LARKANA: An archaeological site — Manjhand Mound — of the Amrian and Mature Indus period has been discovered by a team of the Centre of Docu­men­tation and Conservation (CDC), working under the supervision of the Endow­ment Fund Trust (EFT) to explore heritage of Sindh, in Jamshoro district.

EFT regional director Dr Ishtiaq Ansari told Dawn on Friday that the team comprised former Shah Abdul Latif University (Salu), Khairpur, vice chancellor Dr Nilofer Shaikh who now heads the CDC, Salu archaeology department chairman Prof Dr G.M. Veesar, Dr Ishtiaq Ansari, Abdul Aziz Ranjhani, architect Owais, archaeologist Lajpat Rai Meghwar and field assistant Aftab Aziz Ranjhani.

Dr Ansari in an email to Dawn said that the team was on their usual trips for the documentation of sites when they noticed some artefacts scattered on huge dumps of earth excavated for the construction of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) along the Indus Highway.

Further exploration led to the discovery of Manjh­and Mound, located 8.78 kilometres to the north-west of Manjhand city and 1.37km to the north-west of Lakha village of Manjhand taluka in Jamshoro district, he said.

The site is presently in a bad condition as it has sustained damage during the construction work of the RBOD, he said, adding that the ancient site of Amri, belonging to the ancient Indus civilisation and located along the Indus Highway, had also been damaged in a similar way in 2005-06 during the RBOD construction work.

The cultural material surfacing during the excavation for the drain is believed to be of Manjhand Mound as it was profusely scattered over the dumps, he said.

“It mainly belongs to the Amrian cultural phase and Mature Indus phase; some Hakra period shreds and chaff tempered course ware of the earlier period are also part of the cultural repertoire.”

The discovered pieces included plain and painted pottery of typical Hakra, Amrian and Mature Indus period, potsherd with Indus script symbol, perforated pottery, terracotta cakes, bangles, carts, balance shred, copper pieces, stone ball, lithic blades and shell pieces.

“It’s a huge site and very important discovery of the Indus Civilisation period as Hakra period was earlier discovered on the left bank of the Indus in the Cholistan and Nara desert,” said Dr Ansari. According to him, the Amrian cultural phase seems to have occupied the right bank of the Indus and there is possibility of many more sites buried under the alluvium or having been destroyed during construction of the highway and drain.

Further investigations might open a new chapter in the history of Indus Valley civilisations.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2017