In which phase of excavation did B.B. Lal note the use of both mud bricks and burnt bricks for constructing houses?

1) First phase (c. twelfth-seventh centuries BCE)
2) Second phase (c. sixth-third centuries BCE)
3) Third phase (c. twelfth-seventh centuries BCE)
4) Third phase (c. sixth-third centuries BCE)

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

4

In 1951-52, the archaeologist B.B. Lal conducted excavations in a village named Hastinapura in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh). The question arose whether this village was the same as the Hastinapura mentioned in the epic. Although the similarity in names could be coincidental, the site's location in the Upper Ganga doab, where the Kuru kingdom was situated, hints that it might have been the capital of the Kurus as described in the text.

Lal's excavation revealed five occupational levels, with the second and third phases being of particular interest. In the second phase (c. twelfth-seventh centuries BCE), Lal noted that the houses showed no definite plans, but he encountered walls made of mud and mud bricks. The presence of mud-plaster with prominent reed marks suggested that some houses had reed walls plastered over with mud.

For the third phase (c. sixth-third centuries BCE), Lal observed that houses were constructed using both mud bricks and burnt bricks. Soakage jars and brick drains were utilized for draining refuse water, while terracotta ring wells may have functioned as both wells and drainage pits.