It is with real sadness that I report the passing away of Dr. Richard H. Meadow, Director of the Zooarcheaology Laboratory at the Peabody Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology at Harvard University. He was also one of the key contributors to Harappa.com – in fact it was an email from him in 1995 that set me down the road to building Harappa.com as a website that ultimately became fully dedicated to the ancient Indus civilization.
He, together with Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, put together many of the major slide sections on the excavations at Harappa that remain the core of the website. He was always available for advice and corrections, and helped steer me right on many occasions. Some years ago, when I moved the site to a new platform and had put many of the images of his slideshows on a white background, he immediately wrote me to deplore this decision as it did not allow the image to shine the way it had on the original black background web pages. Needless to say, I figured out how to change the site and put the images back on black! His advice and points were exceptional, and unlike many scholars, he realized and supported bringing the wider public into discoveries and discussions about our ancient past.
Richard was a generous advisor to many graduate students, a prolific scholar (some of his scholarly articles) whose work ranged outside the ancient Indus Valley to larger issues in zooarchaeology around the world. He edited Harappa Excavation Reports 1986-1990, still a key text on what remains the most comprehensive and scientific excavations of any ancient Indus site, and allowed me to make it available for free.
A few years ago I interviewed Richard at his offices in Harvard about his early years and work at Harappa, an interview I have yet to publish on the site. Outside his book lined office, graduate students were busy working while we spoke. Richard's dedication to being objective and scientific about discoveries was one of his finest qualities. His work and influence on Indus studies will long outlast him, but it is nonetheless a great blow to lose such an important and well-respected contributor to the field. He was an inspiration to so many, this writer included.
Above are some photographs of Richard at Harappa, where he often put his own safety at risk to get the right shot of an excavation area.
- Omar Khan, July 13 2026