The Quest for Harappans in Northern Balochistan, Pakistan

Initial Results and Understandings of the First Systematic Transect Survey in Tehsil Bori, District Loralai

Abstract

District Loralai, located in the northeast of Balochistan Province of Pakistan, has received little attention of the historians and archaeologists. Most of the written or oral histories of the region do not go beyond 14th century CE. However, this region enjoys a pivotal position in Balochistan, as it connects South Asia with Central Asia. Previous archaeological research works by foreign and local archaeologists have led to the documentation of 25 archaeological sites in the district. Most of previous surveys in Balochistan province, and especially in District Loralai, have been carried out on village-to-village based methodologies and ease of access. The present systematic transect survey, the first of its kind in Balochistan, was carried out in Tehsil Bori of District Loralai, with the aim of documenting the settlement history of the region and landscape choices in the past, and to investigate the presence of Harappans in the study region, which researchers in the past, such as Fairservis (1959), have suggested as marginal and not representative.
The present systematic survey of 10 transects revealed 26 archaeological sites, doubling the archaeological knowledge of the region. These sites included 8 single period sites, 13 multi-period sites, 6 Kot Diji period sites and 5 Harappan/Indus Civilization sites. The discovery of relatively large number of Kot Dijian and Harappan period sites in a limited surveyed area suggests that Harappan presence in District Loralai was not marginal but rather robust.