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.
Women in Ancient Sindh: Bronze Age Figurines of the Indus Valley Civilization
In this 2004 article from the quarterly publication Sindh Watch, Paolo Biagi synthesizes the evidence of female clay figurines from Bronze Age sites in the Indus Valley to highlight the social and cultural roles of women in that society. He draws on earlier evidence from the neolithic site of Mehrgarh, in Balochistan, as well as that from mature Harappan sites like Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Based on this analysis he offers the insights into the role of women as depicted in the figurines.
The Levallois Mousterian Assemblages of Sindh
The research carried out in the Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula has improved our knowledge of the Middle Paleolithic in the regions. However, the southeasternmost distribution of the Levallois Mousterian is still poorly defined.
Sonari: A Bronze Age Settlement (Sindh, Pakistan)
The surveys carried out by Professor A.R. Khan in Lower Sindh, Pakistan, during the 1970s led to the discovery of an impressive number of prehistoric sites, some of which are briefly described in Khan’s important monograph on the geomorphology and prehistory of Sindh. Strangely, however, he never mentioned the existence of a (still) unique fisher-gatherer settlement at Sonari in spite of earlier visits he paid to the area.
The Palaeolithic Sites at Ongar: a Resource in Danger
A brief article by Paolo Biagi and Renato Nisbet which discusses the Palaeolithis sites at Ongar (Sindh, Pakistan), their potential value, the dangers of losing the site and unwillingness of local government to secure it. The article includes nearly a dozen color images including maps, diagrams, and on-location photos of the site.
Lithic Production: The Excavation of RH962 Flint Mine and Flint Knapping Workshops on the Rohri Hills
This paper considers one aspect of the research conducted by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Sindh, more specifically the discovery of the Indus flint mines of the III millennium BC in the Rohri Hills, and the excavations carried out at flint mine RH962.
New Discoveries of Mesolithic sites in the Thar Desert (Upper Sindh, Pakistan)
Dr. Biagi discusses recent finds that are casting new light on the extent of pre-Indus technology and cultures.
Ranikot Fort (Jamshoro, Sindh): An AMS Radiocarbon Date from Sann (Eastern) Gate
"The first radiocarbon date from charcoal included in the mortar of a collapsed pillar lying overturned in the riverbed at Sann (Eastern) Gate, Ranikot, confirms that at least this sector of the fort was built, or repaired, between the beginning of the XVIII and the beginning of XIX century AD, that
An Archaeological Survey in the Neighborhood of Thari in the Thar Desert (Sindh, Pakistan)
The discovery of many Mesolithic (roughly 10,000 BCE and afterwards, many thousands of years before the height of the Indus Civilization) sites in the Thar Desert in the 1990s.