"The real heroes of this story of the discovery of the Indus civilization were such individuals–a discerning archaeologist like Sahni and a brilliant one like Banerji, who had within a few years of each other uncovered the relics entombed in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro respectively."
"The discovery of the rotational capabilities of the wheel was one of the most significant human inventions, and wheel-enhanced rotation is now pervasive in the tools and machines that we use in our everyday lives. Importantly, the wheel was a major contributor to a range of developments in craft production technology, perhaps most visibly in the various forms of potter’s rotational devices and wheels."
The author of Finding Forgotten Histories How the Indus Civilization was Discovered tells the story of the earliest investigators and discoveries that led to Harappa and Mohenjo-daro being recognized as remants of a large Bronze Age Civilization that we now know stretched over much of the north-western subcontinent.
Another example of how modern data science and the re-analysis of data collected by early archaeologists are opening new frontiers of discovery. In this case, finds made in one area of Mohenjo-daro, excavated by K.N. Dikshit, are being tabulated and located precisely in relation to other objects and the strata or level they were found at.
Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer discusses some of the earliest trade items linking coastal, interior Indus and distant regions together. They were also important public symbols of identify, gender, wealth, status and ethnicity.
"In spite of the challenges that face bioarchaeological research in South Asia, the results obtained from the investigations of the past 30 years have revolutionized our understanding of the peoples of the ancient Indus Valley, providing contemporary, scientifically informed interpretations from skeletal collections that were often collected decades ago."
