Investigating ancient Pushkalavati

Excavations at Balar Hisar — Charsadda, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan

PAK-UK
Pushkalavati
Archaeological
Research
Project

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2006 season

Research aims

The Bala Hisar at Charsadda is potentially the only site in the NWFP with a sequence of occupation that stretches from the mid-2nd millennium BC to the later-1st millennium AD. The PAK-UK Pushkalavati Archaeological Research Project has a number of specific aims:

1. to excavate, analyse and accurately date cultural material recovered from soundings excavated into the 24 metre deep stratified sequence that is preserved at the Bala Hisar;
2. to use geophysical techniques to locate significant subsurface features;
3. to carry out the targeted recovery of cultural, botanical and faunal remains from open area excavations in order to observe changes in socio-economic organisation and subsistence practices for the span of the site's occupation;
4. and to place the results of these analyses into a clearly defined ecological context by reconstructing the palaeo-geography and palaeo-environment of the Peshawar Valley.