Contextualizing Mes Aynak

Future generations of scholars may see Mes Aynak as an unique archaeological complex which comprises an extraordinary number of diverse functions and thus provides crucial primary evidence for the history of Inner and South Asia during the 1st millennium AD and most likely earlier—that is, with luck. Historians and archaeologists are uncertain what the future will bring—will the site be destroyed by war, copper mining or a lack of controlled excavation? All of these circumstances have threatened the integrity of the site since exploration first began in the 1960s. This short article presents a brief summary of the literature on Mes Aynak and the present archaeological situation.