History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c39.s1.5

v1.c39.s1.5

(a) Jean-Francois Jarrige’s presentation of the discoveries (1977) at Mehrgarh (also spelled Mehargarh), Kachi District, Baluchistan, documented (Jarrige, 1982, pp. 79-84) the introduction of a subsistence economy to the north-western part of India well before 5000 B.C. Later Jarrige reported ‘the first coarse ware’ of the neolithic settlement dated sixth millennium B.C. and the early graves of the 7th millennium B.C. showing shell, turquoise, lapis lazuli, beads, pendants and sacrificial young goats buried with the dead (Asthana, 1985, See Foreword by Jarrige). There were also the Mother Goddess human figurines. These indicate very early cultural contacts with Iran, Afghanistan and maritime people and development of the Mother Goddess sacrificial cult. Workshop for soapstone beads show sixth and fifth millennia craft specialisation and beginnings of long distance trade. The needs of agriculture caused increasing population in the alluvial areas. During the first half of the 4th millennium B.C. cylindrical jasper drills were evolved to serve the bead factories, and copper metallurgy was initiated, as evident from crucibles of the period containing some copper adhering to the walls. The latter evidence demolishes the hypothesis proposed by D.P. Agrawal (1971) that ‘the metallurgical know-how had already diffused from Iran, hence we get in the Harappan culture (3rd-2nd millennia) a full-blown technology right from the beginning’.