4,000-yr-old skeleton found at Rakhigarhi

Tribune News Service

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, April 27

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team excavating the Harappan site at Rakhigarhi village of the district has discovered a skeleton believed to be over 4,000 years old from a cemetery at mound No. 7.

Sanjay K Manjul, director of the excavation team, said here today that the skull of the skeleton was damaged, but the rest of it was in a good condition. “Agriculture activities have been undertaken by farmers over the years at this site. It seems that the portion of the skull is disturbed due to that. It looks difficult to extract a DNA sample for analysis,” he said.

As many as 21 earthern utensils were also recovered from near the skeleton. “The skeleton seems to be of a middle-aged man. During the earlier excavations, we have found the ritual of placing utensils with the bodies, and this also seems to be the same case,” he stated. He said the excavators had also found a seal from mound No. 3.

Archaeologists have termed Rakhigarhi as one of the largest sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The excavations have so far indicated that this was the biggest metropolis of those times and had a well-planned town with separate residential, industrial and institutional townships, and even a cemetery.

During the excavation of mound No. 7, which is known as the burial site, the excavators have so far found about 60. Earlier, the Deccan College Pune, which had discovered 36 skeletons during 2015-16, had been successful in the DNA extraction of one of the skeletons. The analytical report published by the archaeologists of the Deccan College on the basis of the DNA reports had tried to bust the theory of the Aryan theory of invasion or migration to South Asia.

In 2022, the ASI began the excavation and again found skeletons at the burial site. This is the first skeleton recovered during the ongoing digging at the site.

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