Rakhigarhi: Burying The Lede

Burying The Lede

- Kai Friese

The enduring mystery of the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) just became a little less mysterious last week. Or did it? The carefully coordinated near simultaneous release of two long-awaited papers, analysing the DNA of ancient Harappans (and others), offers complex answers to the questions of who these people were, where they came from, what became of them and how they relate to the citizens of India today (NRC-certified or not). Despite the admirable clarity of both papers, it was only a matter of hours before they were being bowdlerised in the media and, of course, social media to suggest diametrically opposed conclusions.