Harappa: Excavations

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Excavations At Harappa: My Perspective

I would like to thank the Harappa Archaeological Research Project, as well as the Government of Pakistan for allowing me the opportunity to work at Harappa. I would also like to thank my American and Pakistani colleagues, Pakistani workmen, and the staff at Harappa. Without them, I would not have had such a positive experience.

Large-scale excavations use the ginti [pick] featured here to loosen the soil. This is then shoveled into metal baskets which carry the earth to the sorting area. One of my favorite excavation phrases was `Ginti Lagao', meaning `apply the ginti' roughly. It signaled the removal of another layer of the site, and the surprises which would be uncovered.

Here Inayat uses the ginti to remove some earth from within a house on Mound ET, 1995. We were excavating this area attempting to find a craft production workshop, debris of which was clustered around this area. We failed to find the workshops, though we may have the neighbor's house.

Starting Excavation in 1996, removal of topsoil

Mound ET excavations in 1995. Removal of carrying dirt away for sorting

Here Lal excavated a fallen Harappan wall, below the historic stable of the Police Station on Mound ET [the visible walls]. This is an excellent example of the re-use of ancient bricks which has highly damaged the surface of the site.

Even in later Urban Phases, Harappans themselves took bricks off fallen buildings and recycled them for new construction. This stable was built out of Harappan bricks in historic times, by the British who intensively used bricks from Harappa to provide trestle material for the Lahore to Multan railway. Sadly, this damaged the site and removed much architecture that would allow for insights into the urban center of Harappa.

View of main Mound ET excavations in 1995. Looking from central Mound ET toward Gateway area and southeast edge of Mound E.

This area is densely packed with craft debris, suggesting that it was one production center at the site.

Excavation at Harappa involves working directly with Pakistani excavators, rural Pakistanis from near the site. During the offseason, they are farmers, shopkeepers, craft producers, and function in the local economy. Given the experience they have gained from HARP, these guys are phenomenal excavators.
Trying to supervise them proved to be quite an adventure. While moving my Urdu/Punjabi skills forward in no time, they proved to be good friends. The three excavators to the right were my main trench crew in 1996, all three of whom made me laugh, think, and scowl for the three months I was with them. This part of the Harappa Project provided me with some of the more profound cultural understandings I gained in Pakistan. Alone with them for six or seven hours a day, I could ask them about anything; they felt free to play many practical jokes on me and teach me dirty songs. By the end of the season, I could see through our differences in clothes, religion, culture, language, and surroundings and appreciate each as individuals, each of them held lessons, smiles, and personalities which could meld with mine.