Sutkagan Dor is the westernmost known archaeological site of Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...

. It is located about 480 km west of Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

 on Makran

Makran

The present day Makran is a semi-desert coastal strip in the south of Sindh, Balochistan, in Iran and Pakistan, along the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The present day Makran derived its name from Maka, a satrap of Achaemenid Empire....

 coast near the Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 border in Baluchistan

Balochistan (Pakistan)

Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...

 in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. This site is near the western bank of the Dasht

Dasht

Dasht is a town and tehsil of Kharan District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The town is located at 28°36'30N 66°18'50E with an altitude of 1796 metres . The population of the tehsil as a whole was 58,621 in 1998....

 and its confluence with a smaller stream, known as the Gajo Kaur.

Excavations

Sutkagan Dor

Sutkagan Dor

Sutkagan Dor is the westernmost known archaeological site of Indus Valley Civilization. It is located about 480 km west of Karachi on Makran coast near the Iran border in Baluchistan in Pakistan...

 was discovered in 1875 by Major E. Mockler, who conducted a small excavation here.

In 1928, Aurel Stein came here as a part of his Gedrosia

Gedrosia

Gedrosia from Pashto Gwadar-khua is the hellenized name of an area that corresponds to today's Balochistan. Eastern Balochistan is southwestern province of Pakistan and parts of southwestern and south-central Afghanistan and western Balochistan is divided between Iranian provinces of Hormozgan and...

 tour and conducted a small excavation.

Fro 7 to 20 October 1960, Sutkagan Dor

Sutkagan Dor

Sutkagan Dor is the westernmost known archaeological site of Indus Valley Civilization. It is located about 480 km west of Karachi on Makran coast near the Iran border in Baluchistan in Pakistan...

 was excavated by George F. Dales

George F. Dales

George Franklin Dales Jr. , was an archaeology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and later the University of California, Berkeley, where he chaired the South and Southeast Asian Studies department. He was considered a leading expert on Indus valley peoples and their languages.-Early...

 as a part of his Makran

Makran

The present day Makran is a semi-desert coastal strip in the south of Sindh, Balochistan, in Iran and Pakistan, along the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman. The present day Makran derived its name from Maka, a satrap of Achaemenid Empire....

 Survey.

Over here a structure was found which was made from stone and mud bricks and was made without straw. Some of the latter was large which was around 50 centimeters long. the base was 7.5 centimeters.

Many flint

Flint

Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...

blades have been found here which measure 27.5 centimeters but it had no cores. Many vessels made from stone have been found here too.

Architecture

This site measures approximately 4.5 hectares. Along with the usual "citadel" and "lower town", a massive fortification wall of semi-dressed stones exists. This citadel wall varies in height and thickness due to the irregular contours of the natural rock foundation, but at one point about midway along the eastern wall, it is approximately 7.5 m thick at the base. The inner face of the wall is slightly battered, whereas the outer face has a decided slope, varying from 23° to 40°. Though inland at present, this site may have been near navigable water in ancient times and on a trade route between other centers.