New Findings at Harappan Site of Rakhigarhi

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• Recently, the excavation at Rakhigarhi has revealed the presence of settlements, drainage systems besides jewelry and pottery.

Important Findings

• The archaeologists have unearthed pieces of copper and gold jewelry, terracotta toys, besides thousands of earthen pots and seals.
• Trenches: A total 13 trenches are open across three mounds, five at Mound 1, seven in Mound 3 and one trench in Mound 7.
• Possibility of a jewelry making unit: At Mound 1, a huge quantity of debris of semi-precious stones such as agate and carnelian have been found along with evidence of street planning with a general width of 2.6m.
• Walled settlement: At Mound 3, a burnt-brick wall has been traced leading to a possibility of a walled settlement.
• The noteworthy antiquities found at mounds include steatite seals, terracotta unbaked sealing with relief of elephants and Harappan script.
• Female skeletons: 
  • Digging at mound 7 revealed two female skeletons buried with a lot of pottery and adorned jewelry like jasper, agate beads and shell bangles. 
  • The forensic study of the skeletons will reveal the ancestry and the food habits of the people of the civilisation.
• No extensive trade with Afghanistan: The archaeologists are of the view that since no quarry of ‘lapis lazuli’ has been found thus the region shows no signs of extensive trade with far flung areas of Afghanistan

Objectives of Excavation

• To have a better understanding of the settlement of Rakhigarhi in which people once lived and to find out the individual nature of the seven mounds and the relationship among them.
• To make Rakhigarhi accessible to visitors by unearthing the structural remains and conserving them for future viewing, along with providing amenities to the visitors.

About Rakhigarhi Site

• Rakhigarhi is one of the sites of Indus Valley Civilisation located in modern day Hissar, Haryana.
• The site was first excavated by the ASI in 1998-2001.
• Subsequently, Deccan College of Pune, excavated the site from 2013 to 2016.
• The ancient mounds 6 and 7 at Rakhigarhi in Hisar are among the 19 sites identified by the ASI that are going to be notified as ‘sites of national importance’.
• In May 2012, the Global Heritage Fund declared Rakhigarhi one of the 10 most endangered heritage sites in Asia.
• There are many other important archaeological sites in this area, in the old river valley to the east of the Ghaggar Plain. Among them are Kalibangan, Kunal, Haryana, Balu, Haryana, Bhirrana, and Banawali.

Image Courtesy: HT

Source: TH