TAXILA: In an important new discovery, a stupa dating back to the 3rd Century B.C was discovered at the ancient Buddhist site Badalpur near Taxila during excavations carried out by the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations (TIAC) at the Quaid-eAzam University.

The stupa measuring 25x25 was discovered on the southern side of the main monastery with center water tank at ancient Buddhist site. Coins, pottery and metal objects have also been excavated at the site, during excavations carried out by graduate and doctorate students at the TIAC. The students were led by the director of the institute professor Dr Ashraf Khan and assistant professor Dr Sadid Arif and Coordinator Mohammad Ibrahim.

Professor Dr Ashraf Khan told Dawn about the discovery and said the newly discovered monastery is built in Kushan workmanship style known as `diaper masonry`, consisting of thin neatly placed layers of schist interspersed with large blocks of stone as well as semi-ashlar masonry.

He said the cells of the monastery are plastered with mud mortar, the first of its kind seen in the Taxila Valley.

In response to a query, Dr Khan said the discovery of metal objects showed the craftsmanship of the people living in the area between the first and fourth century.

Dr Khan said six copper coins from the Kushan period have been discovered in the excavations. He said that according tothe carbon study of the newly discovered stupa carried out by the University of Wisconsin-Madison dates it back to the 3rd century BC to 1st century AD.

He said during the last season of the excavation, a good number of antiquities such as a bust of Buddha sculpture in stucco, copper coins, bones, charcoal, Iron objects and pottery were discovered.

Unveiling the archaeological significance of the site, he said that the site was early mentioned by AlexanderCunningham in 1863, the then director, Archaeological Survey of India, during his expedition to Gandhara.

First excavation at the site was carried out in 1916-17 by Natisa Aiyar, superintendent of Frontier Circle while second was carried out in 2005 to 2009 by Federal Archaeology in collaboration with Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-iAzam University.

He said five seasons of excavations had been conducted successfully by the insti-tute at this ancient Buddhist site so far.

The most remarkable discovery was an iron nail and animal bones which revealed that Gandhara people knew the use of different metals and that Buddhist used to eat meat, said Dr Khan.

`This will need rewriting of the history of Taxila in the light of the new and substantial evidence,` he said.

He said despite limited resources, the university had planned to excavate and preserve the whole site.