Archaeology at Ras Muari: Sonari, A Bronze Age Fisher-Gatherers Settlement at the Hab River Mouth (Karachi, Pakistan)
Italian archaeologists have been critical to unearthing the distant human past in Sindh and Balochistan for many years.
Prehistoric Fishing along the Coasts of the Arabian Sea: A Short Overview from Oman, Balochistan and Sindh (Pakistan)
"The scope of this paper is to update and discuss the available evidence for prehistoric fishing along the Arabian Sea coasts of the Sultanate of Oman, Las Bela and Sindh in Pakistan," write the authors. By prehistoric they mean going back to at least the 7th millennium BCE (7000-6000 BCE).
The Prehistory of Sindh and Las Bela (Balochistan): Thirty years of surveys and excavations (1985-2014)
It has really only been since the 1980s that a more comprehensive picture of the wide and deep roots of Indus civilization in the larger Sindh and Balochistan region have become apparent. Mehrgarh did not spring out of nowhere but was embedded in a region where fishing, shell collecting, flint mining and other crafts were present and flourishing at different times.
Mahiwala 1 (MW-1): a Mesolithic site in the Thal desert of Punjab (Pakistan)
The authors write that "the discovery of a knapped stone assemblage with microlithic backed tools and geometrics represents a groundbreaking point for the prehistory of Punjab. It opens new research perspectives in a promising territory that had never been explored before, where surveys are undoubtedly to be continued in the future because of its great potential."
Exploiting mangroves: Environmental changes and human interference along the northern coast of the Arabian Sea (Pakistan) during the Holocene
This paper reviews the work done since the early 1970s east of Karachi along the Makran coast, containing what were once extensive mangrove areas (where salt and fresh water meet to create unique habitats).
Thirty Years of Archaeological Surveys and Excavations in Sindh and Las Bela (Balochistan)
Another important summary paper by Paolo Biagi reprises all the discoveries made by Italian teams in Sindh and Balochistan that have upended our understanding of pre and neighbouring areas to the Indus civilization.
The Mesolithic Settlement of Sindh (Pakistan): New Evidence from the Khadeji River Course
The Mesolithic Settlement of Sindh (Pakistan): New Evidence from the Khadeji River Course, an article by Paolo Biagi is another piece of the puzzle of habitation in the Indus delta long before the ancient Indus civilization.
Chert Mines and Chert Miners. The Material Culture and Social Organization of the Indus Chipped Stone Workers, Artisans and Traders in the Indus Valley (Sindh, Pakistan)
A very important recent exposition of one of the most important underlying elements – used to make fire, crucial items like weights and much else – of ancient Indus civilization and its connection to, in particular the Rohri Hills.
Exploiting Mangroves and Rushing Back Home
Preliminary results from recent surveys along the little explored coast of Sindh and Balochistan, where the evidence of ancient human habitation along a one-time mangrove coast keeps growing.
Why so many different stones? The Late (Upper) Palaeolithic record of Sindh reconsidered
The research carried out in Sindh during the last forty years, and the study of the chipped stone assemblages stored in Karachi University collections, show that Late (Upper) Palaeolithic [50,000-10,000 years ago] complexes are known from at least five regions of Sindh. Most sites are located close to good quality raw material outcrops and freshwater sources.
