Merhgarh – one of the oldest sites in the world

Posted On: Jun 27th, 2019 at 11:20

Pakistan

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an article. After three weeks in Hampi carrying out research for the book, I’m currently now in Kerala spending most of my time organising the findings and rewriting parts, as well as coming up with new ideas to expand it.

Merhgarh dates from the 8th millennium BC and was continually inhabited to at least the 3rd millenium BC. At 9,000 years old, that puts the site near the top of the list for the oldest in the world, along with places like Gobekli Tepe.
Of course, I’m now going to mention again my belief that (old) India was the seat of civilisation, and not Mesopotamia, and Merhgarh was firmly in the land of India prior to partition.
Merhgarh pre-dates the Indus Valley civilisation, and may have been its mother culture. According to the report, it clearly suggests there was no migration into this area – i.e. the fiercely debated Aryan migration here and here – and that these people were natives here.
The site, like a recent report on Mohenjo Daro, has not been given much importance by the authorities and certainly no funding to protect it, even though it appears to have been demolished under the orders of a tribal chief due to disagreements with another local tribe.
Due to the badly drawn-up partition of India, Pakistan now contains some of the oldest sites in the world, including many Indus Valley cities, like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.
There are probably many other sites in this region, but locals pay no attention to them and archaeologists don’t venture too far off the beaten track. Maybe, just maybe, the oldest site in the world thus far may be lurking in the landscape.

https://thediplomat.com/2019/01/pakistans-crumbling-cultural-heritage/