Excavations

Posts on recent and historic ancient Indus excavations.

Chanhu-daro Excavations (1935)

Workers digging a deep pit during the 1935-36 excavations in Chanhu-daro, Sindh. Chanhu-daro was the only American run pre-partition Indus excavations, by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and led by Ernest J.H. Mackay. They revealed a highly-advanced ancient Indus manufacturing site. An illustrated 1937 article by Dorothy Mackay describing it in Finds at Chanhu-daro. Asko Parpola speculated that the discovery of a unique sign on selas from the site may be indicative of a place name in the Indus script: See https://www.harappa.com/blog/indus-sign-place-name and

Harappan Drainage System

This view along Drain [8] into the mound shows details of the brick construction, the robbed out area at the east end of the drain (background), sloping strata above indicating the existence of an open street drain along the same line as the earlier baked brick drain, and the later Period 3C architecture built after the open drain was filled in and the area leveled. The bricks from the eastern part of the drain were robbed by tunneling into the sediment along the line of the drain from the East.
A portion of a large brick drain excavated at Harappa that survived the brick robbers. Dating to about 2400-2200 BCE, it was later filled in and the area leveled. The 5 images here show it in context, as well as some of the banded beads found in situ around it. 1. This view along Drain [8] into the mound shows details of the brick construction, the robbed out area at the east end of the drain (background), sloping strata above indicating the existence of an open street drain along the same line as the earlier baked brick drain, and the later Period 3C architecture built after the open drain

Amri - A Pre-Harappan Site in Sindh

Site of Amri, Sindh
The film Mohenjo Daro opens in the remote village of Amri, where Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) and his friends wrestle a large crocodile in a riverine gorge. Amri is shown as a remote farming village from where the villagers travel to Mohenjodaro as it offers a bigger market for their wares. In this post we shine a light on the archaeological evidence from the ancient site of Amri, which lies on the western bank of the Indus, about 160 km south of Mohenjodaro. The archaeological importance of Amri was demonstrated in 1929 by the excavations of N.G.Majumdar, who discovered there, for the first time,

Knobbed Terracotta Vessel MSR4

"This terracotta vessel with a pronounced knob at the centre has engaged the attention of archaeologists as a "unique find" and was probably used in rituals or ceremonies. Similar vessels have been depicted on Harappan seals and copper plates" according to the ASI description of this object found at Bijnor (MSR 4) in 2017.

Excavation of Pottery Debris

Discarded ancient Indus sherds, after archaeologists have sifted through them and cleaned them. This pottery debris from excavations at Harappa covers hundreds - if not a thousand – years of habitation, far longer a period than say modern times. One can imagine each sherd having its own story, connected to another sherd now far away in the pile, the centuries layered upon each other in the sunlight. 1 and 2. Sorted and discarded pottery sherds from continuing excavations at Harappa since 1985. 3. Earth and debris excavated from the houses and streets of DK-I area was dumped directly onto parts

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