- NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian
scientists have made an archaeological find dating back to 7500 BC
suggesting
the world's oldest cities came up about 4,000 years earlier than is
currently
believed, a top government official said on Wednesday.
-
- The scientists found pieces of wood, remains of pots,
fossil bones and what appeared like construction material just off the
coast of Surat in western India, Science and Technology Minister Murli
Manohar Joshi told a news conference.
-
- "Some of these artefacts recovered by the NIOT
(National
Institute of Ocean Technology) from the site such as the log of wood date
back to 7500 BC, which is indicative of a very ancient culture in the
present
Gulf of Cambay, that got submerged subsequently," Joshi said.
-
- Current belief is that the first cities appeared around
3500 BC in the valley of Sumer, where Iraq now stands, a statement issued
by the government said.
-
- "We can safely say from the antiquities and the
acoustic images of the geometric structures that there was human activity
in the region more than 9,500 years ago (7500 BC)," S.N. Rajguru,
an independent archaeologist, said.
-
- The findings, if confirmed, will dislodge the Harappan
Civilisation dating back to 2500 BC as India's oldest civilisation.
-
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