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| - Fact Check: Pictures from China, US passed off as archaeological findings in UP
A set of three images showing apparent archaeological findings has gone viral on social media with the claim that these were excavated from Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh. India Today found the claim to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
Although there have been remarkable discoveries in Sanauli in recent years, the chariot seen in the viral post was unearthed in China’s Henan province. Reports said these are “3000-year-old remains of horses and wooden chariots from a Zhou Dynasty tomb in Luoyang”.
A set of three images, showing apparent archaeological findings, is viral on social media with the claim that these were excavated from Sanauli in Uttar Pradesh.
The first image shows a pair of wheel-like objects with what appears to be the fossil of an animal’s ribcage by its side. A man can also be seen spraying something on the findings. The second image on the bottom left looks like an ancient helmet, while the third appears to be an archaeological artefact. Many netizens have claimed that these findings belong to the Mahabharata-era.
Many have posted the pictures with the claim, “This is almost 1,000 years from the Mahabharata Era. A 4000 year old wooden Chariot found near Sanauli, UP, India. Wheels covered with thick plates of copper. Also copper helmets found near the Chariot. Comb, mirror decorated with camel, peacock found. This discovery has opened up a debate on the theory of Aryan Invasion in Indian subcontinent.”
The archived versions of the posts can be seen here and here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the post to be misleading. While two of the pictures are from China and United States, some elements in the post are indeed from Sanauli.
Let us look into them one by one.
Image 1
A reverse search led us to a “Daily Mail” report published in September 2011 about archaeological findings in China’s Henan Province. This article carried the same image as seen in the viral claim. The report said these are “3000-year-old remains of horses and wooden chariots from a Zhou Dynasty tomb in Luoyang”.
“The completed excavation unearthed four horse-and-chariot pits, dating back as far as 770BC,” the report added.
However, the Sanauli site had also gained attention for its Bronze Age solid-disk wheel carts found in 2018, which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled chariots.
Image 2
While searching for the helmet-shaped object, we came across a website called “Deviant Art”, which carried the same image as seen in the viral post. The image here is captioned, “Elamite Helmet and Beaker at the Met”.
Using these keywords, we found the original picture of the ancient helmet, now kept at New York’s “Met Museum”.
A comparison of both images makes it clear that it’s the same helmet.
But there’s a twist here.
The rusty-looking helmet on the extreme left in black background was indeed unearthed at Sanauli. Dr Sanjay Kumar Manjul, ASI joint director and head of the excavation project at Sanauli, has confirmed the same to AFWA. He described the finding as “possibly one of oldest helmets of the world”. Specifications are very similar to the helmet kept at New York’s Met Museum.
Image 3
The third image is also from Sanauli. Searching the Internet, we came across a video of Dr Manjul speaking about the discoveries at Sanauli in Delhi University. At 20 minutes in the video, he can be seen referring to these objects as “Mirror and Gold Objects” found at the excavation site.
Dr Manjul, however, did not make any comment on whether these findings are from the Mahabharata Era as claimed by netizens, but he told AFWA that these are indeed almost 4,000 years old.
“They were a warrior class, and just like the Mesopotamians, we also had similar things such as chariots, swords and helmets. We have also found shields, a torch, daggers, copper pots, combs and a copper mirror at Sanauli, which represents a sophisticated lifestyle during that era,” he added.
Sanauli: Unveiling of a buried history
Excavation at Sanauli began in 2005. A lesser-known place some 70 kilometres from Delhi in UP’s Baghpat district, it came in the limelight after a series of discoveries.
A report published in February 2020 on “The Times of India” stated that a total of 126 burials have been discovered by the ASI here, in what has been termed India’s largest known necropolis so far.
“Carbon dating marks this site as an earliest history of a warrior tribe in the Indian subcontinent,” the article said quoting a report.
But it is clear that all the images in the viral post do not belong from Sanauli. Two of them are from China and United States.
(Inputs from Riddhish Dutta in Kolkata)
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