Archaeological sites in Pakistan

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Pakistan is home to many archaeological sites dating from Lower Paleolithic period to Mughal empire. The earliest known archaeological findings belong to the Soanian culture from the Soan Valley, near modern-day Islamabad. Soan Valley culture is considered as the best known Palaeolithic culture of Central Asia. [1] Mehrgarh in Balochistan is one of the most important Neolithic sites dating from 7000 BCE to 2000 BCE. The Mehrgarh culture was amongst the first culture in the world to establish agriculture and livestock and live in villages. [2] Mehrgarh civilization lasted for 5000 years till 2000 BCE after which people migrated to other areas, possibly Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. [2] Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the best known sites from the Indus Valley civilization (c 2500 - 1900 BCE). [3]

Contents

Archaeological ruins at Mohenjo-daro, Sindh, Pakistan Mohenjo-daro.jpg
Archaeological ruins at Mohenjo-daro, Sindh, Pakistan

Stone Age

Lower Paleolithic (Pre-Soanian)

View of Soan valley and Soan River in background, near Adiala Soan near Adiala.JPG
View of Soan valley and Soan River in background, near Adiala

Pre-Soanian culture in Pakistan corresponds to Oldowan culture dating back to the Mindel glaciation. Some findings in Punjab belong to this period. [4]

Lower to Middle Paleolithic (Soanian)

Early Soanian sites correspond to the Acheulean period. Different stone artifacts have been discovered from these sites from all over Pakistan. [4] Sites in Soan Valley and Potohar Plateau from this period include; [5]

Neolithic

Mehrgarh (c. 7000 BCE - 2000 BCE), from Neolithic age, in Balochistan is one of the earliest sites with evidence of agriculture and village structure. [2]

Ghaggar-Hakra (c. 6000 BCE) Artifacts Found in Hakra Civilization also date back to the same period of Mehrgarh. [6]

Pre Harappa

Pre-Harappan farming communities date back to Neolithic time which ultimately evolved into urban Harappan civilization. [7] [8] Explorations and archaeological findings establish the dateline of Pre-Harappan culture from 2700 BC to 2100 BC followed by Harappan period from 2100 BC onwards. [9] Some of the regions showing pre-Harappan culture include;

Bronze Age

A large well and bathing platforms from Harappa occupation, Punjab, Pakistan WellAndBathingPlatforms-Harappa.jpg
A large well and bathing platforms from Harappa occupation, Punjab, Pakistan
Early Harappan
Indus Valley civilization

Iron Age

Dharmarajika stupa at Taxila ruins Dharmarajika stupa,Taxila.jpg
Dharmarajika stupa at Taxila ruins

Middle age

Classical age

Late medieval age

Islamic era

Islamic influence in the region started as early as 7th Century.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harappa</span> Archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan

Harappa is an archaeological site in Pakistan, about 25 km (16 mi) north of Sahiwal.The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) to the north. The core of the Harappan civilisation extended over a large area, from Gujarat in the south, across Sindh and Rajasthan and extending into Punjab and Haryana. Numerous sites have been found outside the core area, including some as far east as Uttar Pradesh and as far west as Sutkagen-dor on the Makran coast of Balochistan, not far from Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehrgarh</span> Neolithic archaeological site in Balochistan and Pakistan

Mehrgarh is a Neolithic archaeological site situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan in Pakistan. It is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River and between the modern-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and Sibi. The site was discovered in 1974 by the French Archaeological Mission led by the French archaeologists Jean-François Jarrige and his wife, Catherine Jarrige. Mehrgarh was excavated continuously between 1974 and 1986, and again from 1997 to 2000. Archaeological material has been found in six mounds, and about 32,000 artifacts have been collected from the site. The earliest settlement at Mehrgarh—located in the northeast corner of the 495-acre (2.00 km2) site—was a small farming village dated between 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indus Valley Civilisation</span> Bronze Age civilisation in South Asia

The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area from much of Pakistan, to northeast Afghanistan, and northwestern India. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohenjo-daro</span> Archaeological site in Sindh, Pakistan

Mohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built c. 2500 BCE, it was the largest settlement of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneous with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoan Crete, and Norte Chico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kot Diji</span> Archeological site that predates the Indus Civilization

The ancient site at Kot Diji was the forerunner of the Indus Civilization. The occupation of this site is attested already at 3300 BCE. The remains consist of two parts; the citadel area on high ground ), and outer area. The Pakistan Department of Archaeology excavated at Kot Diji in 1955 and 1957.

Rehman Dheri or sometime Rahman Dheri is a Pre-Harappan Archaeological Site situated near Dera Ismail Khan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. This is one of the oldest urbanised centres found to date in South Asia. Dated, the site is situated 22 kilometres (14 mi) north of Dera Ismail Khan. It is on the Tentative List for future World Heritage Sites in Pakistan.

Ganweriwal, more commonly known as Ganweriwala, is an archaeological site in the Cholistan Desert of southern Punjab, Pakistan. It was one of the largest cities within the Indus Valley civilisation, one of the most extensive Bronze Age Civilisations, and is believed to have been a city centre within the Civilisation. The site was rediscovered in the 1970s by Mohammad Rafique Mughal but has not been properly excavated. Collection of surface finds and surveying of the site has shown mudbrick walls similar to those found in other Indus Valley sites, as well as unicorn figurines, a copper seal and an impressed clay tablet. The future of the site as well as any excavation work is threatened by the continuing development of the surrounding area for agricultural use as well as the construction of a road through the middle of the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amri, Sindh</span> Ancient settlement in Sindh province of Pakistan

Amri is an ancient settlement in modern-day Sindh, Pakistan, that goes back to 3600 BCE. The site is located south of Mohenjo Daro on Hyderabad-Dadu Road more than 100 kilometres north of Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Several periodisations are employed for the periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation. While the Indus Valley Civilisation was divided into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan by archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler, newer periodisations include the Neolithic early farming settlements, and use a stage–phase model, often combining terminology from various systems.

Amri–Nal culture is attributed to Amri archaeological sites in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. It flourished in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The dual typesites are Amri and Sohr Damb area in Naal, Balochistan.

Muhammad Rafiq Mugal 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pottery in the Indian subcontinent</span>

Pottery in the Indian subcontinent has an ancient history and is one of the most tangible and iconic elements of Indian art. Evidence of pottery has been found in the early settlements of Lahuradewa and later the Indus Valley Civilisation. Today, it is a cultural art that is still practiced extensively in the subcontinent. Until recent times all Indian pottery has been earthenware, including terracotta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhirrana</span> Archaeological site and village in Haryana, India

Bhirrana, also Bhirdana and Birhana, is an archaeological site, located in a small village in the Fatehabad district of the north Indian state of Haryana. Bhirrana's earliest archaeological layers predates the Indus Valley civilisation times, dating to the 8th-7th millennium BCE. The site is one of the many sites seen along the channels of the seasonal Ghaggar river, thought by some to be the Rigvedic Saraswati river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanitation of the Indus Valley Civilisation</span> Sanitation of Early Indian Civilization

The ancient Indus Valley Civilization in the Indian subcontinent was prominent in infrastructure, hydraulic engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices that are the first known examples of their kind.

Kunal is a pre-Harappan Indus Valley civilisation settlement located, just 30 km from Fatehabad City in Fatehabad district of Haryana state in India. Compared to other IVC sites, such as cities like Rakhigarhi and towns like Kalibangan, Kunal site was a village. Excavation at Kunal show 3 successive phases of Pre-Harappan indigenous culture on the Saraswati river who also traded with Kalibanga and Lothal. Kunal, along with its other contemporary sites Bhirrana and Rakhigarhi on Sarasvati-Ghaggar river system, is recognised as the oldest Pre-Harappan settlement, with Kunal being an older cultural ancestor to Rehman Dheri in Pakistan< which is on the Tentative List for future World Heritage Sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology of Pakistan</span>

Pakistan contains many of the oldest archaeological discoveries of the world. The country is home to many archaeological sites dating from Lower Paleolithic period to Mughal empire. The earliest known archaeological findings belong to the Soanian culture from the Soan Valley, near modern-day Islamabad. Soan Valley culture is considered as the best known Palaeolithic culture of Central Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sohr Damb</span> Archaeological site in Pakistan

Sohr Damb, c. 3800–2300 BC, is an archaeological site, located near Nal, in central Balochistan, Pakistan that begins before the Indus Valley civilization featuring Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg pottery styles. It has also been known as Naal, Balochistan, and gave its name to the prehistoric Amri-Nal culture, which is attributed to the dual typesites of Amri and Nal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indus–Mesopotamia relations</span>

Indus–Mesopotamia relations are thought to have developed during the second half of 3rd millennium BCE, until they came to a halt with the extinction of the Indus valley civilization after around 1900 BCE. Mesopotamia had already been an intermediary in the trade of lapis lazuli between the Indian subcontinent and Egypt since at least about 3200 BCE, in the context of Egypt-Mesopotamia relations.

References

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