Pirak ( ur, ) is an archaeological site belonging to the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

located in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is 20 km south of

Sibi Sibi ( Sindhi: سيوي ur, ) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city is the headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name. Etymology The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hindu la ...

east of the Nari River. The mound is 8m high and covers approximately . The site of Pirak was first reported by Robert Raikes in 1963. It was excavated, between 1968 and 1974, before the well known sites of

Mehrgarh Mehrgarh (; ur, ) is a Neolithic archaeological site (dated ) situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan in Pakistan. It is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River and between the modern-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, Ka ...

Nausharo Nausharo is located in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is well known as an archaeological site for the Harappan period. The excavations were carried out between 1985 and 1996 by a French team of archaeologists, under the direction of Jean-François Jarr ...

by the French archaeological mission team led by Jean Marie Casal. According to the excavator, this site was occupied from c.1800 BCE to 800 BCE.

Historical significance

The historical importance of this site in the South Asia is because of its very early horse remains. Also, the site has some very early ironwork and iron artefacts. The ironwork seems to have had a gradual introduction.

Architecture and material culture

The excavator records three phases of unbroken occupation in Safi Pirak. *In the first period, structures of unburnt brick associated with a large platform were found. A major part of the pottery was a coarse ware decorated with applique bands and fingertip impressions. Both terracotta and unburnt clay figurines of horses and camels were found, along with numerous bones of both the species. The earliest indubitable evidence of domestic horse comes from Safi Pirak, during period I (c.1700 BC), well after Mature Harappan period. Terracota button seals of circular, square or curved forms were common. *The second period also showed a similar assemblage with large numbers of terracota and clay figurines, which include not only Bactrian camels and horses but also human figures, including riders. Along with numerous tools of copper and bronze, first pieces of iron are also found. *The third period (c.1000-800 BCE) produced a greater quantity of iron and a continuation of all the elements of the earlier periods. Along with three varieties and two varieties of barley, rice and sorghum were also found here, which is the first recorded appearance of these two cereals in this region.

Artefacts found

In addition to pottery items, wheeled camel figures (

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

) as per

Harappa Harappa (; Urdu/ pnb, ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a mode ...

n tradition were also found at Pirak. Items made of Iron were also present in this site. Different seals were also found.

Cultivation

Rice was cultivated as main crop in Post urban Pirak and the Kachi Plain was irrigated. A canal was constructed alongside the settlement of Pirak shows continuation of irrigation facility in the region. Grapes, oats and chickpeas were also grown at Pirak.

Notes

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