Paolo Biagi

Slides by the archaeologist Paolo Biagi of the Indus Valley civilization excavation sites.

Aerial View

One of the main minig areas from an altitide of 80 metres. The quarry pits are lighter, semi-circular spots which show areas where sand blown from the neighbouring Thar Desert has been trapped in the quarry depressions.

Quarry Pit

The excavation of one of these quarry pits was carried out in February 1995. The excavation took place over a small 2 by 3 meter area facing the Indus Valley.

Pit 862

The excavation of quarry-pit 862 underway with Drs. F. Negrino (archaeologist), C. Ottomano (paleopedologist) and E. Starnini (archaeologist).

Quarry Pit 862

Excavation of site 862 revealed that the pit had been used by Harappan miners down to a depth of 1.30 meters where the flint vein was encountered. From this pit, a radiocarbon reading of a small charcoal fragment indicated that the mine was exploited

Soil Sampling

Soil samples were taken for thin section analysis in various areas of the hills to try to understand the climactic variations that took place in the area before, during and after the rise of Harappan culture.

Excavations

Four Harappan workshops were excavated, including site 480 from which more than 35,000 artefacts were collected. Most of them were debitage flakes, but also included narrow blades, bladelets and accurately made bullet cores.

Bladelets

Some of the narrow bladelets discarded by Harappan flint-knappers are only 2-3 millimeters wide. Bladelets were later retouched into insturments in the Indus Valley cities. They were often shaped into microdrills for piercing stone and shell beads.

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