‘People in Indus Valley Civilisation exploited, used fuel resources’

The three-day conference on Friday focused on the protection and preservation of the ancient civilisation

MOEN JO DARO: On the second day of the International Conference on Mohen Jo Daro and Indus Valley Civilisation, currently underway near the archaeological site, experts explored uniquely similar practices of fuel exploitation by locals in one of the important sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Indus Valley Civilisation comes alive as Moen Jo Daro conference kicks off

The three-day conference on Friday focused on the protection and preservation of the most ancient civilisation.

Dr Carla Lancelotti, during the first session of the conference, said the reconstruction of how people used fuel resources was one of the tools for exploring past socio-ecological systems.

PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

She maintained that the region in the third millennium BC was undergoing a period of aridification, a process in which a region becomes increasingly dry, and fuel wood was also probably scarce.

However, the researcher added that “The material that had been found abundantly at the excavation sites for fire, which served for sustenance, was dung and crop processing leftover."

PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

The scholar who hails from Spain and had received a PhD degree in Archaeobotany from the University of Cambridge also presented her research paper before the audience.

She said, "There are several practical and also social and cultural motives that compel people to burn specific fuels or apply a determined strategy of fuel exploitation for fire, cooking and rituals in all the sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation."

PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

Let us re-excavate Moen Jo Daro, urges archaeologist

Dr Lancelotti added that biological and chemical proxies were combined to analyse fuel-related contexts such as a fireplace, ashy patches, pits and floors from the levels dated to the Harrapan phase of four different sites – Harrapa, Kanmer, Shikarpur and Alamgirpur in Gujarat state – in India.

PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

The international scholar also emphasised while giving a presentation that the results of the archaeological analyses also contribute to form a mosaic of similar social practices related to fuel exploitation and use.

Since Thursday, the ancient Indus Valley civilisation has been brimming with archaeologists and researchers from across the world.

Scholars from the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Japan, and from Pakistan are participating in the event.

During the inauguration speech, Unesco Pakistan director Vibeke Jensen pointed out how the setting of Moen Jo Daro was vulnerable to human and natural influences and if not preserved, this site would be lost.