Expansion

The fourth millennium saw a further substantial increase in the density of settlement in Baluchistan (Kechi Beg phase) and the expansion of people from this region into the Indus Basin, particularly Cholistan (Hakra phase).

During the later fourth millennium, settlements were developing across the Iranian plateau at important nodes in the long-distance trade routes and in areas where highly prized raw materials were to be found. These formed a network that conducted trade in local and exotic materials, particularly lapis lazuli. Much of West Asia, from Mesopotamia to Turkmenia and the Indus region, was linked into an interaction sphere in which innovations and ideas as well as actual commodities circulated freely.

Baluchistan. About a hundred and fifty sites are attributed to the Kechi Beg phase in Baluchistan, many more than are known in the preceding period. These include both existing settlements, such as Mundigak, Gumla, Rana Ghundai, and Mehrgarh, and new sites, such as Damb Sadaat in the Quetta Valley and Adam Buthi in southern Baluchistan. Settlement extended eastward in the coastal region to the Sonmiani bay where Balakot was established as a coastal village, probably by about 4000 BCE.

Some villages, including Sheri Khan Tarakai, were now around 15 to 20 hectares in extent, although the majority, such as the type-site Kechi Beg, were still less than 5 hectares. Houses were generally of mud brick, often with stone foundations. As in earlier times, it is likely that at least some of the inhabitants of these villages were involved in seasonal transhumance between upland and lowland regions. Water buffalo were among the fauna exploited at Sheri Khan Tarakai, though it is not known whether they were domesticated or hunted. The fauna at Balakot included hunted animals, though surprisingly, despite the settlement's proximity to the sea, marine resources were of little importance. Grape pips at Mehrgarh imply that this local fruit was now being exploited, though whether it was cultivated is not clear. Simple irrigation was probably practiced in parts of the northwest: At Mehrgarh there is a ditch or canal that may have been used for this purpose.

Craft traditions continued to develop. Differences in the styles of pottery suggest the existence of regional groups, their distinctiveness determined to a considerable extent by the topography of this mountainous region, but there are also strong similarities between the wares, including the frequent use of geometric decoration. Other designs included animals, such as cranes and caprids and especially snakes. Often the animals had become stylized into simple zigzags. Although most designs were painted in one or several colors, some were molded as raised ridges or snakes.

At Sheri Khan Tarakai, craft products included many terra-cotta figurines. The majority of these were very stylized humans in the form of cylinders with facial features and applique breasts, attached to exaggerated buttocks and splayed legs in a standing or sitting position; others were bottle shaped. A few figurines depicted bulls, and all bore painted features and decorations. Similar human and bull figurines have been found in smaller numbers at other sites, including Mehrgarh.

A marked reduction in the use of flint and heavy-duty stone tools reflects the growing importance of metal as a material for making tools. Microliths were now used mainly as insets forming the cutting edge of sickles. Copper was also made into pieces of jewelry, such as beads and pins. An increasing variety of materials were being used for beads, including agate and jasper.

Cholistan and the Western Punjab. Although sporadic earlier finds suggest some, probably seasonal, movement from Baluchistan into the adjacent areas of the Indus Basin, this period (fourth millenium) saw the first substantial settlement on the plains. The newcomers moved into territory previously inhabited only by hunter-gatherers. The main concentration of sites is in the valley of the Saraswati in the Cholistan region. Here surface survey has led to the identification of around a hundred sites with sherds of Hakra pottery, which included various handmade black-slipped, painted, mud applique, and basket-marked wares. These settlements were apparently made on virgin soil. Since none have been excavated, it is not possible to ascertain their nature, but it seems likely (on the basis of the density and nature of the material found there) that some were temporary camps occupied by pastoralists, probably during the rainy season when the region was covered in grass, and that others were farming settlements with mud brick houses. Farther east, however, the excavated site of Kunal has provided more information. The settlement was first occupied in the Hakra phase when a low artificial mound of soil was created there. Semisubterranean houses were built on the mound, with their floors sunk through the mound into the top of the ground surface and with superstructures of wattle and daub. There was perhaps also a Hakra period settlement at Rakhigarhi on the Drishadvati River.

Farther north, two other sites also furnish more information: Jalilpur and Harappa, both on or near the Ravi River in the Punjab. Terra-cotta net sinkers at Jalilpur show that fishing was important to the people of this settlement, but domestic sheep, goats, and cattle also played an important role in their economy. The remains of mud brick houses with beaten earth floors were found, though the excavations were too limited to reveal any details of their plans.

Settlement began at Harappa by 3300 BCE and perhaps as early as 3500. Houses there were constructed of wooden posts with reed and clay roofs, and bell-shaped pits lined with clay were used to store wheat and barley. One house, abandoned with most of its contents, had a number of pottery vessels set on the floor, along with other domestic material such as beads, terra-cotta and shell bangles and spindle whorls, and bone and stone tools. Manufacturing debris, such as broken agate and jasper drills, shows that the beads were made in the settlement; some were of terra-cotta and others of materials from distant sources such as carnelian, lapis lazuli, steatite, and amazonite. They included microbeads less than a centimeter in diameter, probably perforated with a copper wire. Some of the steatite examples were unaltered; others were fired white or coated in blue-green glaze.

Among the most interesting finds at Harappa are a number of sherds bearing a sign incised before firing or scratched on afterward. In one case there were three signs in a line. Some of these resembled signs used later in the Indus script, suggesting that they represent an early stage in the development of Indus writing. There were also carved bone button seals, something also known from Mehrgarh where they were made in terra-cotta as well: These bore geometric designs. Another exciting find was the impression on a terracotta bead of a piece of plain weave cloth.

The pottery at Harappa, called Ravi ware by the excavators, was quite similar to the Hakra wares of Cholistan. It was all handmade until the end of the period, when it began to be made on the slow-wheel. The remains of a kiln for firing the pottery, built of mud bricks, was found in the settlement. The pots included cooking vessels and bowls, but also pedestaled vessels that were to become one of the most distinctive forms in the Indus pottery repertoire. Many were decorated with polychrome designs, including geometric patterns and birds; some of the motifs were to become very characteristic of later Kot Dijian and Mature Harappan pottery. Hakra and Ravi pottery included a variety of wares that recall earlier or contemporary styles in Baluchistan and the Kachi plain. In contrast to Baluchistan, Hakra sites yielded a large number of microliths, although copper was also used. Stone

A hand-made pot from the Ravi period at Harappa, when the settlement was first occupied. The design of intersecting circles was one that continued to be popular through the Early and Mature Harappan periods. (Harappa Archaeological Research Project, Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

Pestles and ring stones, beads and bangles, and terra-cotta figurines were also found at these sites. Human and bull figurines from Harappa resembled those from Baluchistan.

Kohistan and Gujarat. Regions farther to the southwest also saw settlement expansion in this period. In the piedmont region fringing the lower Indus plain, several settlements, including Amri and Ghazi Shah, were established in localities raised above the Indus alluvium, generally with access to thermal springs and seasonal streams running off the Kirthar Range. This region, like Cholistan and Punjab, offered excellent seasonal pastures for domestic animals.

Farther south, the earliest occupations at Padri and Somnath probably belong to this period. The inhabitants of these settlements used pottery that differed from Kechi Beg and Hakra wares, and it seems likely that they were representatives of a local culture, with hunter-gatherer antecedents, rather than related to the cultures of Baluchistan. However, there is a strong possibility that this region was visited seasonally by pastoralists from the Indo-Iranian borderlands, resulting in contacts and the cultural exchange of materials and ideas.