Lothal: A Harappan Port Town 1955-62 in Set of 2 Volumes (Memoirs No-78 An Old and Rare Book)

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The delay in publishing the report on the excavations at Lothal which was ready in 1965 is due to certain technical difficulties, but I must add that this delay has enabled me to include a Chapter on the decipherment of the Indus Script. A more comprehensive work on the subject is in the press.

The present report is divided into two volumes. Volume I deals with the discovery of Lothal, the cuttings, stratigraphy, structures and cemetery. An attempt has also been made in this volume to throw some light on the religion and social life of the Harappans and their relation with the neighbouring countries. The observations made in Chapter XIV on the origin and authors of the Harappa Civilization are bound to be tentative but I can derive some satisfaction from the fact that the latest evidence available on the subject from the excavations of Harappan sites in India and Pakistan has been taken note of.

I hope the reader will not have to wait more than a few months for the release of Volume II which contains technical reports of the Chief Archaeological Chemist, Anthropologist, Zoologist and Botanist and also the description of individual portable finds.

I must express my gratitude to Shri M. N. Deshpande, Director General and Shri B. K. Thapar, Additional Director General, Archaeological Survey of India for expediting the publication of this Volume and to Shri B. D. Sen, Managing Director, Naba Mudran (Pvt) Ltd, Calcutta for excellent printing.

The second volume of the report on the excavations at Lothal-A Harappan Port Town was ready in 1966 along with the first volume which was published as Memoir No. 78 of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1979, but owing to circumstances beyond author's control, the publication of the second volume has been delayed. Anyway it is gratifying to find that this volume has now seen the light of the day.

Normally excavation reports are not indexed, but an exception has been made in this case by providing a short index to both the volumes to facilitate reference to important subjects and sites. Appendixes I and II have been added for updating the information on Indus civilization. A list of Harappan and Late Harappan sites has been given in Appendix III.

I am obliged to Prof. S. S. Sarkar, Dr. B. B. Lal, Dr. K. Ramesh Rao and Krishna Lal, Shri Bhola Nath and Shri V. K. Chari for contributing appropriate technical reports.

My thanks are due to Dr. M. S. Nagaraja Rao, Director General, Dr. H. Sarkar, Joint Director General and Shri K. N. Dikshit, Director, Archaeological Survey of India for bringing out the volume. I am particularly grateful to Shri S. R. Varma, Administrative Officer (Publications) who took great pains at every step to expedite the printing of the book. His long experience in getting technical reports printed has improved the quality of the illustrations which would have otherwise suffered owing to the long interval of almost 20 years between the preparation of halftone blocks and actual printing.

I must express my gratitude to Shri T. K. Sen of Naba Mudran (Pvt.) Ltd, Calcutta for full co-operation and excellent printing.

I am obliged to Sarvasri K. M. Srivastava, Suraj Bhan Chaudhary, Udai Vir Singh, T. S. Iyengar, K. D. Tripathi and S. N. Raghunath for assisting me in preparation of technical reports on pottery, metal, shell, bone, ivory and faience objects. My thanks are also due to Sarvasri Lalit Kumar jain, V. M. joseph, M. j. Vyas, B. P. Saxena and jassu Ram for the line drawings and to Sarvasri M. B. Limaye, S. N. Shah, V. M. Date and Pramod Singh for photographs of antiquities.