In an age where large archaeological sites are often the focus of public interest, small ones tend to be overlooked. However, it’s an inevitable fact that settlements in the hinterland invariably support the growth and prosperity of major cities and settlements. Hubs for agricultural production, craft specialisation, and trade, these areas are the foundational pillars of urbanisation.

With this understanding, a group of archaeologists conducted important excavations at Kanmer, a site located in the Kutch region of Gujarat’s Rapar taluka. This dig was part of the Kanmer Archaeological Research Project (KARP), organised between 2005-06 and 2008-09. The team included archaeologists from the Research Institute of Humanity and Nature in Kyoto; the Institute of Rajasthan Studies at Udaipur’s JRN University, and the Gujarat State Department of Archaeology in Gandhinagar. Among the participants were notable archaeologists such as JS Kharakwal and YS Rawat.

The idea was to understand the site’s relationship with major Harappan settlements and with the neighbouring regions of Saurashtra and southern Rajasthan, eventually throwing light on its role in the rise – and eventual decline – of cities such as Dholavira. Even though Kanmer is smaller in comparison to Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Dholavira, it occupies a strategically important position within the broader framework of the Harappan Civilisation.

Unearthing a fortified city

• Gujarat boasts over 500 protohistoric sites, with the Kutch region alone home to over 60 Bronze Age and Chalcolithic sites  Renowned scholars such as HD Sankalia, KV Soundararajan, SR Rao, and JP Joshi have laid the groundwork for archaeological exploration in this area, each contributing invaluable insights into the region’s ancient past.
• Sankalia’s discovery of early Stone Age remains, Soundararajan’s excavation at Desalpur, and Rao’s extensive work on numerous sites in Kutch — including the monumental Dholavira that was excavated by Joshi – have collectively enriched our understanding of Gujarat’s protohistoric cultures. Beginning with early investigations in 1934-35, archaeologists have unravelled multiple layers of the Harappan culture in Gujarat, revealing the deep interactions between Harappans and contemporary cultures, and how all of them shared and exploited the same landscape. Scholars such as RS Bisht, who discovered Kanmer in the 1980s, have highlighted the regional diversity of early Copper/Bronze Age cultures through their excavations.
• The archaeological site at Kanmer, located just 200 metres north of the village of Kanmer, spans over a hectare, with the main mound measuring 115m x 105m and an archaeological deposit about 6.5 metres deep. Excavations at the site uncovered five distinct phases, labelled KMR I to KMR V.
• The earliest phase, KMR I, represents the pre-fortification period, where habitation was found on bedrock in the central part of the mound. Although no structures were uncovered from this phase, three successive floor levels were identified. The material culture from KMR I included a small amount of Harappan artefacts, such as red ware, cream-slipped ware, and bichrome pottery, with striking fish-scale motifs and notable vertical strands. This phase is considered “Early Harappan,” contemporaneous with Dholavira’s stages I and II.
• KMR II, divided into two sub-phases (KMR IIA & IIB), signifies an important shift in pottery and settlement planning. The pottery assemblage includes Sorath-type pottery (specific to Gujarat’s Saurashtra region) and the Ahar-type Black and Red Ware (from a Chalcolithic site in Rajasthan). These findings suggest an increasing integration of regional influences and provide evidence of trade and contact with distant areas. The settlement’s layout also reflects this change, with a defensive structure and systematic planning of multipurpose buildings aligned with the fortification wall. The emergence of these characteristics, along with evidence of long-term trade, marks the phase as “Mature Harappan.”
• In KMR III, the settlement showed signs of decline, with a reduction in the quality of structures and ceramics. Despite a continued presence of craft activities and urban traits, the finer details seen in earlier phases began to fade, earning this phase the designation of “Late Mature Harappan.”
• After the Harappan period, the site was abandoned, only to be reoccupied between the 1st and 5th centuries CE (KMR IV), and later during the Medieval period (KMR V). This reoccupation underscores the enduring significance of Kanmer as a strategic location, linking it to the region’s broader historical and cultural evolution.

What Kanmer’s fortification reveals

• More than 50 per cent of Harappan settlements in the Kutch region, including Kanmer, are fortified.
• The site features a roughly square mound that rises about nine meters above the surrounding plains, with occasional stones protruding along its slopes and a shallow depression at its summit.
• To clarify the fortification’s outline, orientation, and construction phases, sondages were dug on both the southern and northern slopes of the mound. The fortification wall itself is 20 metres thick and nine metres high, built in multiple phases, with the eastern arm rising 3.7 metres higher than the western arm.
• At several points, stone alignments and remnants of walls (some Harappan and others medieval) were found atop the surviving wall. These medieval structures, while not original to the Harappan period, helped preserve the fortification. Interestingly, the wall does not follow the precise cardinal directions but is oriented northwest-southeast instead. The northern arm measures 107 metres in length, with the inner length estimated to be around 72.5 meters, giving the settlement the shape of a squarish fort near Little Rann of Kutch.
• By selecting this strategically located site for multidisciplinary research, the excavators at Kanmer, led by JS Kharakwal, challenged conventional views and explored the crucial relationship between small settlements and major urban centres. Their research provided critical insights into the integral role smaller Harappan settlements played in the broader process of urbanisation.
• Their findings reveal that Kanmer was a key hub for agate procurement and stone bead manufacturing, with active connections to metropolitan towns. The persistence of traditional bead-making techniques from the Harappan period further highlights the region’s cultural continuity. The site’s unique layout as a small fortress, likely built for a specific purpose and to house a limited population contrasts with the bipartite design typical of many fortified settlements of the time.
• Inside the fortress, well-planned multipurpose structures yielded a rich array of classic Harappan artefacts, including ‘S’ shaped jars, goblets, seals, and terracotta cakes. This emphasised the site’s importance within the Harappan cultural and economic network. Kharakwal’s excavation not only deepens our understanding of smaller settlements in the urbanisation process but also underscores Kanmer’s significance as a centre of specialised production, trade, and cultural exchange within the larger Harappan world.