Northern Black Polished Ware

"The evidence from the excavations at the foregoing five [Ramayana related] sites shows that the earliest time when all these were under occupation was that of the northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW).... The ... C-14 dates indicate that the lower levels of the NBPW do go back to a period well before 1000 BCE."

"The lowest cultural deposits common to all these sites [related to the Ramayana] were characterized by the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)... on the basis of the Carbon-14 dates... the duration of the NBPW period at Ayodhya ranges from somewhere in the 13th century BCE to about the 4th century BCE."

"The coins [of the NBPW period] were the earliest to be produced in the country.."