ANCIENT PERIOD , PRE-HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

The early literary sources of Kashmir contain references about human settlements in the valley but they carry with them a medley of myths and legends, making it difficult to arrive at any definite historical conclusions.Dissatisfied with these stray references , the archeologists, after conducting geo-physical survey, succeeded in identifying certain pre-historic sites where human settlements have flourished. Excavation carried out at some of these sites yielded fruitful results, as the study of various bone and stone artifacts excavated testify that Kashmir had been the abode of human settlements right from pre-historic times.