BRONZE AGE CULTURES OF THE GOMAL VALLEY (A Detailed Analysis of Cultural Traits with Special Focus on Gandi Umar Khan)
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Date
2008
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Archaeology
Abstract
In the light of research work, carried out in the region at different time span (see
chapter II), new problems took place as far as the Bronze Age archacology ofthe
country in general and the province in particular is concerned. Since its discovery in
1920s, the Indus Valley Civilization has a number of problems like origin,
development and decline. Some of which were addressed whereas new one rose.
The Harappan civilization is considered to have been developed in the flood plain of
the Indus and Saraswati basins mainly and had built-up maritime trade links with
Mesopotamia and the Gulf regions. The role ofthe highland valleys like Baluchistan,
Gomal and Tochi is considered not as great as that of the low land valleys. The
Baluchistan has been given some sort of importance by few scholars but the Tochi
and the Gomal Valleys are ignored completely. On the other hand, the role of these
highland valleys is vital as they provided the bases and essence ofthe civilization in
the Indus valley, which is now revealing by the archaeological investigations in these
respective regions.
According to another hypothesis, developed in the early seventies, it was believed that
the Harappan civilization developed from the Kot Dijian culture. Therefore, scholars
like M.R. Mughal and others have called the Kot Dijian culture as “Early Harappan”".
Mark Kenoyer and his colleagues have even identified a Kot Dijian — Harappan
transitional phase at Harappa®. The same is the case at Nausharo, Baluchistan, which
too yielded evidences oftransition from Kot Dijian to Harappan’. Similarly, the Kot
Dijian culture has also not been studied properly in its true perspective and simply
called as ‘early Harappan’. New research is going on and it is foremost an issue to
understand and explain that is there any ‘transitional phase’ from the Kot Dijian to the
mature Harappan. The evidences of this so-called ‘transitional phase’ are different in
the Gomal valley, not only in the present excavations but also in the earlier.