Burzahom, Srinagar

Burzahom is a major historical site of Kashmir carrying great archaeological importance and is located on the north-west side of the famous Shalimar Gardens. It was discovered that the area was occupied by a Neolithic settlement between 3000 and 1500 BC. The ancient houses found here were semi-subterranean pit houses, partially excavated into the ground.

After 2000 BC, houses here were made of mud-bricks and above ground level. The word Burzahom in the local language stands for 'place of birch'. The place was named so because burnt birch trees were discovered here in huge numbers during the excavation of this site. This proved that birch trees grew here in abundance during the Neolithic Age.

The excavation works on this site went on for almost six years, from 1961 to 1968, and ten human skeletons were found. Scientific experiments confirmed that the human skeletons belonged to different eras including Neolithic-Megalithic, Neolithic and few other historic periods. Some of the major archaeological artefacts collected from this site included pots, arrowheads, animal skeletons and tools.