KARACHI: French Archaeological Mission Dr Aurore Didier has said the Pakistani-French Archaeological Mission aims at carrying out improvements in the chrono-cultural periodisation of southern Sindh.
Addressing a 29th public awareness seminar on Archaeological Research on the Indus Civilisation in Southern Pakistan – Contribution of the Pakistani-French Mission (1958-2015), he said, “Almost a century of archaeological field research in Pakistan has significantly documented and enlarged the knowledge of the first urban phenomenon in South Asia, the Indus Civilisation. The civilization is known with the names of major Indus cities, including Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, which are certainly the classic and most famous examples of remarkable planned cities discovered in the Indus Valley, he remarked. The seminar was jointly organised by Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), KU, and Virtual Education Project Pakistan (VEPP).
Dr Didier said the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa were surely the classic and the most famous examples of remarkable planned cities discovered in the Indus Valley. She said the destruction of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro is linked with sudden drift in climate. International seminars, conferences and exhibitions on this ancient cultural heritage will be organised both in Pakistan and France, she informed the audience.
Since the founding of the Mission of Indus (MAI) by Jean-Marie Casal in 1958, French archaeologists in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology and Museums of Pakistan, have brought a significant contribution for the knowledge of this civilisation in Balochistan and Sindh, and for enhancing the rich cultural heritage of proto-historic Pakistan. The work conducted from 1967 to 2001 by Dr. Jean-François Jarrige at Pirak, Mehrgarh and Nausharo in the Kachi-Bolan region (Balochistan), has indeed allowed putting in evidence, for the first time in this part of Asia – a complete sequence of occupation from the 8th millennium BCE to 700 BCE.
“Excavations carried out in the vast archaeological area of Mehrgarh provided, in particular, the so-far earliest evidence of an incipient farming economy in South Asia and the remains of a rich Chalcolithic occupation characterised by exceptional achievements in the field of pyro-technological craft productions. Such discoveries were crucial for a better understanding of the emergence of the Indus Civilization around 2500 BCE, she maintained.
