Anove:These cut marks on a sua fish (Protonibea diacanthus) mid-body vertebra are approximately 4,500 years old and originate from the Harappan period occupation at the site of Balakot along Sonmiani Bay along the eastern Makran coast.
Balakot is one of four known ancient coastal sites in Pakistan dating to the period of South Asia's earliest civilization -- the Harappan (or Indus) -- that flourished in the centuries just before and after 2000 B.C. This little known civilization has intrigued scholars and students since its discovery in the 1920's. Its geographic range, from the Arabian Sea to the foothills of the Himalayas, far exceeds that of the coeval Sumero-Babylonian or Egyptian cultures of the Near East. Its apparent propensity for organization and standardization in architecture, artifacts and art style is unparalleled in the ancient Old World.