 The site was discovered in 1974 by an archaeological team directed by French archaeologists Jean-François Jarrige and Catherine Jarrige, and was excavated continuously between 1974 and 1986, and again from 1997 to 2000.Archaeological material has been found in six mounds, and about 32,000 artifacts have been collected.The earliest settlement at Mehrgarh—in the northeast corner of the site—was a small farming village dated between 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE.