Shahi Tump

It was felt that the early ceramic periods (c. 4000 BCE) should correspond to a network of trade among early civilizations, which would be eventually followed by a deterioration of trade, and be followed by the subsequent rise of the Indus and Kulli Civilizations at around 2500 BCE. Instead, what was found at these two sites, which are either side of the river Kech, near present-day Turbat, revealed a second Pottery centre (after Mehrgarh) which had begun producing fine ceramic wares around the same time or earlier than at Mehrgarh and importantly, had exported these fine wares far across the region. The quality of these jars and goblets (in the Togau-style) has somewhat redefined the date for ‘Kiln-firing, to some 4500 BCE. In fact, the earliest examples of these ceramics are as fine and more delicate than the later examples, and executed with skill that makes such examples literally priceless when compared to what can be produced today. Indeed, the extent of the pottery workshops, the commonality of design, and the distances traded caused several leading archaeologists of the day to re-evaluate their basic assumptions regarding patterns of human migration, as opposed to only ‘tribal migration .