Living and Dying in Mehrgarh


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Living and Dying in Mehrgarh

Living and Dying in Mehrgarh: Mehrgarh is a Neolithic site, which lies on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan, Pakistan. Mehrgarh is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River valley and between the present-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and Sibi. 

By 7000 BCE,Communities in western Pakistan were living in permanent settlements. Their main activity was beginning to change from hunting and gathering to farming. Archaeologist discovered one of the earliest human settlements in the world at Mehrgarh.

Mehrgarh was continuously inhabited from 7000 BCE TO 2500 BCE .Here the main crop grown was barely ,and animals like sheep ,goat and cattle were domesticated . The people of Mehrgarh also cultivated ,wheat ,collected fruits and hunted .Ornaments and figurines of seashell,stone and copper were buried with the dead.

This site is located in a fertile plain, near the Bolan Pass, which is one of the most important routes into Iran. Mehrgarh was probably one of the places where woman and men learnt to grow barley and wheat and rear sheep and goats for the first time in this area. Archaeologists who excavated the site found evidence of many kinds of animal bones. These included bones of wild animals such as the deer and pig. Mehrgarh include remains of square or rectangular houses. Each house had four or more compartments, some of which may have been used for storage. When people die, their relatives and friends generally pay respect to them. People look after them, perhaps in the belief that there is some form of life after death. Burial is one such arrangement. Several burial sites have been found at Mehrgarh. In one instance, the dead person was buried with goats, which were probably meant to serve as food in the next world.

 
 


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