LARKANA - The three-day International Conference on the Indus Valley Civilisation at Mohenjo Daro concluded here on Saturday.

The concluding session was attended by senior provincial minister of Sindh Nisar Khuhro where experts and archaeologists from the US, Spain and other countries threw light on research, excavation, conservation and exploration of different ancient sites.

The conference was organised by the Sindh Department of Culture, Tourism, Antiquities and Archaeology and the National Fund for Mohenjodaro (NFM) at the ancient site of MohenJo Daro.

At the conference, experts presented their research papers and suggestions, but the government authorities had no plans regarding work on the world heritage site to spell out on the last day of the conference.

Dr Richard H Meadow, a senior lecturer of anthropology at Harvard University, presented his research on the subject of Perimeter Walls at Harappan sites. He said, “The Indus Civilisation has been ongoing since the end of the 19th century, although the civilisation itself was only recognised as a cultural phenomenon, as by Sir John Marshall when he noted the similarities between the archaeological remains excavated at Harappa in Punjab and Mohenjo Daro in Sindh.” He said these two archaeological sites had since dominated the discussion on early complex societies in northwestern South Asia. Dr Richard, who is author and co-author of more than one hundred publications detailing aspects of his research in both archaeology and zoo archaeology, said that future archaeological research at Mohenjo Daro might do well to investigate the location of perimeter walls since rebuilding them might serve as a means of protecting the site, while maintaining integrity of the representation of the site to the public.

Indian archaeologist Dr Vasant Shivram Shinde said in his research paper that the Ghaggar basin in the northwest part of India was very often referred to as ancient Saraswati basin. He said that explorations and surveys carried out in this region had brought to light a large number of Harappan sites, of which very few have survived till date.

Excavations carried out at selected sites have pushed back the beginning of the Harappan culture to around 5000 BC. He informed the audience that data had been extracted for the first time for ancient DNA studies.

In his concluding address, senior provincial minister Nisar Khuhro highlighted the Indus Civilisation of Mohenjo Daro and its evolution.