Top News

New Delhi, Jun 22 (PTI): Human skeletal remains excavated from the archaeological site of Rakhigarhi in Haryana recently have been formally handed over by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to the Anthropological Survey of India for detailed scientific investigation, officials said on Monday.

Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is a national research institute under the Ministry of Culture.

B V Sharma, Director of AnSI, said that the transfer, carried out under a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two institutions, is expected to significantly advance multidisciplinary research into "one of the most important urban centres of the Indus-Saraswati Civilisation", the culture ministry said in a statement.

Rakhigarhi, spread across approximately 550 hectares, is "widely recognised as the largest known settlement of the Indus-Saraswati Civilisation," it said.

Archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of continuous habitation from the Early Harappan to the Mature Harappan periods, including planned settlements, drainage systems, craft production centres, trade networks, and burial grounds, officials noted.

During excavations conducted by ASI’s Excavation Branch-II, Greater Noida, in the 2025–26 field season, archaeologists uncovered eight burials at Mound No. 7, an area previously identified as a cemetery, they said.

"Three complete human skeletons, along with skeletal fragments recovered from other burials, have now been transferred to AnSI's ancient human skeletal repository and laboratory in Kolkata for detailed examination," the statement said.

The remaining skeletal materials obtained at these sites are also expected to be transferred within a few days, the ministry said. PTI KND MPL MPL

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)