The Indus Civilization c5.58

c5.58

Owing to the fact that the silt brought down by the Indus has raised the level of its bed and of the surrounding country by about fifteen to twenty feet in the past five thousand years, it has not been possible to excavate the wells to the bottom, nor to recover the various articles which must have been accidentally dropped into them. A few have been partially cleared and put into use again, but the level of the water at the present day is very considerably higher than it was in ancient times. These wells must have been a great danger to young children, yet only two have been found with copings sufficiently high to prevent a child from falling in. In several cases, it was found that the well had ceased to be used some time before the abandonment of the city, and in all probability this was because somebody had been drowned in it.