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History
Isolated remains of Homo Erectus in has
been found indicating that
Pakistan might have been
inhabited since atleast
the Middle Pleistocene era.
The precise date of these
remains is unclear, and
archaeologists put it anywhere
between 200,000 to 500,000
BCE. The fossils are the
earliest human remains found
in South Asia. Modern humans
arrived from Africa after
their evolution
about 70,000 to 31,000 years
ago and settled in South
Asia.
The evidence from the excavations at
Mehrgarh, Balochistan, has
demonstrated that the north-western
part of the Pakistan had
reached a neolithic, i.e.
settled agricultural stage,
by the 9,000 BCE. Here it
may also be emphasized that
the Mehrgarh neolithic complex
stands in marked contrast
to that of western Asia.
For example, whereas in
the West Asian neolithic
there is the domination
of sheep and goat amongst
the domesticated animals
and of wheat amongst the
cultivated cereals, in the
Mehrgarh context the cattle
dominated over other animals
and barley over other cereals.
Thus, the Mehrgarh neolithic
has its own identity, having
no generic relationship
with its West Asian counterpart.
In other words, the Mehrgarh
people were the “the sons
of the soil”.
The
Mehrgarh
declined about the same
time as the Indus
Valley Civilization
only 200 Kilometers south
east was developing. It
has been surmised that the
Mehrgarh residents migrated
to the fertile Indus River
valley as Balochistan became
arid over time. The Elamo-Dravidians
invaded from the Iranian
plateau and settled in the
Indus valley around 4000
BCE. The main site of the
Indus Valley Civilization
in Punjab
was the city of Harappa
(Harrapa) and Moenjo
Daro in Sindh.
Early
Harappan phase: 3300 BC
to 2600 BC
Mature Harappan phase: 2600
BC to 2200 BC
Late Harappan phase: 2200
BC to 1900 BC
The Harappan civilization evolved independently
in Indus Valley and spread
west to east. It’s roots
were perhaps in Mehrgarh.
The evidence from the excavations at
Mehrgarh, Balochistan, has
demonstrated that the north-western
part of the Pakistan had
reached a neolithic, i.e.
settled agricultural stage,
by the 9,000 BCE. Here it
may also be emphasized that
the Mehrgarh neolithic complex
stands in marked contrast
to that of western Asia.
For example, whereas in
the West Asian neolithic
there is the domination
of sheep and goat amongst
the domesticated animals
and of wheat amongst the
cultivated cereals, in the
Mehrgarh context the cattle
dominated over other animals
and barley over other cereals.
Thus, the Mehrgarh neolithic
has its own identity, having
no generic relationship
with its West Asian counterpart.
In other words, the Mehrgarh
people were the “the sons
of the soil”.
Further, there is a continuous story
from the succeeding chalcolithic
level onwards, taking us
through various evolutionary
stages to the Early Harappan
from which there emerged
the Harappan Civilization
itself, around the middle
of the third millennium
BCE. Again, after a thorough
study of the human skeletal
remains, Hemphill and his
colleagues (1991) have shown
that there was a biological
continuity right from 4500
BCE to 800 BCE. A question
may now be posed: “What
language did these chalcolithic
people speak?” Though the
Harappan script has not
yet been deciphered, in
spite of so many tall claims,
we have yet another way
of tackling the issue.
This page is under
development.
Page last updated:
Friday, February 03, 2006 21:24:30 -0500
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