EARLY CIVILISATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTperiphery of the Indus valley in the hills of eastern Baluchistan and then
extended into the plains. There were certainly connections with
Mesopotamia, but the earlier hypothesis that the Indus civilisation was
merely an extension of Mesopotamian civilisation had to be rejected.
The anatomy of four sitesThe various stages of the indigenous evolution of the Indus civilisation can
be documented by an analysis of four sites which have been excavated in
more recent years: Mehrgarh, Amri, Kalibangan, Lothal. These four sites
reflect the sequence of the four important phases in the protohistory of the
northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. The sequence begins with
the transition of nomadic herdsmen to settled agriculturists in eastern
Baluchistan, continues with the growth of large villages in the Indus valley
and the rise of towns, leads to the emergence of the great cities and, finally,
ends with their decline. The first stage is exemplified by Mehrgarh in
Baluchistan, the second by Amri in the southern Indus valley and the third
and fourth by Kalibangan in Rajasthan and by Lothal in Gujarat.
MehrgarhMehrgarh is situated about 150 miles to the northwest of Mohenjo-Daro
at the foot of the Bolan Pass which links the Indus valley via Quetta and
Kandahar with the Iranian plateau. The site, excavated by French
archaeologists since 1974, is about 1,000 yards in diameter and contains
seven excavation sites with different strata of early settlements. The oldest
mound shows in its upper strata a large Neolithic village which, according
to radiocarbon dating, belongs to the sixth millennium BC. The
rectangular houses were made of adobe bricks, but ceramics were
obviously still unknown to the inhabitants. The most important finds were
traces of grain and innumerable flint blades which appear to have been
used as sickles for cutting the grain. These clearly establish that some kind
of cultivation prevailed in Baluchistan even at that early age. Several types
of grain were identified: two kinds of barley, and wheat, particularly
emmer. Surprisingly, the same types of grain were found in even lower
strata going back to the seventh millennium.
The early transition from hunting and nomadic life to settled agriculture
and animal husbandry is documented also by large numbers of animal
bones which were found in various Neolithic strata of the site. The oldest
strata of the seventh millennium contained mostly remnants of wild
animals such as antelopes, wild goats and wild sheep. But in later strata the
bones of domesticated animals such as goats, sheep and cows were much
more numerous. The domestication of animals must have begun in
Baluchistan at about the same time as in Western Asia. Sheep were the first