Ancient Pakistan

A Cranial Nonmetric Trait Investigation of Chalcolithic-Bronze Age Era Interactions across the Iranian Plateau

Brian E. Hemphill, Alexander F. Christensen — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A battery of 32 cranial nonmetric traits were assessed among 436 adult individuals recovered
from nine Chalcolithic and Bronze Age archaeological contexts from the western, northern and southeastern peripheries of the Iranian Plateau. Three archaeologically based theoretical models of interactions across the plateau—the Neolithic food prodfuction, the Namazga expansion, and Bronze Age interregional interaction—were evaluated with four analytical models. In the first model all 32 traits were included. In the second model only those traits that differ across all nine samples at α< 0.05 were retained. In the third
model only those that met the alpha threshold with Bonferroni’s adjustment for multiple comparisons were included. In the fourth model, samples found not to differ from one another with the first three models were pooled and only those traits that met Holm’s (1979) nested rejective modification of Bonferroni’s adjustment were employed. Retained traits were assessed with correspondence analysis, neighbour-joining cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling. Results indicate that the fourth method yielded the most
robust and non-volatile patterns of intersample affinities. None of the three reconstructions were supported in their entirety by the pattern of biodistance affinities obtained from cranial nonmetric trait frequencies. However, the biodistance patterns are most congruent with those expected with a population expansion across the Iranian Plateau during Neolithic era fueled by food production and animal husbandry that resulted in a pattern of interregional biological affinities dominated by long-standing bouts of in situ continuity. Some support is found for an overlay on this general pattern laid down in the Neolithic due to population growth and dispersal during the subsequent Namazga expansion, especially in southern Central Asia. In contrast, no support is provided forsignificant impacts due to Bronze Age interregional interactionps.

A Note on the Discovery of a Prehistoric Maskoid on the Barikot Top-Hill (Bir-kot-ghwandai, Swat)

Luca M. Olivieri, Michele Minardi, Massimo Vidale — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This note discusses the recent discovery in Barikot (Swat) of a stone slab, reused in later
constructions of its hilltop, with an engraved design consistent with a late Bronze age dating. The engraving features a highly stylized human face, a mask or maskoid, that shows potential comparisons with similar maskoids found in the Upper Indus and Ladakh, as well as those from Southern Siberia and Inner Mongolia.

A Note on the Recent Excavations (2023) at the Hayatabad Site, Peshawar

Gul Rahim Khan — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The present note deals with the progress of the excavations conducted recently by the Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar, at the early historic period site of Hayatabad (Indo-Greek to Kushans) in Peshawar. It was the fourth field season in row held at this site. The recent field campaign successfully added further evidence to the establishment of smith workshops, which originated during the Indo-Greek period and continued down to the time of the great Kushans. This part of the mound was obviously utilised for contemporary industrial zone when it was actively inhabited for about four hundred years (second century BCE to second century CE).

Between Reality and Imagination

Mubariz Ahmed Rabbani — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The archaeologically well-surveyed, excavated, and documented site of Barikot (Swat Valley,
north-western Pakistan) has revealed a great range of material culture items from different areas and all chronological periods of the site. Various categories of ornaments including beads with both geometric and figurative forms have been found in the systematic excavations including from the cultural deposits linked to the Kushana phases of the settlement (1st – 3rd century CE), providing evidence of the cultural, economic, and artistic blooming of the Swat Valley at the time. From the same time and region, we find material evidence for the production and use of distinct stone art sculptures of male and female groups that are heavily bejewelled and are associated with the Gandhāran Buddhist tradition. We get the impression, based on the examination of the intricately carved ornamental objects, that traditions of personal adornment must have played an integral part in the identity construction and the daily lives of the inhabitants of the entire region during the Kushana periods. In order to try to verify this observation and reconstruct the
prevailing adornment practices of the people of this dynamic time, this article critically cross compares selected types of archaeological beads that have been recovered from the excavations at Barikot with the forms of ornaments decorating the Gandhāran art sculptures, building upon existing research carried out in earlier work. The shape, size, and style of the sculpted ornaments are critically cross compared with the archaeological evidence to determine if they are based on real prototypes or if they are simply symbolic or imaginative. The interpretations produced in this article not only offer new insight into how ornaments
were worn within the religio-cultural context of Gandhāra in the early centuries of the Common Era but also inform about the accurateness of iconographic depictions.

Aesthetic Refinement by Successive Incorporation of ‘Extraneous’ Features

Corinna Wessels-Mevissen — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

An unusual, idiosyncratic head of the Buddha from the Swāt Valley, belonging to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, forms the starting point of this preliminary enquiry into the typological and stylistic development of early Gandhāran Buddha images. While anthropomorphic depictions of the Buddha appear to have been rare during the first century CE, their number significantly increased during the reign of the Kushan ruler Kaniṣka I (c. 127–150 CE). It is plausible to assume that in Gandhāra, a distinctive and aesthetically appealing design of the Buddha image was striven for, which is suggested by the sculptural
material known to us. This corpus, comprising all the hitherto published objects as well as those made accessible on the webpages of museums worldwide, including both single-figure images and narrative panels, has been evaluated for the present essay. Through a careful comparative study of the morphological features, centring on the head portion, arguably the most essential constituent of the Buddha’s representation, the successive creation of innovative designs as well as their plausible chronological sequence are proposed here, with the latter, as far as possible, calibrated on the basis of images dated by inscriptions.

Preliminary Report of Archaeological Excavations at Maṭkanai (Malakand)

Aisha Bibi, Abdur Rahman, Muhammad Farooq Swati — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

To curtail clandestine activities of illegal diggers, the Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar (hereafter the Department), planned a preemptive strategy for rescuing and preserving Buddhist cultural heritage by rigorous archaeological excavations in ancient Oḍḍiyāna (also Uḍḍiyāna) and Gandhāra, i.e., respectively the present Malakand Division and the Peshawar Valley of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. In the Initial phase, the sites of Maṭkanai and Baghrajai were excavated during 1980. A little later (1981-82), the Gandhara Archaeological Project (GAP) was launched for the same purpose. The project continued till early 1990s, during which time a number of sites, such as, Charg Paṭē in the Dir District and Butkaṛa-III, Gilbān Sērai, Gumbatkay, Gaṛasa, Loē Baṇṛ, Shnaisha and Tirath in District Swat, while others in the Peshawar Valley were scientifically excavated. Most of them were found
ruthlessly plundered long ago, however, the leftover cultural material, mainly sculptures wrought in schist stone were collected from them (Fig. 1).¹ Study of sculptures from the intact site Butkaṛa-III, and partly Charg Paṭē, Shanaisha and others significantly advanced our knowledge about the genesis and growth of Gandhāra art.² The cultural material retrieved is preserved in the Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of Peshawar (hereafter University Museum). While that from the
sites of Maṭkanai and Baghrajai was mutually shared by the Dir and the University Museums.
This preliminary report of the Buddhist remains at Maṭkanai, in the Ranizai Valley of District Malakand, is the outcome of brief salvage excavation conducted from October 25 to November 15, 1980. It was a joint venture of the Department and the Dir Museum at Chakdara. The fieldwork was directed by Prof. Abdur Rahman and the site was supervised by Prof. Muhammad Farooq Swati (then MA student), while the Dir Museum was represented by the then Director Mr. Aurangzeb Khan. Long after (13 July 2002), when the second co-author and Mr. Muhammad Naeem, surveyer of the Department, visited the site, they found it completely wrecked and levelled for cultivation leaving no apparent signs of identification. While studying the cultural material excavated from the said site for her MPhil studies,³ the principal author occasionally consulted the excavators, who had already been retired from University service, that ensued in writing this preliminary report.

A Copper Hoard of the Great Kushans in the Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Sadam Hussain — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The reserve collection of the Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, University of Peshawar (hereafter SSAQ Museum) houses a hoard of 222 copper coins. The main part of this hoard belongs to the Great Kushan period. These coins are attributed to Vima Kadphises, Kanishka-I and Huvishka. They are known in different weight units i.e., tetradrachm, reduced tetradrachm and drachm. The heavy weight coins of the Kushans in this hoard were issued from the main mint (probably in Bactria?) and small coins produced at a subsidiary mint located somewhere in the southern/eastern part of the Kushan Empire. Apparently, the hoarding of this collection started in the heydays of Huvishka and deposited somewhere in the later part of his rule. In this regard, the deposition of the present hoard can be placed in the last quarter of the second century CE (or a bit later). It also comprises few coins of Azes-II, the last Indo-Scythian ruler. These coins might have been in circulation when the hoard was deposited.

Survey Notes: Bajaur, Tirāt (Swat), Hund and Sāwal Dher

Abdur Rahman — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Written towards the end of 1992, when a hurried survey of the sites mentioned below was completed, these notes were lying with me unattended. Shortly ago when I had the opportunity to read them again, I realised that part of the information vouchsafed in them could be helpful in decoding some knotty issues of the history of Apraca/Aprācha and Oḍis/Uḍis, the rulers of ancient Bajaur and Swat respectively. This realization prompted me to share this information with other scholars. Except for brief notices of classical writers, the history of ancient Bajaur (correctly Ba+johaṛ meaning ‘water-pond’) and Swat mainly depends upon the Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions found upon several relic caskets unearthed by plunderers. The precise location of the sites where from these were dug out has naturally
gone unrecorded. The language of these dedicatory epigraphs is the normal north-western Prākṛit often referred to as Gāndhārī. The cursive nature of the writing, crowded at places, has caused difference of opinion among scholars regarding the reading and consequently the meaning of certain words. The survey provides further help in elucidating some of these controversial points. Throughout the surveys I was accompanied by (the late) Asad Ali, photographer of the Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar. His untimely death has deprived me of photographic back-up.