Rakhigarhi

Recent findings-

• The major findings include drainage system, the structure of some houses, lanes, jewellery unit, copper and gold jewellery, terracotta toys, earthen pots, seals, a burnt-brick wall (possibility of a walled settlement), an aristocratic settlement, semi-precious stones such as agate and carnelian, two female skeletons buried with a plethora of pottery and adorned jewellery etc.
• These discoveries could point to the existence of a well-planned Harappan city. 
• Archaeologists also said that Rakhigarhi may have been the ancestors of the people of Hastinapur.

About Rakhigarhi-

• The ancient sites of Rakhi-Khas and Rakhi-Shahpur are collectively known as Rakhigarhi.
• It is the largest Harappan site in the Indian Subcontinent.
• It is situated in the Hisar district of Haryana and is located in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain.
• The site was first excavated by Amarendra Nath of ASI.
• Earlier Mohenjodaro that covers 300 hectares(Pakistan) was considered to be the largest Harappan site until Prof. Vasanth Shinde and his team started fresh excavations at Rakhigarhi.
• This site encompasses a set of 11 mounds with a confirmed size in excess of 350 hectares and according to the Global Heritage Fund Rakhigarhi is the largest and oldest Indus site in the world.
• The findings confirm both early and mature phases of this 5,000-years-old Harappan site.
• An important find from this site is a cylindrical seal with 5 Harappan characters on one side and a symbol of an alligator on the other.
• Ritual system is signified by an animal sacrificial pit lined with mud-brick and triangular and circular fire altars on the mud floor.
• A DNA study from skeletal remains from the cemetery at Rakhigarhi found that the Harappan people had an independent origin. 
• The study clearly negates the theory of the Harappans having ancestral links with steppe pastoral or ancient Iranian farmers.  
• Rakhigarhi gives the first evidence of a double burial where the skeletons are clearly male (38) and female (25).
• Granary that was found here belongs to the mature Harappan phase (2600 BCE to 2000 BCE) and is made up of mud-bricks with a floor of rammed earth plastered with mud and has 7 rectangular or square chambers.

• A cemetery of Mature Harappan period is discovered at Rakhigarhi, with eight graves.