PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Archaeology Directorate says it has taken possession of two Gandharan sculptures recovered by the local people in Salim Khan area of Mardan district while digging for a grave.

On Wednesday, some people were digging a grave in the local graveyard to bury their dead in Shiekh Yousaf village of Salim Khan area in Mardan when they found two statutes said to be dating back to Gandhara period, said officials of police and archaeology directorate.

The local people informed the police who contacted the archaeology directorate staff and handed over the two statues to Mardan museum.

Said Ali, an official at Saddar police station of Mardan, told Dawn that the two sculptures not in very good condition were found by locals when they were digging to make a grave for a dead. He said that the archaeology directorate staff was called and statues were handed over to them the same day.

“We received information about digging in the area and we reached the spot. With the help of police we recovered two Gandharan sculptures. The area has been sealed for investigation,” said KP’s director archaeology and museums Dr Abdul Samad.

The archaeological directorate official told Dawn that the statues had Gandharan features and further technical investigation was underway. Mardan district is rich with Gandhara Civilisation monuments and also has a World Heritage site of Takht Bhai.

The official said that the statues looked to be genuine and about 2000 years old.

The two sculptures are missing heads and the directorate officials say one of the sculptures has about 38 inches and the other 43 inches height.

The officials said that many parts of this region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had rich heritage and Gandharan sites and sculptures were found scattered deep underneath in many areas. However, they said that it was surprising that the two sculptures were found near the surface area during digging for a grave.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2019