HYDERABAD: A clay sculpture of the ‘Mother Goddess’ from the neolithic age has been found by an archaeology enthusiast in Patigadda, Narmetta village of Nanganoor mandal in Siddipet district. The find adds to the megalithic burials that were unearthed by Heritage Telangana department, where many artifacts were found a few years ago, among them some remarkable bone jewellery.
Kotipaka Srinivas, a field researcher of Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam (KTCB), found the 6 cm tall anthropomorphic sculpture of Mother Goddess. Archaeologist and historian Ravi Corisetter from Karnataka, who examined the photographs of the clay figurine found in Narmetta, opined that they were similar to the neolithic ‘mother of pearl’ found in the ‘Mehrgarh’ excavations in Pakistan.
The Mehrgarh site was discovered in 1974 by an archaeological team led by the French archaeologists Jean-François Jarrige, and his wife Catherine Jarrige.
Mehrgarh was excavated continuously between 1974 and 1986, and again from 1997 to 2000. The female figurine from Mehrgarh, believed to have been dated back to 3,000 BC, is made of terracotta, and is 9.5 cm in height. It is presently housed in Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas.
KTCB convener Sriramoju Haragopal believes that the clay figurine found in Narmetta is an anthropomorphic form of the neolithic age, similar to the nude figure of ‘Ammadevata,’ and is datable back to 5,000 years.