This paper represents as introduction to the work of a contemporary soapstone-cutter living and working between Baluchistan and Sindh. Our interest in his person and profession ultimately resulted from the involvement of both the authors since 1982 in the Surface Evaluation Program carries out at M… >

Results from new discoveries of flint sites dating back to the 7th millennium (7000-6000 BCE) suggestive of sea-faring in the Arabian Sea thousands of years before the Indus Civilization. >

Major species of marine mollusca used in the shell industry are discussed in detail and possible ancient shell source areas are identified. Variations in shell artifacts within and between various urban, rural and coastal sites are presented as evidence for specialized production, hierarchical internal trade networks and regional interaction spheres. >

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. >

A review of recent research and findings in Sindh, and a review of a book on the larger Paleolithic Settlement of Asia over the past 100,000 years. >

Although shell objects may seem relatively insignificant compared to other categories of objects, such as seals or sculpture, a detailed study of shell objects and shell­ working has revealed important aspects of trade and craft specialization in the Indus Civilization. >

A discussion of some of the approaches meta-issues that arise when investigating raw materials, their locations and histories of their exploitation and how these can be interpreted. Particular attention is paid to carnelian and the history of possible sources in Gujarat. The point of the article is… >

A report on the largest archaeological site in South Asia, an industrial-scale enterprise that goes back hundreds of thousands of years: flint mining. >

Recent observations of artisans in Peshawar, Pakistan suggest that some techniques for making beads and other ornaments from lapis lazuli have not changed over the millennia. >

"Lazurite - the constituent of lapis lazuli that gives the rock its blue color - is a rare mineral in nature," writes Randall Law, and there is likely to have been only one source in the region during ancient times, the Badakhshan mines in Afghanistan. >