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National Highway Authority starts digging near Mohenjo Daro.
LARKANA:
A team of experts from the Technical Advisory Committee has visited Mohenjo Darro to review the ongoing excavation work west of the stupa, being carried out under the supervision of renowned American archaeologist Dr Jonathan Mark Kenoyer.
A meeting in this regard was held on Sunday under the chairmanship of the committee’s head, Dr Kaleemullah Lashari.
Dr Kenoyer said that during the current season, the team reopened the historic trench excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1950, where an ancient wall near the Great Bath, west of the stupa, had earlier been identified in an area believed to be part of the city’s defensive system.
He said the newly uncovered remains clearly confirmed the presence of a continuous fortification wall. To verify its full extent, four additional trenches were laid at intervals of five metres, enabling the team to trace the wall’s continuity and alignment.
Similar fortification features have also been identified near the stupa area, strengthening comparative understanding of urban defence systems of the Indus Civilisation.
Dr Kenoyer said clear traces of the defensive wall, along with several pottery fragments, had been recovered during the excavation. He added that the exposed ancient mud-brick wall appeared to predate Mohenjo Darro by nearly 800 years. The team, he said, planned to excavate around all four sides of the site to fully expose the ancient defensive structure.
