Homo Sapiens “wise men” the only extant human species on Earth, more than a 100 thousand years ago evolved in Africa and extended to the world over. After spending a long time in Africa primarily running after hunting, sapiens trekked through a doorway to the Middle East, to explore the rest of the world in search of food. They kept settling down in small groups around fresh water resources, which ultimately developed individual societies, diverse civilisations and exclusive cultures including the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation of Indus River (today’s Pakistan) and Mesopotamian Civilisation surrounded by two rivers Tigris and Euphrates (today’s Middle East).
The deserted towns of those old civilisations are rich sources of knowledge of human expansion and development. One may think of such ancient civilisations as utterly technologically backward perhaps similar to what was shown in the Hollywood movie 10,000 BC. Interestingly enough, some of the ancient civilisations were scientifically advanced and technologically skilled and the 9,000-year-old society once established near Bolan river in Mehrgarh, Balochistan is one such example.
Today’s modern civilisations are preserving those invaluable treasures, which is leading them to unearth human history, bring to light the knowledge of human migration and development, and explore the cultural values and olden ways of living. Moreover, archaeological sites are wisely being utilised for the business of tourism, which contributes significantly to the world economy.
It is common knowledge that Pakistan is home to several archaeological sites including Taxila, Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Rehman Dheri among others. The history of some of these sites is traced as early as 5,000 years.
Remarkably, in 1973, a French archaeologist Jean-Francois Jarrige discovered a new archaeological site in Mehrgarh about 30km away from Sibi, Balochistan, which falls in the west of the Indus River. The history of Mehrgarh traced back to the Early Neolithic period (~9000 years), which indicates that it was one of the oldest civilisations in the world.
Almost 32,000 invaluable artefacts were found at the excavation and many irreplaceable articles were moved out of Pakistan to be displayed in different museums and for scientific research as well. The study disclosed that it was a modern Neolithic (new Stone Age) society that eventually established early farming culture in the area and laid the foundations the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation as well.
The natives of Mehrgarh were first dentists and highly skilled pioneers of materials science of their time. In fact it is not wrong to say that Mehrgarh was a civilisation of engineers, scientists and physicians. A recent research work on artefacts and skeletons reveals that the natives of Mehrgarh used to proficiently treat human teeth by drilling. Furthermore, they were fabricating some technologically noteworthy ceremonial ornaments by processing extremely pure copper to form different types of alloys. These scientific findings have already been published in world-renowned research journals and magazines including Nature.
Based on available evidence, now it is an established fact that 9,000 years ago, the world’s first dentists from Mehrgarh were treating patients molars using self-developed wooden drills and bits made of pure silica that was rotated at about 20 times a second. A team of Italian scientists found teeth of nine out of 300 exhumed skeletons, from a graveyard of Mehrgarh, were treated by drilling about four-millimetre-deep holes to treat decay, rot and wear and tear.
Interestingly, the poor conditions of the teeth and holes at the back of the jaws indicate that treatments were only performed for medical purposes. Actually, the food of the natives of Mehrgarh, perhaps from hunting, was not healthy, particularly for teeth. Similar drills were used to prepare beads for jewellery, which was also found at the site.
Moreover, such drilling processes could be excruciatingly painful and most likely pain relief medicines (e.g. opium) were offered to patients since the region was well known for opium production. And scientists believe that the drilled cavities were refilled with bitumen, resin or cotton. The discovery of dental surgery at the Mehrgarh ~9,000 years ago was a remarkable milestone as the previous oldest civilisation with evidence of dentistry, found in Denmark, was only 5,000 years old.
The skills of the Mehrgarh natives were not only limited to medicine and dentistry, but they were also advanced metallurgists. They were making several centimetres in diameter wheel-shaped amulets of extremely pure copper using the lost-wax process, a method still used for casting brass, bronze, silver, gold etc.
So far, it is not clear what purpose those ornaments were prepared for. However, they might have been the first concepts of spoked-wheel shapes, later on adopted to make wheels for vehicles.
Investigations to understand the microstructure and composition of the ornaments are still under way, which may help materials scientists develop new techniques of preparing alloys similar to eutectic materials (e.g. solder wire). The most important question for scientists is how did the natives of Mehrgarh develop the competence and expertise in copper processing and formation of alloys from it?
In September 2019, a researcher from the University of Paris presented his findings about the exotic composition of that wheel shaped amulet once fabricated at Mehrgarh. The French are able to conduct detail scientific research on the materials and artefacts of Mehrgarh because a lot of these invaluable artefacts are now in the custody of Paris Museum. That French scientist was not sure how those Mehrgarh relics ended up in Paris. But he argued that at least they were now in safe hands, which is essential for perpetual salvation and further scientific research work. Of course, it is unfortunate that we are not able to preserve our own treasures. Moreover, that French scientist mentioned that they have similar kinds of articles from Mehrgarh, as old as 8,000 years, which are currently under investigation.
The aforementioned research work also indicates that the society of the Mehrgarh might have been a precursor for the Indus civilisation. There is convincing evidence of appropriate village settlements, cattle domestication and deliberate diffusion of the Mehrgarh civilisation in Indus societies. Genetic research indicates a gene flow from Middle East to Mehrgarh, making it the oldest society in South East Asia. It also indicates that Mehrgarh also commenced the other civilisations in the region, including the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation.
Despite all the above research, the generally perception in Pakistan is that the Indus valley is the oldest civilisation in this part of the world. This is due to the lack of material about Mehrgarh in school curricula and the lack of systematic research in the field of archaeology in general. Therefore, propagation and promotion of Mehrgarh is needed in order to educate our people about the history of the area and effectively attract national and international tourism, which in turn can help bring economic growth to Pakistan.
Talking about the importance of the Mehgarh civilisation, the renowned British archaeologist Robin Andrew Evelyn Coningham said: “Mehrgarh remains one of the key sites in South Asia because it has provided the earliest known undisputed evidence for farming and pastoral communities in the region, and its plant and animal material provide clear evidence for the ongoing manipulation, and domestication, of certain species. Perhaps most importantly in a South Asian context, the role played by zebu makes this a distinctive, localised development, with a character completely different to other parts of the world. Finally, the longevity of the site, and its articulation with the neighbouring site of Nausharo (c. 2800–2000 BC), provides a very clear continuity from South Asia’s first farming villages to the emergence of its first cities (Jarrige, 1984).”
We have significant historical knowledge of human history, development and migration hidden in Pakistan. It is sad to say that the scientific research on archaeological artefacts and minerals found in Pakistan is being conducted mainly by scientists elsewhere. Moreover, we must understand that the archaeological discoveries happened in Pakistan are substantially valuable for physical and social sciences and as well as humanities. More importantly, it can be an extraordinary attraction for tourism. Nonetheless, the prerequisite to all the aforesaid is the appropriate preservation and presentation of our archaeological heritage and their promotion and propagation through media and education.
Dr Muhammad Shahbaz Anwar researches superconductivity and quantum materials at Cambridge. Dr Yarjan Abdul Samad’s research interests are in the area of space technology.