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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS IN BALUCHISTAN, 1948 and 1957 This page intentionally left blank ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS IN BALUCHISTAN, 1948 and 1957 Beatrice de Cardi University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications, Vol. 5 Occasional Publication No. 8 Originally published by University College London Institute of Archaeology First published 2009 by Left Coast Press, Inc. Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 1983 The Institute of Archaeology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data available from the publisher ISBN 978-0-905853-13-0 paperback CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 COMMUNICATIONS WITHIN THE REGION SURVEYED 4 THE DATING OF THE SITES - EARLY CHALCOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE 7 THE DATING OF THE LATER SITES 13 GAZETTEER 16 THE POTTERY The neolithic - bronze age wares: some zonal patterns 41 Catalogue of the pottery with reference to comparative material 51 OTHER FINDS 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY 107 PLATES 113 INDEX 121 iii This page intentionally left blank List of figures Page Fig. l General location map showing adjacent regions (inset) 3 Fig. 2 Location of sites in the Surab valley 5 Fig. 3 Map showing the location of Sites 1-31 in the region between 18 Quetta-Pishin and northern Jhalawan Fig. 4 Map showing the location of sites along the Mula River and 32 adjacent areas Fig. 5 Map showing the location of Togau C pottery 42 Fig. 6 Map illustrating the general distribution of Quetta-ware 44 and the 'Nal* variant ware of late Anjira III-IV Fig. 7 Map showing find spots of two special function wares, 46 circle-stamped wet and Faiz Mohammed grey Fig. 8 Surface sherds from Sulaimanzai, Kirani, Malazai and Baleli 50 Fig. 9 Surface sherds from Mobi-damb, Sampur and Isplinji 52 Fig. 10 Surface sherds from Tor Warai, Panjpai 54 Fig. 11 Surface sherds from Saiyed Maurez, Shahr Kuloi and Shahr 56 Sardar, Mungachar Fig. 12 Surface sherds from Saiyed Maurez, Shahr Kuloi, Damb Zerger, 58 Shahr Sardar and Khwaja Zabar Fig. 13 Surface sherds from Togau, Chhappar 60 Fig. 14 Surface sherds from Togau, Chhappar 62 Fig. 15 Surface sherds from Kuki-damb and adjacent mound, Benn Chah 64 and Barra Kapoto Fig. 16 Surface sherds from sites in the Surab valley: Pir Haidar 66 Shahr, Hadi, Gorpat and Site 37a Fig. 17 Surface sherds from Gorpat and Pir Haidar Shahr 68 Fig. 18 Surface sherds from Zari-damb, Surab 70 Fig. 19 Surface sherds from Zari-damb, Surab 72 Fig. 20 Surface sherds from Neghar, Lena Singh, Surkh-damb and Chimri 74 Fig. 21 Surface sherds from Surkh-damb, Neghar, Jahan, Site 55, 76 Pathani-damb II, Chimri and Var-damb Fig. 22 Surface sherds from sites along the Mula River: Mishk, 78 Singen Kalat and Site 55 V Fig. 23 Surface sherds from Kotra, Gandava 80 Fig. 24 Surface sherds from Pathani-damb I, Gandava 83 Fig. 25 Surface sherds from Pathani-damb I, Gandava 84 Fig. 26 Surface sherds from Pathani-damb I, Gandava 87 Fig. 27 Surface sherds from Alizai, Surab 90 Fig. 28 Surface sherds from Rais Sher Mohammed, Tegak, Hadi in 92 the Surab valley, and Patki and Kale-damb, Nur Gama Fig. 29 Surface sherds from Londo, Baghwana 94 Fig. 30 Surface sherds from Kinneru-damb, Ornach 96 Fig. 31 Surface sherds from Nindowari-damb, Ornach 98 Fig. 32 Surface sherds from Bamba-damb, Harbab Pass, Sind 101 Fig. 33 Surface finds from Sites 11, 17, 18, 19, 33, 59, 60, 104 65 and 77 Table 1 Chart of relative chronologies 7 Table 2 Chart showing the occupational time-range of sites in 8 the Gazetteer Table 3 Showing the occurrence of the more important wares noted 48 on sites in the Gazetteer PI. Ia View of the Mula River near Jahan 113 PI. Ib Site 55, showing walling and a mound on a terrace above the 113 the Mula River PI. II Surface sherds from Alizai (6, 7), Tegak (2, 5, 8) and 114 Londo (1, 3, 4) PI. Ill Terracotta objects from the Surab valley (6), Alizai (2, 4), 115 Tegak (3), Hadi (1) and from Londo (5) PI. IV Surface sherds and bangles from Kotra and Pathani-damb I, 116 Gandava, Kachhi PI. V Surface •Londo-ware* from Hadi (8) and Londo (1-7) 117 PI. Via Fragments of a stone basin on Kinneru-damb, Ornach 118 PI. VIb Stone weight of Harappan type at Kinneru-damb, Ornach 118 PI. Vila Theriomorphic vessel in the shape of a bull found at 119 Nindowari-damb, Ornach PI. VIIb Surface sherds and figurines from Kinneru-damb and 119 Nindowari-damb, Ornach vi Introduction and acknowledgements Baluchistan is a region whose archaeological potential is only beginning to be recognised despite the wealth of sites revealed by Sir Aurel Stein's exploration in the 1920's. Initially this apparent neglect stemmed from the country's position between the major civilisations of Mesopotamia and the Indus valley upon which attention was focussed for many years. However, a shift in the direction of research towards the examination of wide-ranging cultural interaction resulting from work at Tepe Yahya, Shahr-i Sokhta and several Afghan sites including Mundigak, coupled with the important discoveries made in Turkmenia, now puts Baluchistan in a key position, particularly in relation to movements between south-western Afghanistan and the Indus valley. Coincident with this change of emphasis attempts have been made to establish the antecedents of the mature Harappan culture and in this context northern Baluchistan has a special relevance, the southern regions at present appearing to be more closely linked to the mature Harappan, though recent work at Sutkagen-dor and Balakot will no doubt clarify that relationship. The reconnaissance carried out in 1948 and 1957 had limited objectives and was subject to the dual constraints of time and resources. With only a few weeks and often no more than one colleague it was clearly impractical to attempt a comprehen­ sive regional survey: selective fieldwork to throw light on the distribution of certain wares seemed to be of greater value. The 1948 survey aimed to trace the southerly limits of a ware first noted near Quetta (Piggott, 1947) and subsequently shown to spread through southern Afghanistan. This ware could be traced on a number of newly-discovered mounds in Sarawan but it died out as the survey penetrated into northern Jhalawan where unfamiliar wares appeared. It was in the hope of relating the latter to the ceramic sequence established in the Quetta valley that trial excavations were carried out at Anjira and Siah-damb, Surab, in 1957 (de Cardi, 1965) when further exploration was undertaken. A preliminary study of the regions explored by Stein showed certain gaps in his reconnaissance. For instance, although the Kej and Rakhshan valleys in Makran had been extensively surveyed in 1927-28, work in central Jhalawan had been largely restricted to the main routes radiating from Khuzdar with Drakalo as its southerly limit. In the Ornach valley some 15 miles south-west of Drakalo, R. L. Raikes had discovered 'Kulli-Harappan' pottery on Kinneru-damb in 1956 and the area, investi­ gated at his prompting, was found to contain other important sites including Phusi- damb and Nindowari-damb. In the fifty mile tract of hills between Khuzdar and the Kirthar range only one site, Zidi, had been recorded and hardly any of the passes through that range to Sind had been reconnoitred with the exception of the Bolan and a short section along the Nai Gaj which the late N. G. Majumdar was exploring when he was killed in 1938 (Deva and McCown, 1949). His survey had shown not only the penetration of Nal pottery into western Sind but the presence of Harappan sites along the Gaj. It seemed likely that a similar pattern might emerge from exploration along some of the other migration routes. Of these, the Mula Pass, traversed during the seasonal migrations from upper and central Jhalawan to Kachhi, was of special relevance as linking trackways lay through Anjira and Surab. With the collaboration of the Kalat authorities it was possible to hire camels for survey down the Mula river where, as anticipated, several sites with Harappan pottery were found as well as a large Harappan settlement not far from the point where the river debouches onto the Kachhi plain. 1 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS IN BALUCHISTAN, 1948 AND 1957 Similar surveys of the Harbab and Phusi group of passes had to be abandoned on the advice of officials in Khuzdar who considered the climbing involved along these routes to be too dangerous. Nor was it possible to explore the eastern approaches to these routes from Sind. Animal transport was unobtainable for an ascent of the Harbab Pass, and camel-drivers recruited for survey up the Gaj refused to venture beyond the point reached by Majumdar because the territory was disputed at that time. Six years later proposals were put forward for excavations on two sites in the Makran in the hope of relating the wares of that region to the Anjira sequence but events in central Baluchistan have precluded work there.

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