Archeologists have made new discoveries in Taxila which include antiques apparently coming from the ancient Buddhist site Bhir Mound which is also known as the first city of Taxila valley civilization.
Deputy director department of archaeology and museums Mohammad Iqbal Manj while talking to the press, confirmed the discovery of potsherds and other terracotta items, stating that broken pieces of pottery and bowls in undamaged condition were found accidently.
He added that the construction work was suspended soon after the discovery of antiques and the area was sealed by the department. Afterward, an excavation team consisting of four members was formed by the director-general of the department, Ilyas Gill, led by a very well-known archaeologist Mohammad Hassan Khokhar who served as the curator of the archaeological museum Harappa for almost a decade.
Responding to a question, he said the discovery was “evidence of the presence of antiquities” at the particular location in the museum compound and that the four-membered team would further make excavations and carry out recovery operations to inquire about any further discovery.
The outer wall of the multiuse auditorium at the archeological museum Taxila complex is under construction during which the accidental discoveries of potsherds and other terracotta took place.
The department of archaeology and museums failed to carry out a recovery operation before signing the approval for the construction of the auditorium at the said site where ruins of prehistoric Gandhara civilization are still buried.
The auditorium which is expected to be complete in the current fiscal year is being constructed at a cost of Rs25 million.
About the Bhir Mound Site:
The first town in Taxila, Bhir Mound, was situated in the Hathial mound in the southwest corner of the Sirkap site. It lasted from the late second millennium BC until the Achaemenid period, with the Achaemenid period remains located in its mound.
The site represents the second city of Taxila, beginning in the pre-Achaemenid period and lasting till the early Hellenistic period.
Bhir Mound, along with several other nearby excavation sites make up a part of the Taxila Ruins and was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1980.