Mundigak (Pashto: منډیګک) is an archaeological site in Kandahar province in Afghanistan.

It is situated approximately 55 km (34 mi) northwest of Kandahar near Shāh Maqsūd, on the upper drainage of the Kushk-i Nakhud River.

Mundigak was a large prehistoric town with an important cultural sequence from the 5th–2nd millennia BCE.

[2] Pottery and other artifacts form the later 3rd millennium BCE, when this site became a major urban center, indicate interaction with Turkmenistan, Baluchistan, and the Early Harappan Indus region.

Earlier, it was thought that around 2200 BCE, both Shahr-i-Sokhta and Mundigak started declining, with considerable shrinkage in area and with brief occupation at later dates.

[5] During the French Archaeological Mission (MAI)[6] excavations from 1951 to 1958 in ten campaigns under the direction of Jean Marie Casal[7] with the support of the DAFA,[8] different levels of settlement could be distinguished.

Only a small area has been excavated here, with the remains reaching back to Period III.

In the center of the city is hill A, on which extensive remains of a palace complex were found.

It is uncertain whether it was really a palace as the excavator suspected, but the construction undoubtedly served a public function.

To create a platform for the construction, older houses standing on the hill were leveled.

The north facade of the palace was decorated with a row of pilasters that were stuccoed and painted white.

The east, south and west facades of the building were not preserved, but they may also have been decorated with pilasters.

It stood on a flat, approximately 2.5 m high hill and had a monumental outer wall, which was decorated on the outside with mighty buttresses, triangular in plan.

Even in Period IV, layer 1, the area around the wall was densely built on both sides with simple houses, mostly consisting of a few rooms.

It is clear, however, that Mundigak continued to be an important city in Period V, but the remains of it have largely disappeared.

In addition to fireplaces, there were primarily numerous ceramics that have similarities with that of the earlier layers.

This material consists in part of ceramic figurines of snakes and humped bulls, and other items, similar to those found at other Indus Valley sites.

Mundigak and Deh Morasi provide early developments in what may be now called religious activities.

A white-washed, pillared large building with its door way outlined with red, dating around 3,000 BC is related to religious activities.

[2] Early houses were constructed at Mundigak (during Period I.4) in the form of tiny oblong cells with pressed earth walls.

[24] The finds include numerous terracotta figures, which often represent people, mostly women, but also men.

In addition, in the remains of Period IV, the head of a limestone man's statue was found.

The man has short hair and a headband that ends in two falling strips of fabric on the back.

Various decoration traditions can be proven that are also known from other places and thus help to locate Mundigak in the context of other cultures and thus also in time.

The excavation report largely focuses on decorated forms, so the undecorated pottery is less well known.

[27] Various clay chalices come from Period IV, decorated with rows of animals painted in black, but also with individual plants.

[28] From Period IV there are two larger ceramic vessels with a sliding lid that may have served as mouse traps.

attested, of which there were two types: one is conical in shape and made of clay, the other is disc-shaped and carved from stone.

An investigation showed that these artifacts were mostly made of bronze with a low tin content.

[22] Painting on pots include pictures of sacred fig leaves (ficus religiosa) and a tiger-like animal.