LAHORE, July 31: More than a 1,000 new archaeological sites and monuments in the province, mapped between 1992 and 1997, have not been documented so far despite the millions of rupees being spent on the project.

The sites and monuments were mapped by a survey team of the Archaeology Department (North).

The department had allocated about Rs7 million for the survey to carry out documentation, mapping, plotting and recording of ancient sites, monuments, cultural relics and works of art over 10 years.

By 1997, the team had completed about 80 per cent of the field work at a cost of Rs5 million. The allocation of funds was then deferred till the compilation of the already available data.

The sources said the project was stopped in view of the Cultural Division’s letter (No 1-6/92-PME dated Dec 20, 1997). They said hundreds and thousands of rupees had been paid to the Pakistan Printing Press for printing the data but neither the North Wing director nor the federal director had deputed a specialist to compile and arrange it.

The record, they said, had been fed into the computers for the purpose of writing reports.

The survey had reported 749 new mapped sites and 257 monuments. As a result 520 maps had been drawn and 1,006 photographs taken. Pottery and artifacts were also collected.

The sources said proper tabulation of data and publication of reports was necessary to document the condition and development of patterns of ancient settlements in the Punjab.

They said: “Efforts have been confined only to the field work and collection of archaeological data. The whole exercise will prove futile if the entire record is not published.”

It may be mentioned that there had been no archaeological survey in the Punjab since the creation of Pakistan. The last survey was conducted in the second half of the 19th century by Sir Alexander Cunninghan.

Discoveries during the survey included 19 prehistoric sites and monuments, a Hakra site, 56 sites and monuments of early Harappan civilization, 31 of mature Harappan civilization, five of late Harappan era, five painted grey-ware, 226 sites and monuments belonging to the fifth century BC to 7th century AD, 145 to early Muslim period (8th to 11th century AD), 324 of the Sultanate era (1200-1500 AD) and 176 of the Sikh or British era (1801-1947 AD).

Of the 1,006 sites and monuments, 155 are located in Kasur, Okara, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Attock and Jhelum districts, 350 in Pakpattan, Vehari, Sahiwal, Khanewal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Lodhran and Bahawalnagar districts, 201 in Toba Tek Singh, Faisalabad, Jhang and Sheikhupura districts, 262 in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal and Mandi Bahauddin and 38 in Bhakkar and Khushab districts.