Ref ID:	37513
Ref Type:	Document
Authors:	Ahsan, Syed Mohammad Kamrul Roy, Jayanta Singh
Title:	Fossil wood artifacts and their locations at Chaklapunji, Habiganj district, Bangladesh: A discussion on recent observations
Abstract:	Northeastern hilly border lands of Bangladesh have been supposed to be a very potential landscape for prehistoric archaeological exploration. This supposition emerged from the reported discovery of a number of prehistoric sites in the surrounding regions of Northeast India along with presence of raw material and favorable environmental resources. Discovery of prehistoric archaeological records from Chaklapunji tea garden area establish the assumption and exposed a fresh field of research. All the prehistoric artifacts of Chaklapunji area were prepared on fossil wood and discovered from the course of a seasonal stream known as Balugang (sandy river). The course of Balugang can be divided into minor locations and key locations on the basis of context and distribution patterns of artifacts. 108 artifacts have been salvaged from the different spot of minor locations as isolated occurrences and as horizontally diffused scatters situation. 549 artifacts were collected from several cluster depositions of key locations. A huge frequency of ferro-silicate palets, fossil wood pieces of various sizes and shapes and a variety of quartz granules were came across with artifacts cluster depositions. Present contexts and distribution patterns of artifacts point out that after discarding fossil wood artifacts by prehistoric people they have been undergone to certain alterations by both natural and cultural activities. For inconsistency in the surface structure and landforms of the Chaklapunji area, prehistoric archaeological records are mostly an outcome of past depositional and post-depositional processes and as well as contemporary processes of disturbance. Present-day surface erosion processes are more responsible for eliminate the sediment cover and exhuming the fossil wood artifacts to the surface and subsequently causing their down slope transport and deposited on stream bed.