Ancient site · Settlement
Shortugai
Also known as Shortughai
The northernmost Indus settlement, on the Amu Darya (Oxus) in northern Afghanistan, more than 1,000 km from the Indus. French archaeologists found Harappan pottery, a seal with a rhinoceros, beads and bricks of Indus proportions.
It was most likely a trading post near the lapis lazuli mines of Badakhshan, collecting the deep-blue stone and perhaps tin for the Indus cities. Irrigation canals fed its fields. Later layers show influence from the local Bronze Age cultures.
- Dates
- c. 2000–1700 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 37.33° N, 69.53° E
How we know
Known from French excavations in the 1970s; its Harappan seals and pottery date it alongside the Indus cities.
Nearby sites
- Ai-Khanoum c. 290–145 BCE
- Sarazm c. 3500–2000 BCE (radiocarbon range 3900–2100 BCE)
- Tillya Tepe graves c. 1st century BCE–1st century CE
- Takht-i-Bahi 1st–7th century CE
- Taxila c. 1000 BCE–5th century CE
- Burzahom c. 3000–1000 BCE