Mehrgarh, (Urdu: م‍ﮩ‍رگڑھ ) one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BC to 3200 BC) sites in archaeology, lies on the "Kachi plain of Balochistan, Pakistan, and is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia. The term Anthropocene is used by some scientists to describe the most recent period in the Earth 's history Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Balochistan, or Baluchistan, Pashto, ( Balochi, Hazara, Brahui, Sindhi, Urdu: بلوچستان Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and "^[1]

Located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River valley and between the present-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and Sibi, Mehrgarh was discovered in 1974 by an archaeological team directed by French archaeologist Jean-François Jarrige, and was excavated continuously between 1974 and 1986. Bolan Pass ( Urdu: درہ بولان Dharaa Bolan) is a Mountain pass through the Toba Kakar Range of mountains in western Pakistan The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd ( Urdu: کوئٹہ) ( Pashto: کوټه) also spelled Kwatah City is a variation of kwatkot a Pashto word meaning “fort Sibi (سبی is a city located in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Jean-François Jarrige is a French Archaeologist specializing in South Asian Archaeology. The earliest settlement at Mehrgarh—in the northeast corner of the 495-acre site—was a small farming village dated between 7000 BC–5500 BC.

Lifestyle and technology

Early farming village in Mehrgarh, c. 7000 BC, with houses built with mud bricks. (Musée Guimet, Paris). The Guimet Museum (French Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet or Musée Guimet) is a museum of Asian art located at 6 place d'Iéna in the

Early Mehrgarh residents lived in mud brick houses, stored their grain in granaries, fashioned tools with local copper ore, and lined their large basket containers with bitumen. The Chalcolithic (Greek khalkos + lithos ' Copper stone' period or Copper Age period known as the '''Eneolithic''' ('''Æneolithic''' is a Bitumen is a mixture of organic Liquids that are highly Viscous, black sticky entirely soluble in Carbon disulfide, and composed primarily They cultivated six-row barley, einkorn and emmer wheat, jujubes and dates, and herded sheep, goats and cattle. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Einkorn wheat (from German Einkorn, literally "one grain" can refer either to the wild species of Wheat, Triticum boeoticum (the spelling Emmer wheat ( Triticum dicoccon) also known as farro especially in Italy is a low yielding awned Wheat. Ziziphus zizyphus (from Greek ζίζυφον - zizuphon, syn Z Residents of the later period (5500 BC to 2600 BC) put much effort into crafts, including flint knapping, tanning, bead production, and metal working. A knapper is a person who shapes Flint, Chert, Obsidian or other stone through the process of knapping or Lithic reduction to manufacture Tanning is the process of converting Putrescible skin into non-putrescible Leather, usually with Tannin, an Acidic Chemical compound Metalworking is craft and practice of working with Metals to create individual parts assemblies or large scale structures The site was occupied continuously until about 2600 BC. ^[2]

In April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first early Neolithic) evidence in human history for the drilling of teeth in vivo (i. Nature is a prominent Scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869 In vivo ( Latin: within the living means that which takes place inside an organism. e. in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. ^[3]

Archaeological significance

A relief map of Pakistan showing Mehrgarh.

Mehrgarh is now seen as a precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin "Discoveries at Mehrgarh changed the entire concept of the Indus civilization," according to Ahmad Hasan Dani, professor emeritus of archaeology at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, "There we have the whole sequence, right from the beginning of settled village life. Ahmad Hassan Dani ( Urdu: احمد حسن دانی) FRAS, SI, HI (born 20 June 1920) is a Pakistani Quaid-i-Azam University is a Public university in Islamabad, Pakistan. |name = Islamabad|native_name = |nickname = |settlement_type = Capital City |total_type "^[4] According to Catherine Jarrige of the Centre for Archaeological Research Indus Balochistan, Musée Guimet, Paris

…the Kachi plain and in the Bolan basin (are) situated at the Bolan peak pass, one of the main routes connecting southern Afghanistan, eastern Iran, the Balochistan hills and the Indus valley. The Guimet Museum (French Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet or Musée Guimet) is a museum of Asian art located at 6 place d'Iéna in the Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. This area of rolling hills is thus located on the western edge of the Indus valley, where, around 2500 BC, a large urban civilization emerged at the same time as those of Mesopotamia and the ancient Egyptian empire. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now For the first time in the Indian subcontinent, a continuous sequence of dwelling-sites has been established from 7000 BC to 500 BC, (as a result of the) explorations in Pirak from 1968 to 1974; in Mehrgarh from 1975 to 1985; and of Nausharo from 1985 to 1996. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. Pirak is located in Balochistan, Pakistan. Pirak archaeological site is associated with the Indus Valley Civilisation. Nausharo is located in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is well known for the Harappan period archaeological site ^[5]

The chalcolithic people of Mehrgarh also had contacts with contemporaneous cultures in northern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran and southern central Asia. The Chalcolithic (Greek khalkos + lithos ' Copper stone' period or Copper Age period known as the '''Eneolithic''' ('''Æneolithic''' is a Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south ^[6]

Mehrgarh Period I

Archaeologists divide the occupation at the site into several periods. The term South Asia usually refers to the political entities of the Sub- Himalayan region - namely Republic of India, Pakistan, The South Asian Stone Age covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in the South Asia. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin The Cemetery H culture developed out of the northern part of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1900 BCE in and around the Punjab region which is located on the The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent succeeds the Late Harappan (Cemetery H culture also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition The Maurya Empire ( 322 – 185 BCE) ruled by the Mauryan dynasty was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military Middle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 2nd century BC since the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding The Sātavāhanas ( Marathi: सातवाहन Telugu:శాతవాహనులు were a Dynasty which ruled from Junnar ( The Gupta Empire ( Hindi: गुप्त राजवंश was ruled by members of the Gupta dynasty from around 320 to 550 C During the late Middle Ages, several Islamic Empires were established in South Asia. The Vijayanagara Empire ( Kannada: ವಿಜಯನಗರ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ Telugu: విజయనగర సామ్రాజ్యము was a South The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most The Maratha Empire ( Marathi: मराठा साम्राज्य Marāṭhā Sāmrājya; also transliterated Mahratta The Sikh Confederacy was a nation that existed from 1716 to 1799 For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British The Partition of India was the partition of the British Indian Empire which led to the creation on August 14, 1947 and August 15, This is a timeline of Indian history. It includes the history of South Asia ( Indian subcontinent) especially the history of the regions now known Mehrgarh Period I 7000 BC–5500 BC, was Neolithic and aceramic (i. e. , without the use of pottery). The earliest farming in the area was developed by semi-nomadic people using plants such as wheat and barley and animals such as sheep, goats and cattle. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The settlement was established with simple mud buildings with four internal subdivisions. Numerous burials have been found, many with elaborate goods such as baskets, stone and bone tools, beads, bangles, pendants and occasionally animal sacrifices, with more goods left with burials of males. Ornaments of sea shell, limestone, turquoise, lapis lazuli, sandstone and polished copper have been found, along with simple figurines of women and animals. A seashell, also known as a sea shell, is the Common name for a hard protective outer layer a shell or in some cases a " test " that was created Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Turquoise is an opaque blue-to-green Mineral that is a hydrous Phosphate of Copper and Aluminium, with the Chemical Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 You may be looking for Figurine or Figurine (band Figurines is an Indie rock band from Denmark, formed in Sea shells from far sea shore and lapis lazuli found far in Badakshan, Afghanistan shows good contact with those areas. Badakhshan ( Tajik: Бадахшон is a region comprising parts of northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, A single ground stone axe was discovered in a burial, and several more were obtained from the surface. Chipped stone tools were made by Stone age peoples worldwide Paleolithic tools were relatively simple repeated small flakes being struck or pressed from a cobble Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground These ground stone axes are the earliest to come from a stratified context in the South Asia.

In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh made the discovery that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of proto-dentistry. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin Dentistry' is the "evaluation diagnosis prevention and/or treatment (nonsurgical surgical or related procedures of diseases disorders and/or conditions of the oral cavity Later, in April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first early Neolithic) evidence for the drilling of human teeth in vivo (i. Nature is a prominent Scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869 e. in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. According to the authors, their discoveries point to a tradition of proto-dentistry in the early farming cultures of that region. "Here we describe eleven drilled molar crowns from nine adults discovered in a Neolithic graveyard in Pakistan that dates from 7,500 to 9,000 years ago. These findings provide evidence for a long tradition of a type of proto-dentistry in an early farming culture. "^[7]

Mehrgarh Period II and Period III

A figurine from Mehrgarh, c. 3000 BC. (Musée Guimet, Paris)

Mehrgarh Period II 5500 BC–4800 BC and Merhgarh Period III 4800 BC–3500 BC were ceramic Neolithic (i. e. , pottery was now in use) and later chalcolithic. Pottery is the Ceramic ware made by potters It also refers to a group of materials that includes Earthenware, Stoneware The Chalcolithic (Greek khalkos + lithos ' Copper stone' period or Copper Age period known as the '''Eneolithic''' ('''Æneolithic''' is a Much evidence of manufacturing activity has been found and more advanced techniques were used. Glazed faience beads were produced and terracotta figurines became more detailed. For the architectural material see Glazed architectural terra-cotta. Terra cotta ( Italian: "baked earth" is a Ceramic. Its uses include vessels water & waste water pipes and surface embellishment in Building construction Figurines of females were decorated with paint and had diverse hairstyles and ornaments. Two flexed burials were found in period II with a covering of red ochre on the body. Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground Red ochre and yellow ochre (pronounced /'əʊkə/ from the Greek ὄχρος yellow are Pigments made from naturally tinted Clay. The amount of burial goods decreased over time, becoming limited to ornaments and with more goods left with burials of females. The first button seals were produced from terracotta and bone and had geometric designs. A seal can mean a wax seal bearing an impressed figure or an embossed figure in paper with the purpose of authenticating a document but the term can also mean any device for Technologies included stone and copper drills, updraft kilns, large pit kilns and copper melting crucibles. Kilns are thermally insulated chambers or Ovens in which controlled temperature regimes are produced There is further evidence of long-distance trade in period II: important as an indication of this is the discovery of several beads of lapis lazuli—originally from Badakshan. A bead is a small decorative object that is pierced for threading or stringing Badakhshan ( Tajik: Бадахшон is a region comprising parts of northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan.

Mehrgarh Period VII

Somewhere between 2600 BC and 2000 BC, the city seems to have been largely abandoned, which is when the Indus Valley Civilisation was in its middle stages of development. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin It has been surmised that the inhabitants of Mehrgarh migrated to the fertile Indus valley as the Balochistan became more arid due to climatic changes.

Common variant spellings

• Mehrgarh is also spelled as Mehrgahr, Merhgarh or Merhgahr.
• Kachi plain is also spelled as Kacchi plain, Katchi plain.

See also

• Indus Valley Civilization
• Pirak
• Quetta
• Nausharo
• Bolan Pass

Notes

External links

• Dr. Ahmad Hasan Dani, "History Through The Centuries", National Fund for Cultural Heritage
• Mehrgarh (Balochistan)
• Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, "Early Developments of Art, Symbol and Technology in the Indus Valley Tradition", www.harappa.com
• "Stone age man used dentist drill", BBC News
• "Mehrgarh", Travel Web