Ancient site · Settlement
Kot Diji
A fortified settlement in Sindh, Pakistan, across the Indus from Mohenjo-daro, which gave its name to the Kot Diji phase of the Early Harappan period. Excavations in 1955 and 1957 found a walled citadel on high ground and a town around it, with mudbrick houses and pottery of a style that spread across the region.
Its later layers run on into the Mature Harappan period, showing how the regional cultures of the Indus valley grew into one civilisation. The hill above it is crowned by an 18th-century fort.
- Dates
- c. 3300–2100 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 27.35° N, 68.71° E
How we know
No readable writing; known from excavations in 1955–57 and comparison with other dated sites.
Nearby sites
- Mohenjo-daro c. 2500–1700 BCE
- Mehrgarh c. 7000 BCE (excavators) or c. 5200 BCE (2025 re-dating) to c. 2600 BCE
- Dholavira c. 3000–1500 BCE (phases debated)
- Harappa c. 3300–1300 BCE; city at its height c. 2600–1900 BCE
- Submerged structures off Dwarka disputed: c. 1500 BCE (S. R. Rao) or historical to medieval times
- Kalibangan c. 3500–1750 BCE
Related
- Early Harappan (Ravi, Kot Diji and Sothi-Siswal phases) archaeological culture