KARACHI: One of the pre-lunch sessions on the concluding day of the 13th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) on Sunday was on the topic of ‘Decoding the Indus Valley Civilisation: An Archaeological Journey’ in which French archaeologist Aurore Didier gave an informative presentation on an important part of the civilisation.

Ms Didier began her talk by claiming that the French archaeological missions is one of the two oldest missions working in Pakistan. Since the beginning of its activities in the country in 1958, the mission has focused its research on the fascinating Indus Civilisation. The Indus civilisation studies have seen major advances in the past decades regarding the settlement patterns, the development of the civilization, etc. However, there are still crucial questions that need to be answered, and one of the challenges is to better understand its origin. These questions are at the heart of the projects undertaken by the French mission.

She informed the session, which was moderated by Zahida Quadri, the first excavation took place in Amri district (1958) important for establishing initial chronological sequences, followed by excavations in Nindowari. Then the mission shifted to Balochistan starting with Pirek to Mehergarh and to Nausharo. After that the mission reached the Kech-Makran region to discover the rich cultural heritage. Strong connections were found between the Indus Valley and previous periods in the region.

Ms Didier said in 2013 the two missions in Mehergarh and Makran joined hands for a single programme in the valley. But there was limited data available. In 2015 new fieldwork in Sindh found new sites for excavation and came to the site of Chahnu-daro located on the left bank of the Indus River. It was first discovered in 1931 and then it was excavated by the first American expedition in India which found comparable things with Mohanjo Daro. But this site is small and has not been preserved, as all the bricks have disappeared due to erosion. It was nonetheless an important site, so when some mud brick structures were found the mission decided to carry out a larger excavation. Since 2016 more than 6,000 square metres have been exposed that have helped document the site better because fired brick structures were found.

Ms Didier told the attendees of the session that the site is dated between 2500-2300 BCE. During the early century of the Indus Civilisation, the architectural system was quite the same. The city was planned. “In Chahnu-daro, in the early centuries fired bricks were used for hydraulic structures like drains and bathing platforms and were also used for building buttresses. But they weren’t used everywhere in the city.”

The archaeologist said blocks of houses were discovered along with a lot of terracotta objects — human and animal figurines — and a few metal objects. “In the eastern part of the site we have excavated a huge craft complex dedicated for bead manufacturing.”

She added Chahnu-daro was an important centre of bead production from the very beginning of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2022