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Volume 2 | Issue 3 | Nov 2015 ISSN:- 2393-8900

Research Article

BREAKING GROUND AT MEHRGARH: LIFE

BEFORE THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Shreekant S. Jadhav

Superintendent of Excavations , Department of Excavations

Deccan College , Pune.

Abstract:

This paper traces the Neolithic civilization unearthed at

Mehrgarh, located in the Karachi Plain of Balochistan in Pakistan. Since
its discovery by eminent French archaeologist Jean-François Jarrige in
1974, this site has offered important clues to life prior to the Indus Valley
Civilization. Here, we make a note of the archaeological significance of
the site and the lifestyle and technology of the Mehrgarh peoples through
periods I to VIII.

KEY WORDS:

Indus valley Civilization , Neolithic civilization , lifestyle and technology .

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INTRODUCTION-

Until 40 years ago, the epitome of ancient

civilization was the Indus Valley. Our knowledge of
the ancients was restricted to the sites of Harappa and
Mohenjo Daro, which seemed oddly advanced, when
viewed in isolation. But great headways have been
made since, changing our understanding and
perspectives of the cultures in the Indian subcontinent.
One of the major discoveries in this sphere was the
Neolitihic site of Mehrgarh in 1974, which provided
important links to life before and leading up to the
sophisticated culture of the Indus Valley. This
archaeologically-rich site yielded the first evidences
of agriculture,, cattle domestication, and the crafts and
thereby civilization in the true sense.

Discovery and excavation: The proto-historic site of Mehrgarh

(variously spelt as Mehrgahr, Merhgarh or Merhgahr), was
discovered in 1974, as mentioned above, by French archaeologist
couple, Jean-François Jarrige and Catherine Jarrige. Jean-François
Jarrige is an eminent archaeologist and Sindhologist and is presently
the Musée Guimet in Paris.
The French Archaeological Mission, in collaboration with
the Department of Archaeology of Pakistan undertook the
mammoth project of excavating the Neolitic finds of Mehrgarh Jean-François
between the years 1975-2000. The wide archaeological area in Jarrige
question - about 300 hectares - lay near the modern Mehrgarh village in Balochistan at the
foot of the Bolan Pass. The Bolan Pass was an important route of communication between
the Iranian Plateau, Central Asia and the Indus Valley. These excavations have been
carried out on about six major mounds and upto 32,0001 artifacts have been reportedly
been collected over the large span of 25 years. This huge number of artifacts is due to
successive settlements who lived in that area over the centuries. Each of these settlements
are marked by the different layers and mounds found at the site.

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Jarriage and his team excavated the site in two main phases:

1.1974-1986: One of the most significant finds of this phase was during the third season
of fieldwork between 1976-77, when sector MR3 was excavated. Between 1985 and
1996, the excavations were stopped, as the French Archaeological Mission turned its
attention to the excavation of Nausharo near Mehrgarh.
2.1997- 2000: Excavations were resumed again in 1997, whence important discoveries
about the internal stratigraphy of the Neolithic aceramic sequence2. Says Catherine
Jarrige of the Centre for Archaeological Research Indus Baluchistan at the Musée Guimet
in 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 River valley.
_____________________________________________________________________
1 History of civilizations of Central Asia by Vadim Mikhailovich Masson.
2 ‘Mehrgarh Neolithic’ paper presented by Jean-François Jarrige in the International
Seminar on the "First Farmers in Global Perspective', Lucknow, India, 18-20 January,
2006

This area of rolling hills is thus located on the western edge of the Indus valley,
where, around 2500 BCE, a large urban civilization emerged at the same time as those of
Mesopotamia and the Ancient Egypt. For the first time in the Indian Subcontinent, a
continuous sequence of dwelling-sites has been established from 7000 BCE to 500 BCE,
(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.”

Lifestyle and technology: These remarkable findings at Mehrgarh and surrounding

areas have established it firmly as the precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization, and the
research around it has been groundbreaking. As Ahmad Hasan Dani, professor emeritus
of archaeology at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, has rightly said, “Discoveries
at Mehrgarh changed the entire concept of the Indus civilization.”

Through stages I to VIII, one sees a

steady and obvious upward curve in
the lifestyle and technology of the
people of Mehrgarh. People in the
early phase lived in rudimentary
houses fashioned from mud bricks;
cultivated crops like barley, einkorn
and emmer wheat, jujubes and dates;
probably had some basic storage

Mud Brick houses in Mehrgarh

systems for grains; domesticated sheep, goat and cattle; and used bitumen-lined baskets
for everyday chores. This is the aceramic phase, when the art of baking clay had still not
been discovered. Even stone tools were scarcely used in this period3. The later periods
offer evidence of the inhabitants of Mehrgarh having perfected not just the art of ceramics

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and pottery, but also several other arts and crafts like metallurgy, bead making, tanning,
and flint knapping4. Stages of occupation: The site of Mehrgarh is divided into eight
periods, in a descending order of antiquity, whereby Period I denotes the oldest and
Period VIII the latest. The salient features of these periods are as under:
_____________________________________________________________________
3 The Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology by Dilip K. Chakrabarti, 2006, pg 108,
Oxford University Press
4 "Mehrgarh." Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Possehl, Gregory L., edited by Brian
Fagan, 1996, Oxford University Press

Period I: 7000 BCE–5500 BCE

Period I of Mehrgarh was decidedly a Neolithic aceramic
phase, and resemble the Kili Gul Muhammad site (KGM I),
also in Balochistan, Pakistan. Though primitive in terms of
tools and pottery, this was the phase where the semi-nomadic
man first started agricultural practices. Evidence of wheat and
barley farming have been found, in addition to those of cattle
rearing. Interestingly though, the lapidary industry seemed
fairly well developed as evidenced by ornaments made of sea
shell, limestone, turquoise, and lapis lazuli. Simple figurines
of women and animals were also found. Speaking of
comparatively fine skills in a fairly primitive society, evidence
of proto-dentistry in early Mehrgarh has also been served
lately!

A clay figurine of a woman

In burial practices, one sees females being buried with some ornaments and young goats,
while some males were buried with bladelets and other kinds of microliths.

Periods II & III: 5500 BCE–4800

BCE & 4800 BCE–3500 BCE
Period II is located at the site MR 4, and
is subdivided into II A , II B and II C,
while Period III is at MR 2. By the
second and third Periods of Mehrgarh,
ceramic technology had been
discovered and largely used. Fine
specimens of painted pottery have been
excavated, along with detailed terracotta
figures and glazed beads. The first
terracotta seals also belong to this
period. This connects well to the
evidence of considerable
Jewellery from glazed beads and trinkets

Manufacturing activity in these periods:- Common technology included copper drills,

updraft kilns, large pit kilns and copper melting crucibles. Wheel turned pottery and red
ware pottery are hallmarks, especially of Period II A. This pottery is comparable to KGM

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III, Togau A, Hissar 1B & IC, Sialk III and Namazga II, characterised by geometric
designs of dot tip motifs, rosettes, hatched or plain triangles, butterfly patterns, chequer
board patterns. Period III is chalcolithic, marked by advances in the use of copper.
Burial practices involved burying ornaments with female bodies and an otherwise
reducing number of grave goods. Red ochre was found on some of the bones, suggesting
that the grave may have been painted on the inside before the body was laid in.

Periods IV, V, VI & VII: 3500 to 3250 BCE, 3250 to 3000 BCE, Circa 3000 BCE, &
2600 - 2000 BCE The site containing Periods IV to VII is designated as MR1. Broadly
speaking, these periods are marked by sophisticated ceramic activity, marked
architectural development, and increased use of stone tools. With the decline of
concentrated Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement patterns, the focus seems to have
shifted smaller and more compact habitations. Period VII is thought to be
contemporaneous with the middle Indus Valley Civilization and around this time, the
people of Mehrgarh seemed to have abandoned this site and moved to the nearby site of
Naushuro.
Individual families with systematically built rectangular houses, grain storage
jars and hearths became the norm. An apparent use of irrigation helped cultivate
sphaeorococcum variety of wheat, and this, alongwith more domestication of animals,
led to a diversification in diet.

Painted polychrome pottery from Mehrgarh

The pottery from this phase is most notable for its craftsmanship and artistry.
There are instances of Faiz Muhammad Grey Ware, KGM Ware, Kechi Beg Ware, Togau
B & C Pottery, Black on Red Ware and Quetta Ware across the time periods. Fish and
Pipal leaf motifs were common as were geometrical patterns. This pottery is widely
spread in the Mehrgarh region at sites like Lal Shah, Kiyani Damb, Hamada I, Hampada
II, Khanwah. Period VII saw a prolific production of teracotta figurines, sometimes also
referred to as Zhob figurines. These figurines - sometimes women holding children - may
have been considered goddesses and consequently, a faint picture of the Mother cult may
emerge.
A graveyard for young children is also among the noteworthy finds from this
period. Aged between 2-3 years, these bodies were found oriented in an East - West
direction in flexed positions in small mud brick boxes.

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Period VIII: Circa 1900 BC

This last period of Mehrgarh is found at
the Sibri cemetery, which is located at a
distance of 8km from the village of
Mehrgarh. This phase marks an
important connection to the nearby
location of Naushuro and some other
cultures in Balochistan and the Bactro-
Margiana region of Central Asia, with
its similar geometric seals and pottery5.
This establishes firmly Mehrgarh’s
connection with the Indus valley civilization, and thereby affixing an important piece to
the historical puzzle of our ancestry.

CONCLUSION:

With its groundbreaking findings, Mehrgarh has proved to be one of the most
important archaeological projects of our times. With an unbroken chain of successive
archaeological Periods, the site has yielded thousands of artifacts, remains of houses,
graves and grave goods, cultural relics, and clues to patterns of agriculture and animal
husbandry. The site offers a comprehensive view of the Neolithic world that paved way
for the greatness that is the Indus Valley Civilization.
Much work remains to be done at Mehrgarh. The preliminary results of the first
six campaigns none the less demonstrate that the theoretical models used to interpret the
prehistory of southern Asia must be completely reappraised. This rich site provides an
archaeological record with a long sequence of occupations. The sequence reveals a
process of continuing elaboration that affected cereal cultivation, animal husbandry,
crafts, architecture and even ideology. Step by step one can see the stage being set for the
development of the complex cultural patterns that became manifest in the great cities of
the Indus civilization in the middle of the third millennium B.C6
As detailed research about crop and climate patterns continue, we hope that more
and more clues fall into place, and paint a vivid image of the colorful lives led by our
ancestors in Mehrgarh.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

First and foremost I wish to thank Urmi Vaz for giving me few references on
Mehrgarh. I also wish to thank Aparna Kulkarni for going through this popular article and
giving few important suggestions. Nonetheless my friends Drs. Sanjay Gaikwad and
Ravi Jadhav who pursue me to write for Historicity.
_____________________________________________________________________
5 Sibri and the South Cemetery of Mehrgarh: third millenium connections between the
northern Kachi Plain (Pakistan) and Central Asia by Marielle Santoni, South Asian
Archaeology 1981, Proceedings of Sixth International Conference of the Association of
South Asian Archaeologists, in Western Europe.
6 The Antecedents of civilization in the Indus valley: by jean-Francois Jarrige and
Richard .H.Meadow. 1980 Scientific American, INC

Historicity Research Journal | Volume 2 | Issue 3 | Nov 2015