No excavation in Hisar’s Rakhigarhi site this year

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, January 5

There will be no excavation work at the site of the Indus Valley Civilisation located in Rakhigarhi village of the district this year as the report about the excavation carried out in the last two years will be completed only by April.

Prof Vasant Shinde, Vice Chancellor of Deccan College, Pune, a deemed university, said today that they had not applied to the Archaeological Survey of India for carrying out more excavation as they were busy finalising the research report on the basis of previous excavation.

“The excavation at mounds number 2,4 and 6 has given us enough material, which is being compiled and studied by experts. The carbon dating for the age of excavation articles and skeletons is being established by institutes in India and abroad. We are likely to get the data of research by April, after which the research report will be finalised,” he said.

The excavators have stated that Rakhigarhi was probably the biggest town of the Harappan era in the world, which was spread over 550 acres. The area had been divided into nine mounds.

However, most of the mounds were buried under habitation in the village. The mounds located on the outskirts of the town had been excavated so far.

Residents were hopeful that the state government would set up a museum in the village to display artefacts and articles unearthed from the site. The district administration had started the process to set up a museum by inviting tenders for construction.