Annigeri mystery deepens

Following tests on samples of the skulls, a new report by an American radio-carbon dating laboratory has claimed that the finds are 181 years old, leaving historians and archaeologists here to conjecture that a famine or a severe drought wiped out the human population in Annigeri.

This report militates against the findings of the Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Physics (IoP) which, after elaborate C-14 dating tests, had concluded that the skulls were 638 years old.

Once the IoP sent its report, the Dharwad district authorities suggested that a second confirmatory tests be conducted on the skulls not only to establish their antiquity but also assign a historical event which could explain how the skulls came to be buried deep near a stream in Annigeri.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Karnataka Archaeology and Museums Department Director Prof R Gopal said the report sent on Thursday by the Florida-based lab, Beta Analytics, has pegged the age of the skulls at 181 years -- a yawning difference of over 450 years when compared to the radio-carbon dating results of the IoP.

Secondary burial

When asked whether the famine/drought theory was a “plausible one”, Prof Gopal said: “It may not be plausible theory, but it is a practical theory.” Explaining his position, Prof Gopal said there is no historical evidence to suggest that there was any war or massacre in Annigeri 181 years ago. “There might have been a famine or a drought which caused the deaths of people living there.” Asked why then should the skulls be placed neatly in rows and then buried, Prof Gopal said “that is because it was a secondary burial”.

According to him, once the people perished for want of food, their bodies were preyed upon by wild animals. “Subsequently, when the situation normalised, people from nearby areas buried the skulls and the rest of the skeletons separately,” he said.

Debunking Prof Gopal’s stand, Prof R M Shadaksharaiah of the University of Dharwad raised three questions to dispute the famine/drought claim. First, according to Prof Shadaksharaiah, why is it that British records have no mention of a famine that wiped out over 600, if not more, people?

Secondly, he asked, how is that if there was a major famine or a widespread drought only people from one village died? Prof Shadaksharaiah questioned whether the people would have collected only the skulls and leave the rest of the skeletal remains? “Besides, why arrange the skulls in a systematic manner and in the form of a pavilion?” he wondered.

Prof Gopal, however, said the three-page, detailed report of Beta Analytics was “satisfactory”. “They have subjected the skull sample for radio-carbon testing in a most professional manner. While the IoP submitted an eight line note, the Beta Analytic has given a three page detailed report”, he said.

But Prof Gopal added that “more work needs to be done” to ascertain the cause of death and why the skulls were buried in neat rows. But Prof Shadaksharaiah is convinced that the explanation offered by Prof Gopal does not hold water and sticks to his theory that the human skulls buried as a pavilion was the work of tantrics and black magicians who practised their strange craft in “these parts of Karnataka” several hundred years ago.

There are no records -- British district gazettes, for instance -- to show that Annigeri or its adjoining areas suffered from any major famine or drought even 181 years ago. “The British administration would have maintained meticulous records if there was any calamitous famine at that time,” Prof Shadaksharaiah said.

Needless to say, instead of clearing the air over the Annigeri skulls, the Beta Analytics report has thrown up more questions than it has answered.