New Indus Valley study

Haryana

Rakhigarhi

Mohenjo-daro

Hisar

Indus Valley Civilisation

Deccan College

Haryana Archaeological Department

Vasant Shinde

vice–chancellor

Indus Valley

Seoul National University

Banani Bhattacharyya

Amarender Nath

ASI

Mayank Vahia

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

TIFR

VASANT

Move over Mohenjo-daro, Haryana’sdistrict is the new seat of vastness for the. Researchers from citybasedPost-Graduate and Research Institute, in collaboration with the, have dug out a site at Rakhigarhi village in Hisar almost twice the size of its popular cousin in Pakistan.“The Rakhigarhi site spreads across 550 hectares whereas Mohenjo-daro spans 300 hectares, making the former the largest Harappan settlement. These are our latest findings from the excavation going on at that site, where we have measured the area in order to fathom the extent of its spread,” shared Drat Deccan College, who is working on the site along with his team. He stressed that it is an important finding in history and work is still on to understand more about the site.Before this, Shinde said there was much conjecture about the site’s area, with estimates running between 50 and around 200 hectares. But, the research reports of the team led by Deccan College a couple of years ago indicated that the site was much larger, covering more than 350 hectares. Now, the size has been pegged at 550 hectares. The area has a total of seven mounds, of which excavations have been carried out on two mounds. Work on the remaining mounds is still in progress.“At places where the remains were discovered, we used various scientific instruments to ascertain whether the area could be called a part of theCivilisation. We are still deciphering how the site developed and how the architecture spread out. We also found a cemetery there and are also studying the DNA of the people buried, in collaboration with. The DNA analysis will give us more insights into the origins of the people. Even their facial structure can be modelled through 3D reconstruction. The site is extremely important and can be developed into a veritable tourist destination,” Shinde added.Speaking to Mirror, Dr, the deputy director of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Haryana, offered, “We have been working on this for a while now. The present findings have pegged the total area of the Rakhigarhi site at 550 hectares, which makes it the largest Harappan site discovered today in the Indian sub-continent. More excavations are being carried out to find out details about the seven mounds. Mounds two and seven have been dug up so far.”The site had been first excavated byof the Archeological Survey of India () in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The findings had revealed a mature Harappan phase, characterised by planned township with mud, brick and burnt brick constructions and a proper drainage system in place. Thereafter, there have been various researches on the site, including the present findings.Tejas Garge, a Mizoram-based archaeologist with ASI who has worked on the Indus Valley Civilisation, said it’s no surprise that the site covers such a vast area. “There were five big sites, or what can be called as metropolitan cities in modern parlance, in the Indus Valley Civilisation. Rakhigarhi was one of them. The others were Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Ganeriwala and Harappa. In addition, there were around 3,000 villages that were part of the civilisation,” he said., a researcher from) who has also worked extensively on the excavations related to the civilisation, added, “The site is extremely promising. When I went there two years ago, work was already under way. Very little has been discovered on this site yet, but it looks like one of the peak settlements. The government should put in added resources and the excavations should be done with more vigour to uncover further details about this place.”█ At places where the remains were discovered, we used various scientific instruments to ascertain if the area could be called a part of the Indus Valley Civilisation