Sherds

The “valuable” Painted Grey Ware pottery sherds that sat in Swarnkar’s cupped palms are what the ASI hopes will be the key to a question that has baffled scholars, archaeologists and politicians alike – is Purana Qila the site of the city of Indraprastha?

A trove of some 100 ostraca — inscribed pottery sherds — were unearthed in a 1960s excavation of a small, remote military fortress at Tel Arad in the Negev.

Among the artifacts recovered were a piece of wood, pottery sherds, weathered stones initially described as hand tools, fossilized bones, and a tooth.

Processing of collected sherds can be consistent with two main types of analysis: technical and traditional.

Traditional analysis involves sorting ceramic artifacts, sherds and larger fragments into specific types based on style, composition, manufacturing and morphology.