Sarai Khola
Sarai Khola Neolithic Cemetery · Sarai Khola Taxila
Neolithic Sarai Khola I (4000–3500) → Kot Dijian II (3000–2600 BCE)·Sarai Khola / Kot Diji (Taxila Neolithic)·🇵🇰 Punjab, Taxila Valley, 3 km southwest of Taxila Museum near Khanpur Road, Pakistan
About
About Sarai Khola
Neolithic–Early Harappan village and cemetery (c.4000–2500 BCE) in Taxila Valley, Punjab — type-site for Sarai Khola culture (Period I Neolithic with ground stone axes, red-burnished ware; Period II Kot Diji-related with wheel-made pottery). Excavated 1960–71 by Ahmad Hasan Dani and later by Masih, Sarai Khola revealed pit burials with extended inhumations, handmade ceramics, early copper, and Kot Diji painted designs, showing Taxila as northern Harappan frontier bridging Kashmir Neolithic (Burzahom) to Indus lowlands.
Why it mattersNorthernmost Kot Diji–Sarai Khola type-site linking Kashmir Neolithic to Indus; proves Taxila Valley pre-urban Harappan occupation 1500 years before Sirkap.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relation to Burzahom pit-dwelling tradition?
- 02Why Taxila abandoned before mature Harappan urban peak?
Theories
- 01Himalayan foothill Neolithic diffusion southward to Punjab plains
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4000 BCE Neolithic I; Kot Diji II c.3000–2600 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic Sarai Khola I (4000–3500) → Kot Dijian II (3000–2600 BCE)
- Culture
- Sarai Khola / Kot Diji (Taxila Neolithic)
- Builders
- Taxila Neolithic farmers
- Purpose
- Foothill farming village and burial ground at Indus–Kashmir interface
- Abandoned
- c.2500 BCE (Harappan shift to Bhir Mound Taxila)
- Rediscovered
- 1960–71 Dani excavation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.4000–3500 BCE
Neolithic I: handmade red-burnished ware, ground stone, pit houses
c.3000–2600 BCE
Kot Diji II: wheel-made painted pottery, copper awls
1960–71
Dani defines Sarai Khola culture; Masih re-excavates cemetery 2001
On the ground
Structures & features
33.7450° N · 72.8120° E · 480 m · 2 mapped features
Neolithic settlement mound
settlementNeolithic–Kot Diji habitation with pit houses
33.7452° N · 72.8118° ECemetery area
cemeteryPit burial cluster with extended inhumations
33.7447° N · 72.8122° E