Scientists are trying to save a 5,000-year-old lost city in Pakistan by leaving it buried
Scientists are trying to save a 5,000-year-old lost city in Pakistan by leaving it buried
2 hours ago Quartz India
Around 1920, Rakhaldas Bandopadhyay, an officer at the Archaeological Survey of India, was identifying a stupa in what is now Sindh, Pakistan, when he stumbled upon a flint that dated much further back than the Buddhist shrine. Over the next 50 years, large scale excavations unveiled a 5,000-year-old city, complete with a street grid and a sophisticated bath and drainage system. The buried city came to be known as Mohenjo Daro, meaning “mound of the dead” in Sindhi.
Beyond the evidence of architectural prowess, little is known about the city. So far, no clues have been discovered about who lived there or even what the place was originally called. The remains lack traces of palaces, temples or any monuments that could offer a glimpse into life in the Bronze Age metropolis. The region supposedly arose around 2500 BCE and ended with apparent destruction around 1900 BC. From Aryan invasion to nuclear explosions, or calamitous weather like a persistent drought, a number of legends try to explain the wipeout but the cause remains a mystery.
Finding out more will require study. However, for Mohenjo Daro’s archeologists, preserving history is proving to be a double-edged sword: On one side, uncovering the ruins of an ancient Indus Valley civilization is the only way to unlock the secrets of life from thousands of years ago. On the other, excavating the ancient sites makes the lost city vulnerable to damage and rapid ruin.
The scorching heat in the region is creating “enormous thermo-stress,” Dr Michael Jansen, a German researcher working on the banks of the Indus river in Pakistan, told AFP. In the summer, temperatures can climb well above 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit). Jansen adds that salt from the underground water table is also damaging the ruins.
More:
https://qz.com/984926/scientists-are-trying-to-save-a-5000-year-old-lost-city-in-pakistan-by-leaving-it-buried/
[center]~ ~ ~ ~ ~[/center]
Saving the lost city of Mohenjo Daro
By: AFP
17-May-17
MOHENJO DARO: The centre of a powerful ancient civilisation, Mohenjo Daro was one of the world's earliest cities - a Bronze Age metropolis boasting flush toilets and a water and waste system to rival many in modern Pakistan.
Some 5,000 years on, archaeologists believe the ruins could unlock the secrets of the Indus Valley people, who flourished around 3,000 BC in what is now India and Pakistan before mysteriously disappearing. But they warn, if nothing is done to protect the ruins - already neglected and worn by time - it will fade to dust and obscurity, never taking its rightful place in history. "Everybody knows Egypt, nobody knows Mohenjo Daro, this has to be changed," says Dr Michael Jansen, a German researcher working at the sun-baked site on the banks of Indus River in Sindh.
Jansen is at the forefront of a new effort to promote the site internationally while finding ways to protect what is left. In summer, temperatures can soar above 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit). "There is enormous thermo-stress," says Jansen, adding that salt from the underground water table is also damaging the ruins.
But it's more than just the weather and time. Pakistan's fight against militancy has also raised the spectre of destruction by a terrorist group, much like Islamic State destroyed the ruins in Syria's Palmyra. Most horrifying, however, is the wanton disregard for Mohenjo Daro - or "mound of the dead" - by ordinary citizens.
More:
http://dailytimes.com.pk/pakistan/17-May-17/saving-the-lost-city-of-mohenjo-daro