4500 years ago, the Kachchh region in present-day north-western India played an essential role in the development of the Bronze Age Indus Civilization, as attested by the many well-known Indus mounds and citadels that have been documented in the area. However, little was known about the earlier phases that led to the full integration of Kachchh into the Indus cultural domain and its trade networks. This limited scenario began to change in 2016 when a team led by the University of Kerala first reported the cemetery of Juna Khatiya.
The site turned out to be the largest Early Harappan burial ground ever known (c. 3200-3600 aC), spanning c. 16 hectares and consisting of hundreds of burials. Since 2019, the cemetery has been excavated over four field seasons with the participation of ICAC and CSIC researchers.
In late December, the research conducted at the cemetery was honoured with the 2023 Field Discovery Award at the 5th Shanghai Archaeology Forum. The event, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Shanghai government and organized by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Shanghai Administration of Cultural Heritage, Shanghai University, and the Shanghai Academy, promotes the research, protection, and utilization of archaeological resources and cultural heritage worldwide.
The recent works at the cemetery have been recognized together with eight field contributions, ranging from monumental constructions in Mexico to new Indonesian rock art to lidar mapping in Amazonia. In all, 131 nominated field projects had participated in different nominee categories. In addition, ten individual research awards were awarded to international researchers for their career contributions. Check all the awarded field projects and winners here.
At the ceremony held in Shanghai, the award was presented to Dr. Rajesh S.V., assistant professor at the Department of Archaeology, University of Kerala, and co-director of the excavations with Dr Abhayan G.S. They also co-direct the ongoing Kachchh Archaeological Project together with Francesc C. Conesa (GIAP-ICAC) and Juan José Garcia-Granero (IMF-CSIC). The project started in 2021 to contribute to the excavations at the cemetery and has an extended international team with colleagues from the University of La Laguna, Albion College, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Kutch University. The initiative has received generous Spanish funding from Fundación Palarq and the Spanish National Research Council.
At present, the team continues the ongoing bioarchaeological and biomolecular laboratory analysis of materials from the cemetery and is now preparing the details for the next field season, scheduled for the end of February to late March. The main effort for this year’s campaign will focus on the open excavation of Padta Bet, a small habitation settlement relatively close to Juna Khatiya’s cemetery. In the past years, the cemetery was virtually isolated from any evidence of contemporary settlements that could be linked to the burial ground. The previous explorations of Padta Bet showed Early Harappan surface materials, and the site appears instrumental in shedding new insights about the life and time of the people buried in the cemetery.
