A century ago, when the ancient ruins of the lost city of Mohenjo-Daro were rediscovered, archaeologists hadn’t anticipated that their discovery would reveal evidence of a thriving hub of the ancient world, which had remained hidden for nearly 3,700 years.
Among the earliest discoveries at the location were what had been thought to be the remains of a Buddhist stupa. However, once major excavations were underway, much more would be revealed over the next several decades, as archaeologists unearthed the buried remains of a massive ancient city, complete with a surprisingly modern layout and rectilinear buildings, that had remained hidden under the sands of what is, today, recognized as modern southeastern Pakistan for thousands of years.
Part of what made Mohenjo-Daro so fascinating was its age: the city, eventually revealed to have been among the most expansive settlements ever seen during the time of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, was also one of the oldest major cities in the region, with an estimated age of around 4,500 years.
However, recent geoarchaeological studies reported by the Sindh Directorate General of Antiquities & Archaeology (DGAA) now suggest that those original estimates may have been off by several centuries, meaning that the enigmatic Mohenjo-Daro is likely far older than previously believed.
An Archaeological Enigma
Mohenjo-Daro has captivated archaeologists since its discovery due in part to the remarkable level of sophistication exhibited by its ancient builders.
From its structural elements, which, in many ways, resemble urban planning for modern cities, to its remarkably advanced water infrastructure, which includes sewers, baths, and wells, many elements of Mohenjo-Daro set it apart from other cities of its era.
Going beyond just appearances, the remarkable architecture present at the ancient site, whose name translates to mean “Mound of the Dead Men,” points to an equally sophisticated social structure, which is suggestive of both cultured urban life and a central government that would be required for the management and oversight of its once-40,000-strong population.
And yet, as mysterious as the question of its origins is that of Mohenjo-Daro’s demise; the site appears to have been abandoned by around 1,700 BCE, along with most other major urban hubs that once represented the flourishing Indus Valley Civilization.
Older Than Once Thought?
Now, in new geoarchaeological work undertaken by the Sindh Directorate General of Antiquities and Archaeology (DGAA), it appears that Mohenjo-Daro could be even older than previous estimates, which placed its rise to around 2,500 BCE.
According to new timelines for the construction of an ancient mudbrick wall encircling the site’s western Stupa Mound, one of the site’s most prominent features, recent radiocarbon dating suggests that this portion of the city dates to sometime between 2,600 and as early as 2,700 BCE, which points to activity at the site at least a century earlier than once thought.
According to a statement released by the DGAA regarding their geoarchaeological re-dating of the site, these mudbrick walls “were expanded and maintained until around 2200 BCE and possibly even longer.”
“Future investigations will trace the plan of the city wall around the Stupa Mound to try and locate gateways and to determine how this wall functioned and when it began to erode,” the DGAA said.
Lingering Questions
While the new radiocarbon dates push back the timelines for Mohenjo-Daro’s earliest construction phases, several questions about the ancient site remain.
Among the site’s many mysteries, the presence of localized areas in which bricks appear to have been fused, as well as human remains suggestive of a “massacre” that may have occurred at some point, has helped give rise to beliefs involving an ancient invasion or other cataclysmic event that occurred at Mohenjo-Daro that might have contributed to its demise.
However, scholars have disputed such claims for more than half a century. As the renowned archaeologist and Indus Valley scholar George F. Dales wrote in 1964, “The details of the story of the decline and fall of the Indus civilization are, as yet, far from clear, but a pattern of contributing factors is taking shape. This pattern does not include invasion and massacre as basic factors. On the contrary, it appears that a series of natural disasters occurred–possibly as swiftly, certainly more devastating than any hypothetical invasion.”
In fact, to this day, the enigmatic Mohenjo-Daro remains threatened by the forces of nature. As the BBC reported in 2012, salty groundwater is now gradually eroding the mudbricks of the site’s ancient walls, which for thousands of years remained protected before their excavation began in the early 20th century.
“It is definitely a complicated site to protect, given the problems of salinity, humidity and rainfall,” remarked the Pakistani archaeologist Dr. Asma Ibrahim at the time, adding that “most of the attempts at conservation by the authorities have been so bad and so amateur they have only accelerated the damage.”
Given such circumstances, if efforts to preserve this ancient enigma aren’t improved, the famous city of Mohenjo-Daro—unearthed after many thousands of years—could potentially become a “lost” archaeological wonder all over again.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.