Ruins of a structure and artefacts from the Lichhchhavi period have been found at Shreerampati in Panchkhal municipality-7 here.
A team from the Department of Archaeology found the ancient ruins and the artefacts in course of its study and archaeological excavation of the heritage sites at the place lasting for about two weeks.
The team had started excavation since May 29 at the site where the locals of Shreerampati had indicated that there were remains of an ancient palace.
Department's archaeological officer Bishnu Prasad Pathak said that the team completed the excavation of the site on Sunday. He said that the articles found during the excavation would be taken to the Department for archaeological examination and the site has been restored to its original condition.
Senior archeologist Uddhav Acharya who was involved in the excavation shared that they found the remains of rooms with 24-inch wide stone walls and a compound wall at the site. He added that they also found pieces of clay pots, a pestle stone, shivalinga, stone spout, remains of a clay pipe for channeling water to what is said to be ancient pond and some wide bricks.
According to him, all these articles belong to the Lichhchhavi period. The locals had been saying that the remains of the Lichhchhavi king Mandev's palace, pond, well, stone spout and other structures was spread over around 12 ropanis area in the locality.
The locals had contacted the Department after they found pieces of old bricks and ancient coins while ploughing the field for cultivation in the area. They had been calling for excavation and protecting the area ever since then. The artefacts date back to the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th century, Acharya said.
