Har-Indian Archaeological Society to start excavations at

Haryana Archaeology and Museums Department (HAMD) and the Indian Archaeological Society and National Museums will undertake excavations at Kunal in Fatehabad district, the earliest Harappan site in the state.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed between HAMD and the New Delhi-based society in the presence of Haryana Archaeology and Museums Minister Ram Bilas Sharma here today.
Principal Secretary Archaeology and Museums Sumita Misra and Chairman Indian Archaeological Society Dr K N Dikshit signed the MoU, an official release said here.
Speaking on this occasion, Sharma said the excavations were aimed at bringing out the earliest material culture of the site.

Kunal being one of the earliest sites in Haryana had a great contribution in the early Harappan studies in the Indian sub-continent and would definitely open new prospects for future researches, he said, adding the developed drainage system characterises this site.
Kunal is located in Tehsil Raita in Fatehabad and the core area of the settlement is three to four acres though the site expands to nine acres, Sharma said.

Excavation was first conducted by late J S Khatri and M Acharya under Haryana State Archaeology Department during 1985-86, he said.
"The previous excavations have provided significant traits of early Harappan culture in our subcontinent at Kunal for the very first time in the history of Harappan studies," Sharma said.

Describing Haryana as the cradle of Indian history, Misra said the Kunal excavations would provide a large number of new insights of early Harappan culture.
This might push the Indian history of the civilisation back by over a thousand years, she said.