CHANDIGARH: Initial findings from the Rakhigarhi excavation site in Haryana's Hisar district -the biggest Harappan site -indicate that it may be the oldest continuous living habitat in the world.

Explaining the importance of the discovery, a senior official of Haryana archeological department said, “This means that the Harappan civilization never totally died away. The direct descendants of the people who lived here 7,500 years ago are still living at the same place.“

He said this makes it the only human civilization to have continued down the ages. The contemporary Egyptian and the Mesopotamian civilizations did not survive the vagaries of time. Scientists are anxiously awaiting complete re sults of the DNA tests of samples taken from Rakhigarhi. “We took DNA samples from skeletons recovered from the archeological dig as well as residents of Rakhigarhi village of today. The initial results have thrown up scientific evidence proving that even as the civilization faded away , some people adapted to the changes and continued to live here,“ the official added, requesting anonymity as the full results of the research project are not out yet.

Leader of the research team and head of Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Vasant Shinde, said, “The deposits we have found in various layers at Rakhigarhi go as deep as 22 metre. No other site has such extensive deposits. For example, deposits at Mohanjodaro go down to only 17 metre. This shows, Rakhigarhi area was a bustling metropolis as long back as 5000 to 5500 BC and continued to thrive. People continued to live there for long.“ “Apart from DNA sam ples, we have noticed a continuity in the traditions and art in Rakhigarhi. The residents there today use the same pot tery designs as seen on the artefacts recovered during digging. It is also visible in food and other habits,“ says the state government official.



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