This article focuses on subsistence changes by reconstructing the role of fishing during the Indus Valley Tradition (ca. 6500 to 1300 BC), located in the area of modern Pakistan and western India. Analytical results from two marine coastal archaeological sites, Balakot and Allahdino, in Pakistan are presented. Both Balakot and Allahdino possess substantial quantities of marine fish remains. However, the skeletal elements represent different behavioral signatures in the archaeological record. Fish remains from Balakot suggest a change from local subsistence fishing to an extensive commercial market that is coincident with incorporation into the extra-regional Harappan sphere of influence. Fish remains from Allahdino indicate a local fishing tradition, although skeletal element representation appears related to bone density rather than human behavior.
Additional information about fishing in the Indus Civilization is available as a slideshow here.
Image credit: The Express Tribune, Pakistan. June 18, 2015.