Changing Perspectives on the Indus Civilization: Recent Archaeological Discoveries in Pakistan and India
Sep 11, 2025, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CT
Presentation Description
Recent research at various sites in Pakistan and India provide new evidence on the origin and development of the Indus Civilization. This talk will provide an overview of these discoveries and their implications for earlier interpretations and models for urban development and change in ancient South Asia. Radiocarbon dating of skeletons from the site of Mehrgarh significantly change the timeline for early settlement in this region. New discoveries from sites in Gujarat provide evidence for early burial traditions that were not known before. New excavations at the site of Mohenjo Daro in confirm the early roots of the city during the Kot Diji Phase and ongoing excavations at the site of Allahdino provide important information on the regional history of this culture in the region near modern Karachi. All of these discoveries contribute to a more refined understanding of Indus origins and development as well as the legacy of Indus traditions in later South Asia.
About the Speaker
Dr. Kenoyer’s research interests include the archaeology of early urbanism and state level society, ancient technology, ornaments, textiles, pottery, lithics and metallurgy. He also is involved in ethnoarchaeology, experimental archaeology, and a wide range of archaeometric techniques and quantitative methods. His geographic areas of interest include South Asia (particularly India and Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), West Asia (Oman, UAE, Egypt), the Mediterranean (Greece and Italy), East Asia (China, Japan and Korea) and Southeast Asia.
Dr. Kenoyer has been excavating and carrying out research on the Indus Civilization since 1975 and has excavated at the site of Harappa, Pakistan since 1986. He has also worked at sites and ethnoarchaeological projects in India and more recently in China and Oman. He has a special interest in ancient technologies and crafts, socio-economic and political organization as well as religion. These interests have led him to study a broad range of cultural periods in South Asia as well as other regions of the world. As part of his research on ancient bead technologies, he has undertaken studies of collections throughout the world, with a special focus on West Asia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. His publications include monographs on the Indus civilization as well as numerous articles, a grade school book on ancient South Asia and even a coloring book on the Indus cities for children. His work is featured on the website www.harappa.com and www.imagesofasia.com
He was Guest Curator with the Asia Society for the exhibition on the Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, which toured the U.S. in 1998–99. He was a special consultant for the Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2002.