259
258
Standing feMale Statuette
Indus, Balochistan
Mehrgarh VII style (ca. 2700–2500 BC)
Ligabue Collection, Venice
(cat. 100)
fiGureS from BAlochiStAn
And the induS
T
he first cities of the indus valley civilization were discovered in the first half
of the twentieth century by the excavations John marshall, ernest mackay
and m.S. Vats on the two major sites of mohenjo-daro
in Sindh and harap-
pa in punjab, dated from ca. 2500 to 1900 Bc. With other contemporary sites like
chanhu-daro and Amri in Sindh or lothal and Kalibangan in india, these sites
yielded an impressive number of figurines, mostly in terracotta. the exploration
of the mountains of Balochistan, the Zhob and loralai valleys at the beginning of
the twentieth
century by Aurel Stein, Stuart piggott or Walter fairservis discovered
numerous human figurines with “google eyes” which can now be attributed to the
first half of the third millennium. the french Archaeological mission at mehrgarh
and nausharo in the Kachhi plain brought to light an extension of the indus culture
into the mountains of Balochistan, changing our understanding of the prehistory in
this part of the subcontinent. An almost continuous sequence from 7000 to the mid
first millennium Bc documents the dawn of agro-pastoralism. in this context, the
anthropomorphic figurines are of major importance as
ideological and symbolical
markers. A long tradition of female and males, in clay or terracotta, may be traces
1
Evolution of clay figurines types from
Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age,
Mehrgarh,
Baluchistan, Pakistan, VI–III
millennia BC
261
260
2
Stamp seal depicting the mythical
“unicorn” with signs of the yet
undeciphered
Indus script
India-Pakistan ???
Indus valley culture
(late III millennium BC)
Steatite
Ligabue Collection, Venice,
inv. CL 3015 TENIAMO???
3
“King-priest” wearing a cloak
decorated with trefoils
Mohenjo Daro, Pakistan
Indus Valley culture
(late III millennium BC)
Low fired steatite
National Museum of Pakistan,
Karachi
from the first neolithic occupations, where they precede the emergence of pottery,
to the final period of nausharo (ca. 1900 Bc). most of them are fragmentary and
come from thrash deposits.
the mehrgarh i-ii human figures (ca. 6000 Bc) are
schematically modelled, with-
out arms, either standing or in a biconical seated position, with pointed head and
legs and a large and flexed central part at the hips. they are often coloured with red
ochre. they often have applied elements, coils, strips or pellets of clay, representing
ornaments, a belt, or a necklace. in
the course of time, figurines became more nat-
uralistic, with a pinched nose and legs divided by a cutting. during the Chalcolithic
periods in the Kachi/Bolan area they were produced by the thousands, prototypes
of a long stylistic evolution that endured throughout the fifth and fourth millennium
until the end of the third millennium (
fig. 1
).
during the Chalcolithic period, from the mid-fourth millennium and during all the
third millennium, the production of figurines became part of the activity of specialized
potters, using the same clay. there is a tendency towards naturalism, paralleled by
the increasingly complex ceramic production. triangular
legs and large hips are as
before the main characteristics, but the successive addition of applied features and
ornaments give them a less abstract aspect. legs and arms are separated and new
features appear on distinctly male figurines. A new type is introduced at mehrgarh,
with obvious western connections. these “strangers” have a modelled head, plain
and rounded, almond shaped hollowed eyes, a pointed nose with pierced nostril
and applied ears. t
he finely shaped body is without any application of ornaments.
the diffusion of this technique covers as far north as the Quetta valley and Zhob
and loralai, beyond which eastern limit are zones where the evolution followed a
parallel way, like in the Gomal valley. to the west, as at Mundigak, shahr-i sokhta
or
deh Morasi Ghundai, are exports of the end product.
At nausharo, where the first levels overlap those of Mehrgarh, the production is
still active during the following evolved Indus assemblage (ca. 2400–2100 BC): figu-
rines with stiff legs and wearing skirts as well as “turban” or “fan-like” headdresses,
comparable to those from Harappa or Mohenjo-daro. As in Mehrgarh, the terracotta
figurines from Balochistan continue a stylistic tradition but merge into a new world,
associated with other types, born on the sites of the mature Indus civilization.
the development of the urban civilization of the Indus was in many ways paral-
lel
to that of Mesopotamia, but unlike Mesopotamia, there were no images of Indus
rulers building temples or conquering enemies. the stone sculptures showing a
seated male with bag-shaped skirt hiding the legs may represent rulers or elite of the
Indus cities. Crowned with a fillet tied around the head, without weapons or other
symbols of authority held in the hands, it is clear in their stylization and attitude
that the imposing presence of such a figure as the “king-priest” (
fig. Mohenjo daro
)
impressed the people of the oxus.
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