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81 7 Domesticates in Ancient India and Southeast Asia Although a notable number of East Asian domestic animals belong to different species from those of Europe and western Asia, the development of human societies, since the end of the Pleistocene period 10,000 years ago, has followed much the same course in the East as in the West. However, as in other parts of the world, particularly in Africa, the chronological sequence of cultural systems has not been straightforward in the East, and in quite recent times hunter-gatherer communities have often been found to subsist on their own or together with livestock herders. The site of Langhnaj in Gujarat (northern India) exemplifies this, for although the site may be dated as recently as about 2,000 years ago, the faunal remains consisted only of wild species including rhino, deer, nilgai, and wild boar. And the main artifacts were microlithic stone flakes, which in the West are the principal tools of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers that are dated from the ninth millennium bce.1 The earliest evidence for the cultivation of plants and the herding of domestic livestock in South Asia has been excavated from the site of Mehrgarh in the region of Balochistan (Pakistan ; see the map in figure 34). Over the many seasons of excavation of this well-known site, the animal remains have been identified and documented by Richard Meadow. More than seven periods have been revealed by excavation in the mounds and underlying strata, with the earliest level predating 6500 bce. In this Pre-Pottery Neolithic level there were the remains of only wild animals, including wild sheep, goats, gazelle, wild ass, deer, wild cattle, water buffalo, and nilgai. As this period (1A) progressed through time, and based on the increase in numbers of cattle and sheep in the later levels, combined with a reduction in the size of the bones, Meadow identified the cattle as locally domesticated. He interpreted the sheep as possibly domesticated from a local form, which was later replaced by West Asian domestic sheep, while domesticated goats were present in all levels from the earliest times, but they were not necessarily of local origin. In addition, Meadow argued that the zebu (Bos indicus, descended from Bos namadicus, the Indian form of Bos primigenius) was present and had its earliest domestication at Mehrgarh.2 By the end of the third millennium bce the herding of domestic zebu cattle, water buffalo, goats, and sheep characterized all the prehistoric sites in the region of the map in figure 34, but although all these species would have provided meat, it is not known if they were milked or if wool or hair was taken from the sheep and goats. However, Meadow believes that, from their large size, the sheep from Harappa (see the map in figure 34) could have been a specific breed, 82| Chapter 7 and they may have been wool-sheep, for which the presence of spindle whorls provides indirect evidence. Silk threads were also found at Harappa, together with beads or bangle fragments. By the middle of the second millennium bce, three species of transport animals had also been introduced to the sites from the northwest: Bactrian (two-humped) camels, donkeys, and horses.3 By this period, the human population of the region had greatly expanded, probably as a result of the successful cultivation of crops and the herding of livestock. People had spread in great numbers into the Indus Valley, and at least five large urban centers had been established; in addition to the famous sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, there was Rakhigheri (Haryana ), Ganweriwala (Cholistan area of southern Pakistani Punjab), Dholavira (Kutch, Gujarat), and perhaps Pathani-damb (foot of the Mula River, west Kachi Plain, Pakistan), and there may be more. Harappa gives its name, Harappan, to the archaeological industry found on all these surrounding sites. The Harappan period extends from the Early Bronze Age through the Late Bronze Age, with the Early Harappan dating from 3300 to 2600 bce, the Harappan sensu stricto from 2600 to 1900 bce, and the Late Harappan from 1900 to 1300 bce.4 Mehrgarh Sibri Nausharo Karachi Harappa P U N J A B I n d u s S I N D H RAJASTHAN KUTCH N . G U J A R A T Dholavira Surkotada Rojdi Kabul Peshawar Islamabad Ghalegay Kandahar KASHMIR Chanhu-daro Mohenjo-daro (Daulatabad R37) Tepe Gaz Tavila Tepe Yahya B A L O C H I S T A N...

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