Faunal Remains from Girawad (2006‐2007), District Rohtak, Haryana C. V. Sharada 1 , P. P. Joglekar 1 and V. S. Shinde 1 1 . Department of Archaeology, Deccan College Post‐Graduate and Research Institute, Yerawada, Pune 411006, Maharashtra, India (Email: sharada.cv9@gmail.com, pramjog@yahoo.co.in, vshinde@gmail.com) Received: 16 August 2014; Accepted: 09 September 2014; Revised: 01 October 2014 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 2 (2014): 421‐441 Abstract: The Harappan site of Girawad was excavated for a single season in 2006‐07 by excavators from Deccan College, Pune; MD University, Rohtak and Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan to salvage fast‐vanishing archaeological record. This single culture site, circular in plan and 8 ha in area, lies 3 km to the east of the present village of Girawad. Altogether 41 trenches revealed 13 pit‐ dwelling complexes with ceramics similar to Hakra Ware which portrays a regional variation that can roughly be dated to middle of Fourth Millennium BC. The faunal material (n=4671) from this site was analyzed at the Archaeozoology Laboratory at Deccan College, Pune following internationally standardized procedures. This paper throws light on the diverse faunal spectra and the role and contribution of different mammalian and non‐ mammalian species to the human subsistence at Girawad. Methods used include NISP, skeletal representation and a minute study of pre and post depositional bone modifications generated by anthropogenic and other causal agents in the background of their contexts. Keywords: Indian Faunal Studies, Girawad, Haryana, Early Harappan, Pit‐dwellings, Animal‐based Subsistence, Taphonomy Introduction The site of Girawad (28° 58’ 41”N and 76° 28’ 47”E) (Fig. 1), locally famous as “kheri”, is one of the important Early Harappan sites in Haryana and it was selected for a dig mainly to rescue the fast‐disappearing remains. Situated approximately 3 km to the east of the present village of Girawad, it comes within the jurisdiction of the Meham Block of Rohtak District, Haryana. The village is roughly 22 km northeast of the Meham town and lies at about the same distance to the southwest of Rohtak. The ancient site, circular in plan, is an extensive single culture site spread over an area of roughly 8 hectares bearing the presence of Hakra, Early, Mature and Late Harappan ceramic remains (Shinde et al. 2011). Structural remains from Bhirrana, Girawad and Farmana, all of which are located in the Ghaggar Basin, suggest that the people from the Regional Hakra Culture lived in shallow pit‐dwellings. Excavations at Bhirrana (Rao et al. 2004) and Girawad (Shinde et