Excavation at oldest Harappan site begins

The Director General, National Museums, Dr BR Mani and Haryana Archaeology and Museums Department, Deputy Director Dr Banani Bhattacharyya on Sunday started the digging process with a spade.

An MoU to this effect was signed between HAMD and the New Delhi-based society in the presence of Haryana Archaeology and Museums, last year.

Kunal being one of the earliest sites in Haryana had a great contribution in the early Harappan studies in the Indian sub-continent and would definitely open new prospects for future researches.

The Archeological excavations at this pre-Harappan site of 5000 years old were started in the year 1986 and are continuing till date with a few field-season's gap. Three successive phases of occupation from pit dwelling to that of square and rectangular mud brick houses have come to light and are supposed to be the earliest remains of pre-Harappan culture in India.

In earlier excavations, a hoard of regalia item including six gold beads of a necklace, an armlet and a few bangle pieces and 12,445 beads of semi-precious stones first of its kind were found. That makes the whole gamut of luxury items as 'richest' when seen in the context of rural nature of settlement of 3000 BC.

One of the important contributions of this site is the discovery of steatite and shell seals, which are the earliest example of seal manufacturing in India, so far.