Photograph by Will Michels

Frank “Chip” Briscoe has politics in his blood and preservation on his mind. Born to a Texas political dynasty—his father was a district attorney, his cousin a governor—he got his feet wet last spring by challenging the congressional seat held by House majority whip Tom DeLay (he lost the Democratic primary by a razor-thin margin). In April, he visited Pakistan, where he has been working with an international team to uncover a 4,500-year-old city. All this while working for veteran Houston builders W.S. Bellows, which built the Live Oak Friends Meeting House (above). Trained in historic preservation at Cornell, Briscoe and his wife live near Houston in a family farmhouse he’s restored himself.

What are the goals of your work in Pakistan?

My primary role is to work with the Pakistanis, through UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] to assist with the conservation of the ruins of Moenjodaro. Moenjodaro is one of the capitals of the Indus Civilization, in the valley of the Indus River. I’ve been going there since 1995. It’s an enormously important place in the history of civilization. It’s the oldest planned city in the world and the largest Bronze Age city that we know of. Its water distribution system was the most advanced of its time and included indoor plumbing and one of the first uses of wells. We believe Moenjodaro and its sister capital, Harappa, are the first places in the world where baked industrial brick was used.

Only about 10 percent of the site has been excavated, and there’s a prohibition on further excavation until the exposed ruins are stabilized. We still have a lot to learn about the way the city was planned. For instance, we haven’t found definitive evidence of any kind of defense structure, which is interesting, because the Indus River was a transportation corridor.