3,960 yr old organic material found in Pakistan points to continuity of Indus Valley civilization

Islamabad, Feb 14 (ANI): Archaeologists have found significant clues and material along the right bank of Indus on the Sukkur-Shikarpur highway in Pakistan, which provide evidence of the continuity of ancient civilization in the region, dating back to 3,960 years.

The region, known as Lakhian Jo Daro, is located some 40 kilometers north of Kot Diji and about 120 kilometers southwest of Moenjodaro.

The region has been known to archaeologists of Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU), Khairpur, since the early 1980s and to local, provincial and federal officials as well as to international experts since 1988.

According to a report in the Dawn, some Italian experts, who had visited the area during the mid-90s, took away some organic material from Lakhian Jo Daro and had the relevant C-14 carbon dating done at the Centrum voor IsotopenOnderzook (Centre for Isotope Research) at the Dutch University of Groningen.

The official report GrN-23123, dated Oct 21, 1997, and signed by Dr J. van der Plicht - dated the samples to be about 3,960 years old.

The report located only in the personal files of Professor Mukhtar Qazi, who was the project director in the mid-90s, relates to only the uppermost crust that was scratched at the time.

Now that the dunes have been reduced to the level of natural soil in parts of the site -spread over six kilometers east-west and two kilometers north-south, much more findings have been made and parallels can be easily drawn with the period of Moenjodaro.

According to Dr Nilofar Shaikh, a senior archaeologist of the country who is also the SALU vice-chancellor, relative studies hold much more worth than actual laboratory procedures and the area excavated thus far has thrown up innumerable parallels with earlier and established findings all along the Rohri Hills - from Kot Diji to Bhando Qubo. (ANI)