RAJKOT: Archaeologists have got more clinching evidence of a thriving human settlement dating to pre-Harappan times in Khatia village close to Lakhpat in Kutch district.Exactly a year after excavating 25 burial sites out of the total around 250, the archaeologists found skeletal remains of a woman’s hands, which had bangles, from one of three additional graves dug out since February 17.One hand had 16 bangles and the other three. All bangles were made of shells, which indicates that they were procured from the nearby seashore.Moreover, the previously excavated sites had cemeteries made of small-size stones while a few excavated recently are made of big slabs of stones. The burial sites are estimated to be around 4,600 to 5,000 years old.Last year, they had found a human skeleton from one of the burial sites.Some pottery items were also found from the graves. “This shows that there may have been a tradition to bury all the belongings of the dead with their bodies,” said Subhash Bhanderi, head of archaeological department of Kutch University “We are also trying to study the reason for use of different stones to build graves. Was it some cultural change?” he added.What is important, according to archaeologists, is the direction of the graves found last year and the ones excavated in the last 10 days as it would help understand the change of culture and their eras.“The 25-odd burial sites found last year were made in east-west direction with the head pointing eastwards. Of the three dug out recently, two are south direction while one is in an unusual north east-south-west direction,” said Bhanderi.The present excavation is being jointly done by Kutch university and Kerala University and state archaeologists.Dr Rajesh SV, a faculty from Kerala University said, “Detailed studies including that of DNA, geochemistry and proper dating of the sediments, bones, pottery and shells will be done to know the age, climate as well as ecology of the people residing in the vicinity.”Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dharvad University and experts coming from Texas, US, are expected to visit this site soon. These are experts in the field of anthropology, archaeology and DNA testing etc.