Indus Civilization - a commerce hub
Islamabad, July 22: Scientists have determined that the emerging new
understanding of the Indus Civilization suggests that it might have
been "a powerhouse of commerce and technology in the 3rd millennium BCE."

According to a recent report in the journal Science, though there is
much written about the Indus Civilization, this report is different
because it highlights how our scientific - in this case archaeological
- knowledge on the subject is not only expanding, but changing.

Striking new evidence from a host of excavations on both sides of the
tense border that separates India and Pakistan has now definitively
overturned the second-class status given to the Indus Civilization.

No longer is the Indus the plain cousin of Egypt and Mesopotamia
during the 3rd millennium BCE.

Archaeologists now realize that the Indus dwarfed its grand neighbours
in land area and population, surpassed them in many areas of
engineering and technology, and was an aggressive player during
humanity's first flirtation with globalization 5000 years ago.

The old notion that the Indus people were an insular, homogeneous, and
egalitarian bunch is being replaced by a view of a diverse and dynamic
society that stretched from the Arabian Sea to the foothills of the
Himalaya and was eager to do business with peoples from Afghanistan to
Iraq.

The Indus people worried enough about the privileges of their elite to
build thick walls to protect them.

"This idea that the Indus was dull and monolithic–that's all
nonsense," said Louis Flam, an archaeologist at the City University of
New York who has worked in Pakistan. "There was a tremendous amount of
variety," he added.

Even well-combed sites have revealed some surprises:

While the city of Harappa may be 1000 years older and Mohenjo Daro far
larger than once thought, the dramatic "Buddhist stupa" adorning
Mohenjo Daro's high mound may in fact date back to the Indus heyday
around 2000 BCE.

For the first half-century after its discovery, the Indus was
virtually synonymous with Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. No other major
cities were known.

But along with 1000 smaller sites, archaeologists now count at least
five major urban areas and a handful of others of substantial size.

These sites reveal new facets of Indus life, including signs of
hierarchy and regional differences that suggest a society that was
anything but dull and regimented.

Also, one of the most fascinating aspect of the Indus Civilization is
about international trade.

While evidence accumulates from Indus cities, other insights are
coming from beyond the region, as artifacts from Central Asia, Iraq,
and Afghanistan show the long arm of Indus trade networks.

ANI