Muhammad Rafiq Mugal (born 1936) is a Pakistani archaeologist, engaged in investigating of ethnoarchaeological research in Chitral, northern Pakistan. He has been responsible for the direction, technical support and supervision for restoration and conservation of more than thirty monuments and excavated remains of the Islamic, Buddhist and Proto-historic periods, in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. He served as a professor of archaeology and heritage management and the director of undergraduate studies at Boston University. He is now Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Boston University.

Contributions in restoration and conservation

Mughal supervised the preparation of a number of conservation and restoration projects of archaeological and architectural heritage of Pakistan. He also planned, organized and directed archaeological fieldworks and research projects of extensive surveys involving documentation of sites, monuments, and excavations across the world on locations of diverse cultural contents ranging in date from the Prehistoric to Islamic periods. He also conducted extensive surveys in co-ordination of various international archaeologists for explorations in Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Areas of Pakistan that led to the discovery of various settlements of the Indus Civilization and of other cultural contents.

Museum development

Mughal has contributed to the development of several museums in Pakistan. This includes contributing to establishing the Islamabad Museum in 1994. He also helped to reorganize Swat Museum, Saidu Sharif in collaboration with Japanese museologists. He was also a leading figure in proposing the establishment of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Gilgit in 1993, the Museum at Rohtas Fort (1994), the Ethnological and Archaeological Museum at Multan (1995) and for the expansion of Taxila Museum (1994).

Heritage conservation and management

Rafique Mughal has been involved in archaeological conservation of the following sites and monuments:

Major international collaborations

Archaeological excavations

Indus Civilization and Bronze Age sites

Buddhist and Early Historical or Medieval sites

Early Islamic sites

Punjab Province

Sindh Province

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and Northern Areas

Balochistan Province

Mughal was also the project director of two major schemes for "Survey and Documentation of Sites and Monuments in Sindh and Punjab" between 1993 and 1996.

Publications

Books and Edited Volumes: Articles:

Awards and recognition