Version 1
: Received: 27 June 2024 / Approved: 28 June 2024 / Online: 1 July 2024 (08:52:06 CEST)
How to cite:
Biagi, P. Exploitation, Transport and Circulation of the Rohri Hills Chert (Sindh, Pakistan) during the Indus Period. Preprints2024, 2024062077. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2077.v1
Biagi, P. Exploitation, Transport and Circulation of the Rohri Hills Chert (Sindh, Pakistan) during the Indus Period. Preprints 2024, 2024062077. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2077.v1
Biagi, P. Exploitation, Transport and Circulation of the Rohri Hills Chert (Sindh, Pakistan) during the Indus Period. Preprints2024, 2024062077. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2077.v1
APA Style
Biagi, P. (2024). Exploitation, Transport and Circulation of the Rohri Hills Chert (Sindh, Pakistan) during the Indus Period. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2077.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Biagi, P. 2024 "Exploitation, Transport and Circulation of the Rohri Hills Chert (Sindh, Pakistan) during the Indus Period" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.2077.v1
Abstract
During the 3rd millennium cal BC, the Indus communities exploited great quantities of chert from the Rohri Hills mines in Upper Sindh for making different types of artefacts. This paper discusses the way chert was transported to the Indus Civilization centres and the problems related to the type, quantity and quality of raw material and artefacts that were transported, when, why, and where. This paper raises the question of land and water transport. Both these methods were probably used according to the landscape location of the Indus sites. Another problem regards the landscape characteristics of the Indus Valley during the Bronze Age before the climate changes which took place around the end of the 3rd millennium cal BC, and the disappearance of the Hakra River, which was an important watercourse during the Indus phase. What do we know of the way the Indus communities exploited, transported, and circulated knappable chert? Why the Indus settlements excavated around the Rohri Hills, the largest chert mines of the Indian Subcontinent, have yielded little evidence of chert artefacts and nodules? What do we know of this important problem which is strictly related with the everyday life of the Indus communities and their economy? Why this problem has been systematically neglected by most archaeologists despite its importance?
Keywords
Greater Indus Valley, Bronze Age, Indus Civilization, Chert mines, Land and water transport
Subject
Arts and Humanities, Archaeology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
