref>{{cite book|last=Possehl|first=Gregory L.|title=The indus civilization : a contemporary perspective|year=2002|publisher=AltaMira Press|location=Walnut Creek, CA|isbn=9780759101722|pages=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC&q=loteshwar&pg=PA69| edition=2.print.}}</ref> The crested ridge technique of blade production is absent in Loteshwar. Loteshwar shows two fold cultural sequence (Mesolithic and Chalcolithic). The site has very thin Chalcolithic deposit showing about 2000 years of occupation which could be seasonal. It has several pits of varying diameter but there are no other structures. After the long time of Chalcolitic occupation, sheep and goats were introduced here.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rajesh|first1=S.V.|last2=Sukumaran|first2=Prabhin|last3=Krishnan|first3=K|date=2015-01-01|title=Scenario Of Chalcolithic Site Surveys In Gujarat|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305403890|journal=Pakistan Heritage|volume=7|pages=5|via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

===Other findings===
Other findings from Loteshwar include large amount of funeral remains in the form of skeletal remains of land animals like sheep, goat and cattle<ref name=singh>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Upinder|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century|year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788131711200|pages=85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&q=loteshwar}}</ref> and fish as well as turtle.<ref name=asi/>

==Places of interest==
[[File:Gangua Kund Mahadev temple, Loteshvar Gujarat.jpg|thumb|Floor plan of the Kund near Loteshvar Mahadev temple]]
There is a temple of Loteshvar Mahadev with a reservoir, ''Loteshwar Kund'', in front, called ''pretgaya''. A yearly fair, attended by about thousands of pilgrims, is held here on Phagun vad Amavasya (March - April). A bath in the pool, and certain religious ceremonies, are believed to draw out evil spirits and, at the same time, give them freedom, mukti, and absorption into the eternal Brahma.{{sfn|''Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur and Mahi Kantha''|2015|page=342}}

==See also==
{{Portal|India}}

* [[Indus Valley civilization]]
* [[List of Indus Valley Civilization sites]]
* [[List of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilization]]
* [[Hydraulic engineering of the Indus Valley Civilization]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha|publisher=Government Central Press|year=1880|pages=342|ref={{sfnref|''Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur and Mahi Kantha''|2015}}}}
[[File:PD-icon.svg|10px]] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the [[public domain]]: {{cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ|year=1880|publisher=Government Central Press| pages=337}}

{{Patan district}}

[[Category:Villages in Patan district]]
[[Category:Indus Valley Civilisation sites]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Gujarat]]
[[Category:Former populated places in India]]

Loteshwar - Revision history

Babina at 12:51, 31 December 2025