Ignored for years, Haryana village throws up treasure trove of Harappan remains
The National Museum recently dug up a Harappan site lying ignored for years and discovered archaeological remains that could push back the civilization's time period.
With several missing links in its Harappan galleries, the National Museum went out digging in a Haryana village only to find a treasure trove of archaeological remains, that experts expect will push back the time period of the civilisation.
Two consignments of the archaeological remains have been sent for carbon dating in laboratories in Lucknow and Delhi and a third is set to be dispatched to a lab in Florida shortly.
"It is very difficult to get archaeological findings in auction sales or through other sources and there were glaring gaps in our Harappan collection and we had nothing from the pre-Harappan times. We were thinking of where to source these samples from and that is when we stumbled upon the Harappan site in Kunal, Haryana, that was excavated in the 1990s but no report was finally submitted. The earlier findings date back to 3000 BC, but with the findings in Bhirrana, that is barely 20 kms away pointing to settlements dating back to 7000 BC to 6000 BC, we were confident that Kunal too had far more potential," explained BRR Mani, archaeologist and Director General of National Museum.
"For the first time National Museum made a proposal to the body to approve further work on the site. We want to expand our Harappan gallery and show the origins of the civilization...even the Chalcolithic culture."
The Haryana state archaeology department, Indian Archaeological Society along with National Museum undertook the excavation this year and is slated to continue the digging next year.
"Kunal has been excavated for four seasons already. Last week we wrapped up the ongoing excavation and hope to go back for one last time next digging season. This year we found confirmed evidence of pit dwellings and material related to them. By going a level below this we might find more crucial evidences. Two consignments of 13 samples each have been sent to Inter University Accelerator Center in Vasant Kunj and Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleo Sciences in Lucknow for carbon dating." Mani said.
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