Explorations and Excavations in Balochistan: An Overview of Archaeological Investigations in the Post-Independence Period

Abstract

Archaeological activities in Balochistan have been started during the British time in 19th century. As a result, a landscape of diverse culture traditions was discovered. In this phase of archaeological research in unearthing the cultural history of the Indo-Pak Sub-continent, several renowned archaeologists, such as Sir Aurel Stein (1905-43), Harold Hargreaves (1919-29), Brigadier E. J. Ross (1935-48) and Stuart Piggott (1943-50) did commendable efforts and identified several cultures, periods and wares in many parts of Balochistan. However, period-wise classification and putting them into a proper chronological order on scientific basis is yet done. In the Post-Independence Period, keeping in view the cultural significance of Balochistan in mind, more energetic archaeologists equipped with scientific techniques and methodologies started re-investigation and presented new paradigms. Most of these archaeologists are affiliated with foreign missions who could not confine themselves to a region but rather carried out research in several parts of Balochistan resulted into establishing a chrono-cultural sequence of the region from Aceramic Neolithic to Pre-Achaemenid Period without any cultural gap/break. Nonetheless, there are still large areas in Balochistan which have yet to receive proper attention.