Context:
A new radiocarbon study using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating revised the age of farming settlement in Mehrgarh, from 8000 BCE to 5200 BCE.
Mehrgarh:
- A significant Neolithic site
- Situated at the mouth of the Bolan Pass in present-day Balochistan, Pakistan.
- Discovered in 1974 by French archaeologists Jean-François Jarrige and Catherine Jarrige.
- Considered one of the earliest farming settlements in South Asia, it predates the Indus Valley Civilization.
- Provides insights into the pre-Harappan phase and the cultural evolution leading to the Indus Valley Civilization.
- Pottery motifs and burial practices show continuity with later Harappan traditions.
Key Features:
- Represents a transition from hunting-gathering to farming and settled life.
- Evidence of domestication of wheat, barley, and animals like cattle, sheep, and goats.
- Early irrigation techniques were likely practiced.
- Pottery evolved from simple handmade designs to wheel-made and painted pottery.
- Tools made of polished stone and bone were found.
- Evidence of early bead-making and copper smelting.
- Houses were constructed using mud bricks.
- Burials with grave goods indicate social stratification and ritual practices.
- Earliest known use of cotton in the Old World was discovered here.
Source: Nature India
Previous Year Question
Which one of the following is not a Harappan site?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2019 Prelims]
(a) Chanhudaro
(b) Kot Diji
(c) Sohgaura
(d) Desalpur
Answer: (c)