Haryana Declares Two Harappan-Era Sites As Protected Archaeological Sites—All About Findings At These Places

The government of Haryana has announced the protection of two sites, located in the Bhiwani district, which are over 4,400 years old and part of the Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation. These sites are found in the adjacent villages of Tighrana and Mitathal, and have been designated as protected monuments and archaeological sites.

In a notice given by Haryana's principal secretary of heritage and tourism, Kala Ramachandran, on 13 March, it was declared that the 10-acre area at Mitathal will be safeguarded. This announcement was made under the Haryana Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1964 by the Haryana Heritage and Tourism Department.

A high-ranking official from the state archaeology department informed The Indian Express on Monday that the department will now implement various measures to safeguard the site, which includes erecting a fence around it and stationing a guard.

“In the absence of a notification, the villagers were disturbing the site ,considering it as a piece of agricultural land. A considerable part of Mitathal and Tighrana has already been destroyed. There is a need for early official intervention to protect the site,” Narender Singh Parmar, he head of Department of History and Archaeology at the Central University of Haryana (Mahendragarh), said welcoming the move.

To date, the site has been excavated four times — in 2016, 2020, 2021, and 2024, all under the guidance of Parmar and his central university team.

The official announcement reveals that the 1968 archaeological dig at Mitathal has shed new light on the Copper-Bronze age culture complex from the Indo-Gangetic divide during the third and second millennia BCE.

Authorities confirm that the archaeological digs at Mitathal substantiate the Harappan practices in urban design, construction, and arts and crafts. The pottery discovered was robust, well-fired red ware, adorned in black with pipal leaf, fish scale, and various geometric patterns.

A range of artifacts has been discovered at the site, including beads, bangles, and objects made from terracotta, stone, shell, copper, ivory, and bone.

The announcement regarding the Tighrana village site reveals that the remnants of the post-Harappan era offer a glimpse into the development and persistence of human habitation in that area.

The first settlers, known as the Chalcolithic agricultural communities, inhabited this region as far back as 2,400 BCE. These early inhabitants, often referred to as Sothians, resided in places like Chang, Mitathal, Tighrana, and so on, in humble abodes made of mud-brick with roofs of thatch.

Some of these communities might have been fortified, each consisting of 50 to 100 houses. Their lifestyle included farming, domesticating animals such as cows, bulls, and goats, and creating wheel-made pottery adorned with black-and-white designs. The discovery of numerous copper, bronze, and stone tools suggests their usage in this period.

Authorities have announced that the unearthing of remnants from Pre-Siswal, pre-Harappan, and post-Harappan settlements at Tighrana represents an essential archaeological discovery. The existence of beads and green carnelian bangles suggests a flourishing bead-making and jewellery manufacturing industry.