🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Mehrgarh is often cited as one of the earliest farming settlements in South Asia.
Mehrgarh, located in present-day Balochistan, predates the Mature Harappan period by several millennia. Archaeological evidence shows early farming practices beginning around 7000 BCE. Crops included wheat and barley, while domesticated animals included cattle and goats. Settlement layers demonstrate gradual technological evolution. Ceramic development and burial practices reveal increasing social complexity. Mehrgarh is considered foundational to later Indus urbanization. Agricultural expertise accumulated over centuries before city formation. Continuity links early Neolithic settlements to later Harappan civilization. Urban life emerged from deep rural roots.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Systemically, Mehrgarh establishes a long developmental timeline for Indus complexity. Agricultural innovation preceded urban concentration by thousands of years. Knowledge transmission likely occurred across generations and regions. Domestication stabilized food production. Craft specialization slowly emerged from farming surplus. Civilization rested on cumulative learning. Urban centers inherited Neolithic groundwork.
For early farmers, cultivating crops meant adapting to seasonal cycles long before brick cities existed. Children born in Mehrgarh grew up tending herds rather than navigating grids. Burial customs reveal evolving belief systems. Small villages became laboratories for future urban order. Generations contributed incremental advances. The city was the final chapter of a long experiment. Civilization matured slowly.
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