Marilyn Thipthorpe
It may be time to rewrite history textbooks. Scientists from IIT-Kharagpur and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have uncovered evidence that the Indus Valley Civilization is at least 8,000 years old, and not 5,500 years old, taking root well before the Egyptian (7000BC to 3000BC) and Mesopotamian (6500BC to 3100BC) civilizations.
What’s more, the researchers have found evidence of a pre-Harappan civilization that existed for at least 1,000 years before this.
The discovery, published in the prestigious ‘Nature’ journal on May 25, may force a global rethink on the timelines of the so-called ‘cradles of civilization’. The scientists believe they also know why the civilization ended about 3,000 years ago — climate change.