Bhumika at 10:29, 26 October 2022

2022-10-26T10:29:11Z

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[[File:Rigvedic geography.jpg|thumb|Geography of the [[Rigveda]], with [[Rigvedic rivers|river names]]; the extent of the Swat and [[Cemetery H culture|Cemetery H]] cultures are indicated.]]
[[File:Indo-Iranian origins.png|thumb|Archaeological cultures associated with [[Indo-Iranian migration]]s (after [[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|EIEC]]). The [[Andronovo culture|Andronovo]], [[BMAC]] and [[Yaz culture]]s have often been associated with [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] migrations. The GGC (Swat), [[Cemetery H culture|Cemetery H]], [[Copper Hoard Culture|Copper Hoard]] and [[Painted Grey Ware culture|PGW]] cultures are candidates for cultures associated with [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] [[Indo-Aryan migration|migrations]].]]

{{History of South Asia}}

The '''Gandhara grave culture''', also called '''Swat Protohistoric Graveyards Complex''', was an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan culture]] which emerged ''c.''1200 BCE,<ref>Olivieri, Luca M., (2019). [https://www.academia.edu/42747040/The%20early%20historic%20funerary%20monuments%20of%20Butkara%20IV%20New%20evidence%20on%20a%20forgotten%20excavation%20in%20outer%20Gandhara "The early-historic funerary monuments of Butkara IV. New evidence on a forgotten excavation in outer Gandhara"], in: Rivista Degli Studi Orientali, Nuova Serie, Volume XCII, Fasc. 1-2, Sapienza Università di Roma, Pisa-Roma, '''p. 231''': "[T]he Swat Protohistoric Graveyards complex (henceforth: SPG), {was] first published by Chiara Silvi Antonini and Giorgio Stacul (1972). More recent studies and fieldwork, though, have changed the SPG chronologies (c. 1200-800 BCE) demonstrating that there are no SPG features posterior to 800 BCE (Vidale, Micheli and Olivieri 2016; Narasimhan et al. 2019)."</ref> and lasted until 800 BCE,<ref>Olivieri, Luca M., Roberto Micheli, Massimo Vidale, and Muhammad Zahir, (2019). [https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/2019_Science_NarasimhanPatterson_CentralSouthAsia_Supplement.pdf 'Late Bronze - Iron Age Swat Protohistoric Graves (Gandhara Grave Culture), Swat Valley, Pakistan (n-99)'], in Narasimhan, Vagheesh M., et al., "Supplementary Materials for the formation of human populations in South and Central Asia", Science 365 (6 September 2019), pp. 137-164.</ref> as recent fieldwork, along with subsequent analyses, have shown there are no burials with these features after 800 BCE.<ref>Olivieri, Luca M., (2019). [https://www.academia.edu/42747040/The_early_historic_funerary_monuments_of_Butkara_IV_New_evidence_on_a_forgotten_excavation_in_outer_Gandhara "The Early-Historic Funerary Monuments of Butkara IV: New Evidence on a Forgotten Excavation in Outer Gandhara"], in Rivista Degli Studi Orientali, Nuova Serie, Volume XCII, Fasc. 1-2, Sapienza Universitá di Roma, Instituto Italiano di Studi Orientali, Pisa-Rome, '''p. 231:''' "...More recent studies and fieldwork, though, have changed the SPG [Swat Protohistoric Graveyards] chronologies (c. 1200-800 BCE) demonstrating that there are no SPG features posterior to 800 BCE..."</ref> It is found in Middle [[Swat River]] course, even though earlier research considered it to be expanded to the Valleys of [[Dir District| Dir]], [[Kunar Province|Kunar]], [[Chitral]], and [[Valley of Peshawar| Peshawar]].<ref>Coningham, Robin, and Mark Manuel, (2008). "Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier", Asia, South, in ''Encyclopedia of Archaeology 2008'', Elsevier, p. 740.</ref> It has been regarded as a token of the [[Indo-Aryan migrations]], but has also been explained by local cultural continuity. Estimates, based on ancient DNA analyses, suggest ancestors of Swat people mixed with a population coming from the [[Inner Asian Mountain Corridor]], which carried [[Eurasian Steppe|Steppe]] ancestry, sometime between 1900 and 1500 BCE.<ref>Narasimhan, Vagheesh M., et al. (2019). [https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/2019_Science_NarasimhanPatterson_CentralSouthAsia.pdf "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia"], in Science 365 (6 September 2019), p. 11: "...we estimate the date of admixture into the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age individuals from the Swat District of northernmost South Asia to be, on average, 26 generations before the date that they lived, corresponding to a 95% confidence interval of ~1900 to 1500 BCE..." </ref>

==Location and characteristics==
Almost at the end of the second millennium BCE, large graveyards appear in northern Gandhara, featuring mainly inhumations, (c. 1200-900 BCE), the so-called Gandhara grave culture by earlier scholars, a period in which iron technology was introduced.<ref>Olivieri, Luca Maria, (2022). [https://oxfordre.com/anthropology/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.001.0001/acrefore-9780190854584-e-545;jsessionid=E443C2811BBE6169388659FB35560E41 "The Archaeology of Gandhāra"], in: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology 2022, Oxford University Press, '''Summary''': "...Toward the end of the 2nd millennium, northern Gandhāra features a rather coherent settlement phenomenon marked by large graveyards, mainly with inhumations, which were labeled by previous scholarship as the 'Gandhāra Grave Culture' (1200–900 BCE). In this phase among the major cultural markers, the introduction of iron technology is noteworthy..."</ref>

A constant funeral tradition with pottery and similar artifacts can be found along the banks of the [[Lower Swat Valley|Swat]] and [[Panchkora Valley of Dir|Dir]] rivers in the north, Chitral and the Vale of Peshawar.<ref>Coningham, Robin, and Mark Manuel, (2008). [https://es.scribd.com/doc/311799337/Encyclopedia-of-Archaeology-Volume-1-3 "Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier"], Asia, South, in Deborah M. Pearsall (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Archaeology'', Elsevier, '''p. 740''': "...A homogenous tradition of burial practices with associated ceramic and artifact assemblages, it appears to have emerged in the upper Indus Valley...and then spread across the Valleys of Swat, Dir and Chitral, and into the Vale of Peshawar..."</ref> Simply-made terracotta figurines were buried with the pottery, and other items are decorated with simple dot designs.

Re-evaluation of the findings suggests this so-called Gandhara Grave Culture was actually a burial tradition, spread across a wide geographical area, rather than a specific culture.<ref>Coningham, Robin, and Ruth Young, (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ&dq=gandharan+grave+culture+coningham&pg=PA324 The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c. 6500 BCE - 200 CE], Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 287.</ref> There are more than thirty cemeteries of this tradition found in [[Swat River|Swat]] and surrounding valleys of [[Dir District|Dir]],[[Buner District| Buner]],[[Malakand District| Malakand]], [[Chitral]], and in the [[Valley of Peshawar|Vale of Peshawar]] to the south, featuring [[cist]] graves, where large stone slabs were used to line the pit, above which another large flat stone was laid forming a roof over them. Related settlement sites were also found which helped to know more about these people's life and death.<ref>Coningham, Robin, and Ruth Young, (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ&dq=gandharan+grave+culture+coningham&pg=PA324 The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c. 6500 BCE - 200 CE], Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 290 and 293.</ref>

Anthropomorphic urns with cremation remains were not frequently found in graves, and the most common pottery within these graves is ''Burnished Grey Ware'' and ''Burnished Red Ware'', along with human terracotta figurines. However, later graves are more elaborate featuring more items, various graves with ''horse remains'' and horse furniture were also reported.<ref>Coningham, Robin, and Mark Manuel, (2008). [https://es.scribd.com/doc/311799337/Encyclopedia-of-Archaeology-Volume-1-3 "Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier"], Asia, South, in (ed.) Deborah M. Pearsall, ''Encyclopedia of Archaeology'', Elsevier, p. 740.</ref>

==Origins==
Northern Gandhara, in the region of middle Swat river, presented deposits of black burnished ware, prior to Gandhara grave culture, during the [[Ghalegay]] IV period, c. 1700-1400 BCE.<ref>Yatoo, Mumtaz A., (2019). [https://ancient-asia-journal.com/articles/10.5334/aa.139 "Kashmir and Swat During Neolithic Times – A Comparative Analysis of Material Culture Between the Sites of Two Distinct Regions"], in: Ancient Asia, Vol 10, (30 Aug 2019): "...Stacul (1987: 45–48, 1993: 71–78, 1997: 369) and Lahiri (1992: 150) mention that the black burnished ware, fine gray ware and gritty red or buff ware from the Swat region of Pakistan from period III (1950–1920 cal. BC) and period IV (1730–1690 to 1500 cal. BC) are similar to types found at Burzahom..."</ref>

Single burials are characteristic of the early phase of Gandhara grave culture, along with bronze objects and pottery within the graves. Cremation is distinctive in the middle phase, and ashes were laid in large jars, often bearing a human-like face design, this jars were then placed frequently in circular pits, surrounded by objects of bronze, gold and pottery. Multiple burials and fractional remains are found in the late phase, along with iron objects, coeval with the beginning of urban centers of [[Taxila]] and [[Charsadda]].<ref>Coningham, Robin, and Ruth Young, (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ&dq=gandharan+grave+culture+coningham&pg=PA324 The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, {{Circa|6500 BCE}} - 200 CE], Cambridge University Press, New York, p. 293.</ref> However, new research, based on 34 excavated graves in Udegram, and in nearby site of Gogdhara, uncovered two burial phases, the first between 1400 and 1100 cal BCE, and the second from 1000 to 800 cal BCE, with an inter-phase in Gogdhara, from 1200 to 900 cal BCE.<ref>Olivieri, Luca M., Roberto Micheli, Massimo Vidale, and Muhammad Zahir, (2019). [https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/2019_Science_NarasimhanPatterson_CentralSouthAsia_Supplement.pdf 'Late Bronze - Iron Age Swat Protohistoric Graves (Gandhara Grave Culture), Swat Valley, Pakistan (n-99)'], in Narasimhan, Vagheesh M., et al., "Supplementary Materials for the formation of human populations in South and Central Asia", Science 365 (6 September 2019), pp. 137-164.</ref>

===Indo-Aryan migrations===
The polished black-gray pottery has been associated with that of other [[BMAC]] sites like Dashly in Afghanistan, [[Tepe Hissar]] and [[Tureng Teppe]]. According to [[Asko Parpola]], the presence of black-red pottery also suggests links with [[Cemetery H]] culture in Punjab. The burial of bodies, the metal pins used got fastening clothes and the terracotta statuettes of females, says Parpola, are similar to those found to the BMAC. The graves during the Ghalegay V period, previously considered to run from 1400-1000 BCE, are connected with those in [[Vakhsh culture|Vakhsh]] and [[Bishkent culture|Beshkent Valley]]. Parpola adds that these graves represent a mix of the practices found in northern [[Bactria]]n portion of BMAC during the period of 1700-1400 BCE and the Fedorovo [[Andronovo culture]].<ref>Parpola, Asko, (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=_eykCQAAQBAJ&dq=gandhara+grave+culture+bmac&pg=PA80 The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization], Oxford University Press, p. 80-81.</ref> However, these datings between 1700 and 1000 BCE are currently considered outdated, and Gandhara grave culture has been re-dated to c. 1400 to 800 BCE.<ref>Olivieri, Luca M., Roberto Micheli, Massimo Vidale, and Muhammad Zahir, (2019). [https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/2019_Science_NarasimhanPatterson_CentralSouthAsia_Supplement.pdf 'Late Bronze - Iron Age Swat Protohistoric Graves (Gandhara Grave Culture), Swat Valley, Pakistan (n-99)'], in Narasimhan, Vagheesh M., et al., "Supplementary Materials for the formation of human populations in South and Central Asia", Science 365 (6 September 2019), pp. 137-164.</ref>

According to [[Upinder Singh]], the Gandhara grave culture is similar to the one in the Ghalegay caves during their V, VI and VII phases.<ref>Singh, Upinder, (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&dq=gandhara+grave+culture+pottery+central+asia&pg=PA212 A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century], Pearson Education, Delhi, p. 212.</ref> Rajesh Kochhar says it may be associated with early [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] speakers as well as the [[Indo-Aryan migration]] into the [[Indian Subcontinent]],{{sfn|Kochhar|2000|pp=185-186}} which came from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Bactria–Margiana region]]. According to Kochhar, the Indo-Aryan culture fused with indigenous elements of the remnants of the [[Indus Valley civilization]] ([[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture|OCP]], [[Cemetery H culture|Cemetery H]]) and gave rise to the [[Vedic Civilization]].{{sfn|Kochhar|2000|pp=185-186}}

===Cultural continuity===
[[Asko Parpola]] argues that the Gandhara grave culture is "by no means identical with the [[Bronze Age]] Culture of [[Bactria]] and [[Margiana]]".{{sfn|Parpola|1993|p=54}} According to Tusa, the Gandhara grave culture and its new contributions are "in line with the cultural traditions of the previous period".{{sfn|Tusa|1977|p=690-692}} According to Parpola, in the centuries preceding the Gandhara culture, during the [[Early Harappan]] period (roughly 3200–2600 BCE), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments etc. document intensive caravan trade between the [[Indian Subcontinent]] and [[Central Asia]] and the [[Iranian plateau]].<ref>Asko Parpola, ''Study of the Indus Script'', May 2005 p. 2f.</ref> Tusa remarks that
{{quote|... to attribute a historical value to [...] the slender links with northwestern Iran and northern [[Afghanistan]] [...] is a mistake[, since] it could well be the spread of particular objects and, as such, objects that could circulate more easily quite apart from any real contacts.{{sfn|Tusa|1977|p=690-692}}}}
[[File:Cremation Urn with Lid LACMA AC1994.234.8a-b.jpg|thumb|Cremation urn]]
According to Kennedy, who argues for a local cultural continuity, the Gandhara grave culture people shared biological affinities with the population of Neolithic [[Mehrgarh]]. This suggests a "biological continuum" between the ancient populations of [[Timargarha]] and Mehrgarh.<ref>[[Kenneth A.R. Kennedy]]. 2000, [[God-Apes and Fossil Men|God-Apes and Fossil Men: Palaeoanthropology of South Asia]] Ann Arbor: [[University of Michigan Press]]. p. 339.</ref> This is contested by [[Yelena Yefimovna Kuzmina|Elena E. Kuz'mina]], who notes remains that are similar to some from Central Asian populations.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=x5J9rn8p2-IC&pg=PA307 "The origin of the Indo-iranians, volume 3"] Elena E. Kuz'mina p. 318</ref>

Antonini,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Antonini |first1=Chiara Silvi |title=More about Swāt and Central Asia |journal=East and West |volume=23 |issue=3/4 |pages=235–244 |jstor=29755885 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> Stacul,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stacul |first1=Giorgio |title=The Fractional Burial Custom in the Swāt Valley and Some Connected Problems |journal=East and West |volume=25 |issue=3/4 |pages=323–332 |jstor=29756090}}</ref> and other scholars argue that this culture is also not related to the [[Bishkent culture]] and [[Vakhsh culture]] of [[Tajikistan]].{{sfn|Bryant|2001}} However, [[Yelena Yefimovna Kuzmina|E. Kuz'mina]] argues the opposite on the basis of both archaeology and the human remains from the separate cultures.<ref>E. Kuz'mina, ''"The origin of the [[Indo-Iranians]], volume 3"'' (2007)</ref>

== Genetics ==
Narasimhan et al. 2018 analyzed DNA of 362 ancient skeletons from Central and South Asia, including those from the Iron Age grave sites discovered in the Swat valley of Pakistan (between 1200 BCE and 1 CE from [[Aligrama]], [[Barikot]], [[Butkara]], [[Katelai]], [[Loe Banr]], and [[Udegram]]). According to them, "there is no evidence that the main BMAC population contributed genetically to later South Asians", and that "Indus Periphery-related people are the single most important source of ancestry" in Indus Valley Civilization and South Asia. They further state that the Swat valley grave DNA analysis provides further evidence of "connections between [Central Asian] Steppe population and early Vedic culture in India".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Narasimhan|first1=Vagheesh M.|last2=Patterson|first2=Nick J.|last3=Moorjani|first3=Priya|last4=Lazaridis|first4=Iosif|last5=Mark|first5=Lipson|last6=Mallick|first6=Swapan|last7=Rohland|first7=Nadin|last8=Bernardos|first8=Rebecca|last9=Kim|first9=Alexander M.|title=The Genomic Formation of South and Central Asia|url= https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/03/31/292581|journal=bioRxiv|language=en|pages=292581|doi=10.1101/292581|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Pottery in the Indian subcontinent]]
*[[Chust culture]]
*[[Barikot]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation | last=Bryant | first=Edwin | author-link=Edwin Bryant (author) | title=[[The Quest for the Origins of Vedic culture]] | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2001 | isbn=0-19-513777-9}}
* {{Citation | last =Kochhar | first =Rajesh | title =The Vedic People: Their History and Geography | publisher =Sangam Books | year =2000 }}
* {{Citation | last=Müller-Karpe | first =Hermann | title =[[Jungbronzezeitlich-früheisenzeitliche Gräberfelder der Swat-Kultur in Nord-Pakistan]] | publisher=Beck | year=1983 | isbn=3406301541}}
* {{Citation | last =Parpola | first =Asko | year =1993 | title =Margiana and the Aryan Problem | journal =International Association for the Study of the Cultures of Central Asia Information Bulletin 19:41-62}}
* {{Citation | last =Tusa | first =Sebastiano | year =1977 | title =The Swat Valley in the 2nd and 1st Millennia BC: A Question of Marginality | journal =South Asian Archaeology 6:675-695}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060908052820/http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/3_1_05.html https://web.archive.org/web/20060908052920/http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/3_1_05.html]
* https://web.archive.org/web/20060908052731/http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/3_1_01.html
* https://books.google.com/books?id=x5J9rn8p2-IC&dq=isbn:900416054X&hl=en

[[Category:Gandhara|*]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in India]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of South Asia]]
[[Category:Bronze Age cultures of Asia]]
[[Category:Iron Age cultures of Asia]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Indo-Aryan archaeological cultures]]

Gandhara grave culture - Revision history

Bhumika at 10:29, 26 October 2022