LARKANA: Unesco’s cou­n­try director Ms Vibeke Jensen has said that since some time, efforts to protect Moenjodaro have dwindled due to lack of funding and at present, the archaeological site is more in danger than ever.

If left unprotected, the site would disintegrate and a cultural wonder would be lost, cautioned Ms Jensen while speaking at the three-day International Confe­rence on Moenjodaro Indus Valley Civilisation, being held under the auspices of the Sindh department of culture, tourism and archaeology at Moenjodaro near here on Thursday.

She said that Moenjodaro had been facing various onslaughts, including that of floods, and that Unesco would continue to extend cooperation to protect the ancient site.

She underlined the need for a modern laboratory and enhancing capacity of experts and appreciated the strong commitment demonstrated by the Sindh government to protect and preserve the site.

She called the conference a timely step and said the entire world community was willing to preserve all tangible and intangible heritage across the globe, which was a testimony to ‘unity in diversity’.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who inaugurated the conference, called upon archaeologists to break new ground in research to explore the remain­ing and hitherto undiscovered ruins of the Indus civilisation, so that the world could know about the rich civilisation of this region.

He assured the participants of the moot that the government would fulfil financial needs of the experts to accomplish the task.

He lauded Unesco for launching an appeal to the world to protect and preserve the site and paid homage to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for organising the first conference on Moenjodaro in the 1970s, which went a long way in inviting world attention to this heritage of humanity.

The chief minister assur­ed the participants that recommendations and suggestions finalised by the conference would be implemented in letter and spirit.

Renowned archaeologist and convener of the conference Dr Kaleemullah Lashari said in his keynote address that deciphering the Indus script remained a challenge to the archaeologists of the world till this day and underlined the need for more in-depth research on locating the graveyards used by the inhabitants of the Indus civilisation.

Dr Lashari expressed concern over theft of antiques and artefacts and proposed that the Sindh government frame a policy to keep a check on such smuggling. He advised the chief minister to form committees to look after 14 museums being constructed in the province.

He disclosed that surprising results might come to the fore from the recently carried out dry-core drilling and Moenjodaro might be labelled afterwards as the largest Bronze Age site.

Sindh Minister for Culture and Archaeology Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that a number of development projects had been launched by the Sindh government which were aimed at protecting and preserving Moenjodaro and other ancient sites.

Recommendations of the technical committee on the cultural corridor were being implemented by the provincial government, he said.

Earlier, a documentary on the historic aspects of research and excavation of Moenjodaro was screened and the chief minister inaugurated a dedicated website on Moenjodaro.

The conference was attended among others by provincial ministers Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, Senator Sassui Palijo and archaeologists from the country and abroad.

Experts for use of modern techniques

Archaeologists and scholars expressed the hope that the use of modern methodologies and techniques in research, excavation and exploration might help provide a deeper insight into the ascendency, decline and some other pertinent aspects that hitherto remained undiscovered or unexplored about the Indus civilisation.

Three sessions were held at the conference in which renowned archaeologists Dr Cameron Petrie (UK), Dr Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (USA), Dr Marco Madella (Spain), Dr Dennys Frenez (Italy) and others read out their research papers on different aspects of Indus civilisation with special reference to Moenjodaro, Harappa and Dholavira.

They were of the view that the modern research on Kotdiji had shown that its influence had been found on the archaeological ruins and remains even in Rajasthan, India, and other remote areas.

They discussed the evolution of civilisation and links between Egypt and Ganga, Jamuna and expressed the hope that new findings would surface if in-depth studies were conducted.

For this purpose, the process of excavation and research and uninterrupted efforts by scholars of the world to decipher the language of Moenjodaro should continue, they said.

Prof Dr Nilofer Shaikh, former vice chancellor of Shah Abdul Latif University and currently working as chairperson of the Centre for the Documentation and Conservation of the Endowment Fund Trust for Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh, informed the participants that use of modern techniques had made it possible to excavate up to 70 feet deep in any archaeological site. Resultantly, it was now possible that new aspects of Indus civilisation could emerge.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2017