Between 1985 and 2001, the collaborative research initiative known as the Bannu Archaeological Project conducted archaeological explorations and excavations in the Bannu region, in what was then the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Project involves scholars from the Pakistan Heritage Society, the British Museum, the Institute of Archaeology (UCL), Bryn Mawr College and the University of Cambridge.


This is the first in a series of volumes that present the final reports of the exploration and excavations carried out by the Bannu Archaeological Project. It marks the first attempt to contextualise the earliest village settlements in northwest Pakistan, along with those situated in other parts of the borderlands zone at the western margins of South Asia. An extensive range of archaeological data from the Bannu Archaeological Project excavations at Sheri Khan Tarakai, including stratigraphic, architectural, ceramic, lithic, small find and bioarchaeological elements, are presented, along with the results of surveys and excavations at several other sites in the Bannu Basin and the adjacent Gomal Plain. The work establishes the nature of the relationships between these sites and other early villages elsewhere in South, central and greater West Asia.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Volume Summary
  • English
  • Urdu
• Preface and Acknowledgements
  • The Bannu Archaeological Project
  • Acknowledgements
  • Funding and Support
  • A Note on Terminology
• Chapter 1. Early village life on the north-western borderlands
  • 1.1. Introduction and Research Context
  • 1.2. Early Villages in South Asia: Research Questions and Parameters
    • Early Village Subsistence: Origins and Dispersals
    • The Role of Climate and Environment
    • Technology and Style
    • Perception and Belief
    • Networks of Interaction
    • Relative and Absolute Chronologies
  • 1.3. Goals and Approach of the Bannu Archaeological Project
  • 1.4. Outline of Volume
• Chapter 2. The investigation of early villages in the hills and on the plains of western South Asia
  • 2.1. Discovery of Early Sites in the Highlands, Hills and Piedmonts
  • 2.2. Discovery of Early Sites on the Plains
  • 2.3. Culture Histories and Linear Trajectories
  • 2.4. Excavated Early Village Sites in Context
    • Mehrgarh
    • Kili Gul Mohammad
    • Surab Sites
    • Rana Ghundai
    • Sur Jangal
    • Moghul Ghundai
    • Periano Ghundai
    • Hakra Ware Sites
    • Jalilpur
    • Harappa
    • Bhirrana
    • Sarai Khola and the Ghaligai Rock-Shelter
    • The Kashmir Neolithic
    • Mesolithic and Chalcolithic Rajasthan
    • Early Village Settlements in the Ganges Basin
    • Early Villages and Ash Mounds in South India
  • 2.4 Chronological Relationships
• Chapter 3. The physical and human geography of the Bannu basin
  • 3.1. Geology and Geomorphology
  • 3.2. Climate, Hydrology, Soils and Land Use
    • Present
    • Past
  • 3.3. Vegetation and Fauna
  • 3.4. Settlement and Subsistence
    • Recent
    • Early Villages
  • 3.5. Passes and Routes
  • 3.6. The Bannu Basin in Its Environmental Context
• Chapter 4. The site of Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 4.1. Topographical Context
  • 4.2. Description of the Site
  • 4.3. Excavations
    • Approach
    • Excavations In 1986
    • Excavations In 1987
    • Excavations In 1988
    • Excavations In 1989
    • Excavations In 1990
  • 4.4. Architecture
  • 4.5. Phasing
• Chapter 5. Ceramic vessels from Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 5.1. Geomorphology and Local Sediments Around Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 5.2. Vessel Fabric and Production
    • Grog-Tempered Fabric
    • Well-Sorted Sand Fabric
  • 5.3. Vessel Forms and Decoration
    • Forms Made Using Grog-Tempered Fabric
    • Parallels for Form
    • Forms Made Using Well-Sorted Sand Fabric
    • Surface Treatment and Decoration
    • Relative Chronological Correlations
  • 5.4. Ceramic Production at Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 5.5. Ceramic Distribution at Sheri Khan Tarakai
    • Variation Across Space
    • Variation Over Time
  • 5.6. The Role of Bowls and Motives Behind the Motifs
    • Vessel Size
    • Decorative Motifs
• Chapter 6. Struck lithics from Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 6.1. Aims, Recovery Methods and Sampling
  • 6.2. Raw Materials
  • 6.3. Experimental Analysis of Bladelet Lithic Technology
    • Blade and Bladelet Replication Experiments
    • Method of the Sheri Khan Tarakai Experiment
    • Investigating the Techniques of Production
    • Results
    • Investigating Techniques and Hammer Modes
    • Summary of Experimental Analysis
  • 6.4. The Core Reduction Sequence at Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 6.5. Techniques of Producing Bladelets at Sheri Khan Tarakai
    • Technological Attributes
    • Experimental Comparison
    • Analysis for Traces of Copper
    • Summary of Evidence for Lithic Production Technology
  • 6.6. The Tool Assemblage
• Chapter 7. Small finds from Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 7.1. Terracotta Objects
    • Human Figurines
    • Animal Figurines
    • Miscellaneous Terracotta Objects
    • Other Objects
  • 7.2. Worked Bone Tools
  • 7.3. Personal Ornaments
    • Bangles and Pendants
    • Beads
  • 7.4. Ground Stone
    • Querns and Palettes
    • Grinding Stones and Pestles
    • Hammer Stones
    • ‘Anvil’ Stones
    • Ring Stones
    • Handled Weights
    • Stone Axes
    • Limestone Bowls
    • Alabaster
  • 7.5. Small Finds Distribution at Sheri Khan Tarakai
• Chapter 8. The biological remains from Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 8.1. Aims, Sampling and Recovery Methods
  • 8.2. The Archaeobotany
    • Wood Charcoals
    • Grains, Seeds and Fruits
    • Leaves and Fibres
  • 8.3. The Zooarchaeology
    • Mammal Bones and Teeth
    • Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish
    • Molluscs
  • 8.4. Conclusions About Past Environments
  • 8.5. Conclusions About Resources and Subsistence
• Chapter 9. Chronology of Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 9.1. Approaches to Chronology in South Asia
  • 9.2. Relative Chronology of Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 9.3. Absolute Chronology of Sheri Khan Tarakai
  • 9.4. Discussion of Absolute Dating Evidence
  • 9.5. Conclusions About the Chronology of Sheri Khan Tarakai
• Chapter 10. Other early village sites in the Bannu Basin
  • 10.1. Girdai
    • Site Description and Context
    • Cultural Material
    • Radiocarbon Dating
    • Contextualizing Girdai
  • 10.2. Barrai Khuarra I
    • Site Description and Context
    • Cultural Material
    • Contextualizing Barrai Khuarra I
  • 10.3. Ter Kala Dheri
    • Site Description and Context
    • Excavations
    • Cultural Material
    • Radiocarbon Dating
    • Contextualizing Ter Kala Dheri
  • 10.4. Contextualizing The Sheri Khan Tarakai Phase In The Bannu Basin
• Chapter 11. Early village sites in the Gomal plain
  • 11.1. The Physical and Human Geography of the Gomal Plain
    • Geology and Geomorphology
    • Climate, Hydrology and Soils
    • Vegetation and Fauna
    • Settlement and Land Use
    • Passes and Routes Connecting the Gomal with Other Regions
  • 11.2. Jhandi Babar A
    • Site Description and Context
    • Excavations
    • Architecture
    • Cultural Material
    • Radiocarbon Dating
    • Contextualizing Jhandi Babar A
  • 11.3. Gulgai Kot I
    • Site Description and Context
    • Cultural Material
    • Contextualizing Gulgai Kot I
  • 11.4. Contextualizing the Sheri Khan Tarakai Phase Sites in the Gomal Plain
• Chapter 12. Ceramic and lithic production systems of the Sheri Khan Tarakai Phase
  • 12.1. Ceramic Production in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
    • Production and Distribution: the Petrographic Evidence
    • Production and Distribution: the Compositional Evidence
    • Socio-Economics of Ceramic Production and Distribution in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
  • 12.2. Lithic Production in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
    • Lithic Raw Material Acquismon in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
    • Lithic Production Strategies in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
    • The Socio-Economics of Lithic Production in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
  • 12.3. Local And Regional Dynamics in the Sheri Khan Tarakai Phase
• Chapter 13. Sheri Khan Tarakai and early village life in western South Asia
  • 13.1. Terminology Revisited: the Applicability of Cultural ‘Meta-Labels’
  • 13.2. Sheri Khan Tarakai in a Regional Context
    • Intra-Regional Dynamics of Subsistence Practices in Southern Nwfp
    • Exploitation of the Bannu Frontier Zone in Later Prehistory/Protohistory
    • The Dynamics of Interaction and Ideologies in the Bannu Basin and the Gomal Plain
  • 13.3. Inter-Regional Interaction in Operation
    • Shared Ceramic Technologies
    • The Broader Context of the Sheri Khan Tarakai Phase Ceramic Assemblage
    • Explaining the Transmission of Technology Through time and Across Space
    • Regionally Distinct Approaches to Technological and Decorative Style
    • Long-Range Similarities in Material Culture
    • Exotic Raw Materials
    • Highlands, Hills and Passes: Conduits for Interaction or Barriers?
  • 13.4. After the Earliest Villages
• Appendix A
  • Report Presenting Petrographic and Pigment Analysis of Pottery From North-West Pakistan
• Appendix B
  • Report Outlining Petrographic Comparison of Eight Pottery Sherds from Rana Ghundai with Late Prehistoric Pottery from Bannu District, North-West Pakistan
• Appendix C
  • Tables Showing Small find Artefacts Recovered from Excavated Trenches at Sheri Khan Tarakai
• Appendix D
  • Tables of Faunal Data
• Appendix E
  • Identification of Wood Charcoals Submitted for Radiocarbon Dating
• Bibliography