Mound at Akra

History

The site was dug between 1996 and 1998 by the Bannu Archaeological Mission — the University of Peshawar working with the University of Cambridge, the British Museum, University College London and Bryn Mawr College. The excavation identified Bannu Black-on-Red Ware and other ceramic types previously unrecorded, revealing a cultural sequence more complex than anyone had expected. Silver and copper coins, moulded bricks and figurines attest to an urban centre of real weight, and part of the material now sits in the British Museum and the Ashmolean at Oxford.

Historical Significance

One of the very few excavated windows onto the Achaemenid Empire's easternmost province, and the type site for the Bannu basin's ceramic sequence.

Architecture

Four ancient mounds stand at Akra, about 17 km south-west of Bannu, between the Kachkot canal and the Lohra Nullah on the lands of Bharat village. The main and central of them gives the group its name. Potsherds, terracotta figurines and small fragments of relief sculpture lie visible across the top and sides of the main mound, which covers roughly 161,874 square metres and was declared a heritage archaeological site in 1949. Occupation goes back to the sixth century BCE under Achaemenid rule; Over the years the mound has grown into a sprawling village.

Why Visit

Walk the main central mound, where surface material is densest — potsherds, terracotta figurines and fragments of relief sculpture lie in the open.

Interesting Facts

• Excavated 1996–98 by Peshawar with Cambridge, the British Museum, UCL and Bryn Mawr
• It produced Bannu Black-on-Red Ware, a previously unrecorded ceramic type
• Occupation runs from roughly 900–800 BCE into the Islamic period
• Finds from it are held in the British Museum and the Ashmolean