1min chapter

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Ancient South Asia

Tides of History

CHAPTER

Mehergar - A Farming Tradition

As time went on, century after century, the people of Mehergar filled in the lower layers of their mud brick houses and built new structures on top. At this point, practically all of the animals we see in the pens are goats rather than sheep or cattle. This makes sense because goats could have thrived on the Iranian plateau, sheep and cattle would have been a lot harder. The goats may have had some cultural meaning beyond their subsistence use.

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Broken down into maybe 75 total structures on the site. At this point, practically all of the animals we see in the pens are goats rather than sheep or cattle. This makes sense because goats could have thrived on the Iranian plateau, sheep and cattle would have been a lot harder. The goats may have had some cultural meaning beyond their subsistence use. As we're watching, we catch sight of the burial of a young woman. She's dug down into a pit and placed in between the mud brick houses. The remains of several young goats are placed in the pit with her near her feet and a sick circle is carefully laid next to her head. As time went on, century after century, the people of Mehergar filled in the lower layers of their mud brick houses and built new structures on top. In some cases, they buried their dead inside these older layers. They cut down into the filled in old rooms and placed the deceased inside. Later, they built whole cemeteries and the site moved around in the vicinity of this first location. Mehergar was a sizable settlement from the very beginning and later phases were even bigger. It had a sense of permanence and it eventually developed a mound structure of the kind we see further to the west in the fertile crescent and Natalia in the Balkans. From Mehergar and the other settlements around it, populations rose and people moved south and east into the Indus Valley itself. The later layers at Mehergar show the organic development of this specific farming tradition. Wherever it came from, whenever the ultimate origins of the farming package here, it eventually got in touch with what was happening further to the north and west.

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