The Rohri Flint Quarries Essay 3

The Rohri Flint Quarries

Essay 3

The Rohri Hills Project is jointly run by the Department of Archaeology, The Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan and the Department of Historical, Archaeological and Oriental Sciences at the University of Venice in Italy. Project Directors are Prof. M. Mukhtiar Kazi (Director-Archaeologist) and the author, Dr. Paolo Biagi (Co-Director-Archaeologist).

The six-year (1993-1998) project will investigate the region surrounding the sanctuary of Shadee Shaheed and has five stages:

1. Detailed Survey of Shadi Shahid region

2. Mapping of the most important archaeological sites

3. Aerial photography from a helium balloon

4. Detailed mapping of at least one of the largest workshops

5. Excavation of some of the quarries and flint debitage

The excavations will result in thousands of artefacts and potsherds. Radiocarbon dates from places like Site 862 (which gave a reading of 2200-2400 B.C., or the height of Indus Civilization) will help construct a timeline of human use of the mines.

Scope

This multidisciplinary research will define the archaeological phases during which the Rohri Hill were exploited for raw flint procurement, and reconstruct the environmental changes that took place during the last 300,000 years.

Finally, the Rohri Hills, despite being one of the most important archaeological complexes in the subcontinent, are being destroyed by intense industrial activity. It is extremely important to preserve at least some archaeological areas for future generations of archaeologists.

by Paolo Biagi

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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