New video from the Tribuna d’Arqueologia: Excavations in Kachchh, India.
The Tribuna d’Arqueologia presents the video of the twelfth conference scheduled within the cycle of conferences of the Tribuna d’Arqueologia 2024 that took place on November 12, in Barcelona, by Francesc C. Conesa (IPNA-CSIC – ICAC, GIAP) and Juan José García-Granero (IMF-CSIC), with the moderation of Marco Madella (ICREA-UPF).
The conference, entitled Excavacions al Kachchh, Índia: el cementiri de Juna Khatiya i la Civilització de l’Indus, takes us to the region of Kachchh, in western India, which 4,500 years ago was a key territory for the development of the Indus civilization, also known as the Harappan or Indus Valley civilization.
The Juna Khatiya cemetery, discovered in 2016 and excavated between 2019 and 2022, represents the largest necropolis identified in this civilization and corresponds to its initial phase (Early Harappan, 3,300-2,600 BC). The archaeological work has provided fundamental information on the formative processes of this Bronze Age culture and the trade networks that connected the Indus world with the Indian subcontinent, the Iranian plateau, the Arabian Peninsula, and Mesopotamia.
During the conference, the excavations and the study of the cemetery materials were presented, using techniques such as remote sensing and landscape archaeology, bioarchaeology, and archaeobotany. They applied molecular archaeology to ceramics, soils, and sediments. Also, the first results of the recent excavations at the Padta Bet settlement were presented, with indications of a possible semi-permanent and pastoral settlement contemporaneous with the necropolis. If confirmed, this space next to the cemetery could configure, for the first time, a settlement-necropolis binomial for this initial phase and would allow to answer key questions about the origin and identity of the populations buried in Juna Khatiya.
Watch the full video of the conference here (in Catalan): Excavacions al Kachchh, Índia: el cementiri de Juna Khatiya i la Civilització de l’Indus.
This international project is a joint initiative of the University of Kerala, the University of Kutch, the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology and the Milà i Fontanals Institution for Research in Humanities of the CSIC, with the support of Fundación Palarq and CSIC.
About the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC)
The Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC-CERCA) is a CERCA center established as a consortium in 2003 by the Government of Catalonia and the Rovira i Virgili University. It is a Catalan institution with an international scope, at the forefront of research and conservation of archaeological heritage. Its headquarters are in Tarragona, a city recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Its researchers work to understand the past, through the study of archaeological remains, and promote the preservation of the historical legacy. We are CERCA!
For more information, visit www.icac.cat.
