This is an account of explorations along the Makran coast of Pakistan
for evidence of trade and cultural connections between the Indus/Harappan
civilization and the Near East. The Indus Valley of Pakistan was the seat
of one of the Old World's earliest urban cultures (cir. 2500-1800 B.C.)
(Marshall 1931; Mackay 1938; Vats 1940; Wheeler 1968), the same period during
which the Sumerian and Akkadian cultures were thriving in southern Mesopotamia
and the Persian Gulf region. We were searching for archaeological evidence
relating to the question of trade and other contacts between these two major
seats of early civilization.
The form of the first part of this report is unconventional. Expanded diary
entries are used to describe the actual survey. They begin after a brief
account of our daily efforts in Karachi to obtain the exploration license.
I selected this form to best convey a sense of the opportunities and limitations
that are encountered in that remote region. In retrospect, our camel and
fishing-boat modes of transportation seem needlessly primitive, but at the
time, given extremely limited resources and information, it was the only
way to go. It was a unique experience, the excitement of which I hope comes
through in the first half of this report.
The second part of the report is more conventional and presents the results
of the excavations at the Harappan site of Sutkagen Dor and the surface
collections of Harappan sherds at Sotka Koh.
Financial support for the expedition was provided by Mrs. W. E. Seeley
of Cleveland, Ohio (my mother) and by the Board of Trustees of the University
Museum, Philadelphia. Dr. Froelich Rainey, Director of the University Museum;
Dr. Alfred Kidder III, the Associate Director; and Dr. Robert H. Dyson,
Assistant Curator of the Near Eastern Section of the Museum (and currently
its Director), were instrumental in the decision of the University Museum
to participate in such a venture. Another graduate student at the University
of Pennsylvania, T. Cuyler Young, Jr.-who had archaeological field experience
at Hasanlu, Iran-was invited to be Assistant Field Director. My wife, Barbara,
joined the team as Field Assistant and Secretary. The coolheadedness and
good humor of Cuyler and Barbara, often under exceedingly trying and exhausting
circumstances, were indispensable elements in the success of the expedition.
Medical advice and supplies were provided by Dr. C. E. Mulligan of Cleveland,
Ohio. Many of the supplies were contributed through the generosity of Squibb
and Sons, Wyeth Labs., Schering Corporation, and Eli Lilly Corporation.
In Pakistan, our initial inexperience was partly overcome by the friendly
cooperation and assistance we received from the staff of the American Embassy
in Karachi and the U.S. Operations Mission, International Cooperation Administration
(ICA); especially, Dr. Robert W. Caldwell, Labor Attache and liaison between
the expedition and the government of Pakistan; Hallock R. Lucius, Embassy
Staff Aid who took over Caldwell's liaison duties after Caldwell's transfer
out of Pakistan; Ed Kemp, Head of the Consular Section; Hal Vaughn of U.S.
Information Service (USIS); and Dr. Fredrick Bunting, Deputy Director, U.S.
Operations Mission, ICA, and his wife, Ethel-Jane, who became the "Guardian
Angel" of the expedition.
Special thanks go also to Dr. Sherman A. Minton, Jr. (School of Medicine
of Indiana University who was working at the Institute of Basic Medical
Sciences, Karachi) and his wife, Madge, for their generous contributions
of friendship and sage advice; to John A. Reinemund, American Advisor to
the Geological Survey of Pakistan; to Scotty Mitchell and John Mohar, manager
and geologist respectively of the Tidewater Oil Company, Karachi; and to
Robert "Bobbie" L. Raikes, hydrologist-cum-archaeologist, and
his wife, Janet, who became life-long friends and confidants.
The project could not have happened without the approval and cooperation
of the Department of Archaeology, government of Pakistan and its Director-General,
Dr. F. A. Khan. Dr. Khan's personal interest in the project was instrumental
in our obtaining the license for the explorations. The administrative details
were efficiently and cheerfully handled by Muhammad Siddique, Assistant
Director of Archaeology. Many officials in the Pakistan government assisted
in various aspects of the project. I want especially to thank S. M. Sharif,
Secretary of the Ministry of Education; S. M. Ali, Ministry of Education,
Karachi; Mhd. Ibrahim, Section Officer, Foreign Office, Karachi; Aga Ghulam
Hussain, Deputy Director, Central Fisheries, Karachi; Dr. Habibur Rahman,
Geological Survey of Pakistan; Dr. S. A. Naqvi, Director of the National
Museum, Karachi; Dr. Mohamad Ismail Siddiqi, Department of Geography, University
of Karachi; and Capt. (Dr.) Ikramma Rohman, Head of the Department of Geography,
Urdu College, Karachi.
While in the field, we were aided by many Pakistani government officials
and private citizens without whose help and cooperation many of our practical
problems concerning travel, subsistence, and security would have been more
difficult. Special appreciation goes to: Major Montaz, Head of Customs,
Kalat Division; Nazir Ahmad, Deputy Superintendent of Customs, Kalat Division;
Jahangir, Commander of the Makran Militia, Sunstar; the Tahsildars of Jiwani,
Gwadar, Pasni, and Ormara-especially Abu Bakr the Tahsildar of Jiwani whose
cooperation made our work at Sutkagen Dor and Jiwani possible; Safdar Manzoor,
Burmah Shell Aviation Service Representative, Jiwani, who graciously invited
us to share his house; the Customs and Fisheries personnel at Jiwani, Gwadar,
Pasni, and Ormara who so generously helped us by providing rest-house facilities
and local transportation. And an extra word of appreciation is due to Mir
Ahmad Khan Kalmati, head of the Kalmati tribe, Pasni, who personally accompanied
us on our survey of the Pasni area and led us to the previously unknown
Harappan site of Sotka Koh, located on his property north of Pasni.
Adequate words are hard to find to express our appreciation for the assistance
and support of Muhammad Rafique Mughal, our representative from the Department
of Archaeology. A relationship of trust and friendship that started in Makran
has persisted to this day. We are proud to have been associated all these
years with one of Pakistan's finest archaeologists.
In the final stages of completing the manuscript, several persons have been
of inestimable assistance: Theodore Chenoweth and Patrick Kirch read early
drafts of the text and offered substantial suggestions concerning style
and organization; Dawn Morton prepared the final drawings of the pottery;
Gregory Possehl arranged for the loan to Berkeley of the Sutkagen Dor sherds
in the University Museum collections and also for the making of new prints
of some of the expedition's black-and-white photographs.
I want to extend special appreciation to Carl Lipo. Carl generated the maps
and plans on a Mac II and a Laserwriter printer at Berkeley's Department
of South and Southeast Asian Studies (using the program CANVAS 2.1 by Deneba
Software, Inc.). He contributed valuable suggestions concerning the Sutkagen
Dor excavation plans and sections, worked with me on the descriptions and
classification of the pottery, and assisted in the numerous tasks required
to finalize the manuscript for the editor. His constant help and encouragement
certainly qualify him to be recognized as coauthor of the volume.
I want to thank University of California at Berkeley's Archaeological
Research Facility (ARF), especially Kent
Lightfoot (Director) and Anne Sauter (Administrative Assistant), for
accepting the manuscript and Tanya Smith (Editor) for seeing it through
production. Appreciation is due Charles Whitehill, student volunteer at
ARF who made many of the black-and-white prints in this report. In addition,
I want to acknowledge the help extended by Berkeley graduate students Chris
Kostman and Mary Anne Pouls in selecting and organizing the illustrations.
Finally, I want to thank my wife, Barbara, for the various observations
and anecdotes she has contributed to the text on matters that had long since
slipped my memory. No words can express adequately my appreciation for the
patience and understanding she has showered on me during difficult times
in preparing the report.
December 1991
Editor's note: The photos in this volume were taken by George Dales and
Cuyler Young.