Excavations

Rehman Dheri is one of the earliest planned urban sites found in South Asia to date. The site was first explored in 1971 by Professor Ahmad Hassan Dani and excavated by Professor Farzand Ali Durrani from the University of Peshawar from 1976 to 1982, and again in 1991. >

These images that show how difficult if not impossible it is to ascertain Mohenjo-daro's age; the water table even 50 years ago was doing great damage to the city's remains and making deep digging impossible. >

More interesting discoveries at Binjor, seven kilometers from the Pakistan border in the bed of the ancient Sarasvati River. Archaeologists have "come across signs of industrial activity going back at least 4500 years," including "over 100 hearths." Concentrated industrial or craft activity at a smaller site has once again been found during the ancient Indus period. >

"The site Kalibangan - literally 'black bangles' - derives its name for the dense distribution of the fragments of black bangles which were found at the surface of its mounds. . ." writes Madhu Bala. "Evidence of this period consists of a citadel area over the 1.6 metre-thick early Harappan deposit in KLB-1 (the western mound of the site [Image 1]), a chessboard pattern 'lower city' in KLB-2 (the lower and larger eastern mound), and a mound full of fire altars in a much smaller mound further east (KLB-3). The citadel complex of KLB-1 is roughly a parallelogram (240 by 120 metres) divided i… >

As the first Mohenjodaro Conference in 44 years just ended, it is worth looking back at the last one in 1973, when many of the same themes and concerns were raised. In hindsight, there is some evidence of impact, even if the situation at the site has continued to deteriorate and the basic issues of waterlogging, salinity and enroachment remain as acute as ever. >

"The discovery of a rich hoard of Harappan jewelry from the village of Mandi (29-26 degrees 10' North, 77 degrees 34-35'E) in Muzzaffarnagar district, western Uttar Pradesh, has surprised the archaeological world for several reasons. First, Mandi is located to the east of the Yamuna river, and this area has been considered peripheral to the main distribution area of the Harappan civilization." >

Senior archaeologists, including J.M. Kenoyer, Michael Jansen and Aurore Didier debate how to preserve this great site. Rebury? What do you think? >

"For the astounding remains of Mohenjo Daro, discovered in 1922 and excavated during the following years, are for the most part in a state of utter disintegration and decay and are rapidly approaching the point of total destruction." >

In the coming months we will feature posts on the site known as Chanhudaro, in Nawabshah, Sindh. This is one of the most interesting and highly-sophisticated "small towns" of the ancient Indus Valley. Since 2015, a French-Pakistani joint archaeological mission has started excavating the site. >

"The economy of these people must have relied largely on agriculture. Although no cereals were found in the course of excavating the discovery of a ploughed field [1], situated to the south-east of the settlement outside the town-hall, is highly significant." >