Editing Lothal (section)

==Discovery==
The [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI), the official [[Government of India|Indian government]] [[List of agencies of the government of India|agency]] for the preservation of ancient monuments, discovered Lothal in 1954. Excavation work in Lothal commenced on 13 February 1955 and continued till 19 May 1960.

According to the ASI, arguably Lothal had the world's earliest known [[dock (maritime)|dock]], which connected the city to an ancient course of the [[Sabarmati]] River on the [[trade route]]. This trade route stretched between [[Harappa]]n cities in [[Sindh]] ([[Pakistan]]) and the peninsula of [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] where the surrounding [[Kutch]] desert of today was a part of the [[Arabian Sea]]. However, this interpretation has been challenged by other [[archaeologist]]s, who argue [[Khufu|Khufu's]] Red Sea harbour at [[Wadi al-Jarf]] ([[Egypt]]) is older, dating its construction to between 2580 to [[2550 BCE]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=World's First Port Discovered in Red Sea|url=http://www.hic-mena.org/activitydetails.php?id=pWtpag#.YhULMRqnyhC|access-date=2022-02-22|website=www.hic-mena.org}}</ref> and that Lothal was a comparatively small town, and that the "dock" was primarily an [[irrigation tank]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Leshnik|first=Lawrence S.|date=1968|title=The Harappan "Port" at Lothal: Another View|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/669756|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=70|issue=5|pages=911–922|doi=10.1525/aa.1968.70.5.02a00070 |jstor=669756 |issn=0002-7294}}</ref><ref>Leshnik, "The Harappan 'Port' at Lothal"</ref>

The [[National Institute of Oceanography, India|National Institute of Oceanography]] in [[Goa]] discovered [[foraminifera]] (marine [[microfossil]]s) and salt, [[gypsum]] crystals in the rectangular structure clearly indicating that sea water once filled the structure and it was definitely a dockyard.<ref name="researchgate.net">{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27667625 |title=Foraminifera as an additional tool for archaeologists – Examples from the Arabian Sea |date=25 September 2015 }}</ref>

Lothal was a vital and thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade of [[bead]]s, [[gemstone|gems]] and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa. The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in [[metallurgy]] have stood the test of time for over 4000&nbsp;years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_imp_gujarat.asp|title=Excavations – Important – Gujarat|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|access-date=25 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011172932/http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_imp_gujarat.asp|archive-date=11 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Lothal is situated near the village of Saragwala in the [[Dholka Taluka]] of [[Ahmedabad district]]. It is six kilometres south-east of the Lothal-Bhurkhi railway station on the [[Ahmedabad]]-[[Bhavnagar]] railway line. It is also connected by all-weather roads to the cities of Ahmedabad (85&nbsp;km/53&nbsp;mi), Bhavnagar, [[Rajkot]] and [[Dholka]]. The nearest cities are Dholka and Bagodara. Resuming excavation in 1961, archaeologists unearthed trenches sunk on the northern, eastern and western flanks of the mound, bringing to light the inlet channels and ''nullah'' ("ravine", or "gully") connecting the dock with the river. The findings consist of a [[mound]], a township, a [[marketplace]], and the 'dock'. Adjacent to the excavated areas stands the Archaeological Museum, where some of the most prominent collections of [[Harappa]]-era antiquities in India are displayed.

The Lothal site was nominated, in April 2014, as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]], and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5918/ https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5918/], UNESCO</ref><ref name="Unesco1">{{Cite web|title=Archaeological remains of a Harappa Port-Town, Lothal|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5918/|access-date=2021-09-16|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref>