Human skeletons dating back to Harappan era found in Haryana

By Newsgram Staff Writer

The Indus Valley Civilization renowned for its urban planning, baked brick houses and elaborate drainage system is yet again in news as a group of archaeologists have dug up four human skeletons dating back to the subcontinent's oldest civilization.

The remains that have been recently discovered from a cemetery in Haryana are of two adult males, a female and a child, a news report said. Scholars say that the skeletons will help them to shed more light on the life of the Harappan people.

Since 2013, the archaeologist and scientists from India and South Korea were carrying out the excavation at the cemetery at Rakhigarhi village in Haryana's Hissar district, BBC reported.

The excavation has also unearthed items like pottery with food grains and shell bangles found near the skeletons, which enabled the archaeologists to consider that the settlers had faith in reincarnation.

Scientists from South Korea at the site who are equipped with advanced technology would now attempt to reconstruct the DNA of the skeletons, said archaeologist Ranvir Singh.

The civilization is also known as Harappan civilization due to first of its excavations carried out in the 1920s at a place named Harappa, which is now in Pakistan. It is said that the civilization flourished with a population of over 5 million settlers during its peak. Also, the inhabitants of the civilization are noted for their development of new techniques in handicraft.