Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the largest cities of the Indus civilization. Much of what is known about it comes from excavations in the 1920s and 1930s, which were recorded in survey plans tied to a local datum that no longer exists on the ground. As a result, those records are hard to connect to the site as it is today, or to each other.

Working with LIAVH, which uses non-invasive data collection to support spatial and temporal research, we worked on digitizing Ernest Mackay’s 1927–1930 excavation surveys. We also developed methods to place artifacts within stratigraphic levels and time periods. By re-establishing Mackay’s original datum and combining ground control points with photogrammetry of the full site, we produced a georeferenced orthophoto and an updated site map. We are now digitizing Mackay’s plans of DK-G South into a standardized data model of structures, spaces, levels, artifacts, and infrastructure, which will form the basis of a new, open, relational database linking the ancient city to a century of research and heritage work at the site.

The work has produced data visualizations, an interactive platform for exploring the data, and Alternative Archaeologies. That interactive story follows Najab Din, who worked as a chowkidar and peon during the first major excavation, (forthcoming School for Advanced Research publication Excavating Bodies in the Archives). It also included fieldwork at MohenjoDaro, a GIS workshop for archaeologists in Pakistan, and the exhibition Visualizing Care at Pratt Institute and Alserkal Arts Foundation in Dubai.