West of the "citadel" mound are lush farmlands watered by modern irrigation channels. A levee protecting the site from annual floods divides the irrigated land from the salt encrusted sediments surrounding the ancient site. The high salinity of the … >

A view of the houses and streets in VS area, with the citadel and stupa mound in the background. The tops of eroding buildings have been capped with a protective layer of mud brick that will help to soak up the efflorescent salts and protect the und… >

This general view of houses in HR area shows the color of the brick walls prior to use of mud brick and clay slurry for conservation. The lower parts of the walls have the natural reddish color of fired brick. >

This general view of houses in VS area shows the color of the brick walls after the use of mud brick and clay slurry for conservation. The lower parts of the walls have the natural reddish color of fired brick and the upper portion is oliveÐgrey mud… >

Standing in HR area and looking northwest at the juncture of Last Street (east west) and First Street (north south). VS area is seen on the other side of the street and the stupa mound rises in the background. Stacks of mud bricks are waiting to be … >

One relatively successful low cost techniques used to combat the destructive nature of salts in the fired bricks is to cover the walls with a thick layer of mud and straw plaster and to spray them with clay slurry. When the salts percolate to the su… >

The pathway leading from VS to DK-I area follows the natural topography of the mounds. The eroding surface is littered with over fired nodules, pottery, brick fragments and other artifacts that are heavily encrusted with efflorescent salts. >

Narrow brick walls define the outlines of a small room or courtyard in the low-lying area between L and SD Areas on the Citadel Mound. A standard size of mud brick and baked brick (7 x 14 x 28 cm) was used in house construction, and a different size… >

The foundations of many houses were constructed on top of massive mud brick platforms such as this one eroding from the edge of the mound along the major east-west street dividing HR and VS areas. The size of large mud bricks used for the constructi… >

Some of the later houses in HR area were constructed on top of massive deposits of garbage consisting of brick rubble, broken pottery and sometimes a thin layer of crushed, vitrified terracotta nodules. Three sequences of rebuilding can be seen with… >