According to the papers published in Scientific Reports, dairy products were being produced by the Harappans as far back as 2500 BCE.
- This is the first time it’s been proved scientifically that dairy production was in place in the Indus Valley civilization in 2500 BCE, and the earliest known evidence of dairy production.
- The new study throws fresh light on the rural economy of the ancient civilisation.
- The results were based on molecular chemical analysis of residue in 59 shards of pottery found at the archaeological site of Kotada Bhadli a small archeological site in present-day Gujarat.
- The pot preserves the molecules of food such as fats and proteins. Using techniques like C16 and C18 analysis researchers can identify the source of lipids.
- A preliminary study suggested that most of the cattle and water-buffalo died at an older age, suggesting they could have been raised for milk, whereas the majority of goat/sheep died when they were young, indicating they could have been used for meat.
- The year 2020 marks 100 years of discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation.
- The researchers say that the most fascinating thing about the Indus Valley Civilisation is that it is faceless — there is no king, no bureaucratic organisations, but there are these very close regional interactions between settlements.
Background
- In 1826, a British traveller Charles Masson came across some mysterious brick mounds.
- In 1856, engineers building a railway found more bricks and they carted them off and continued to build the railway. These bricks were the first evidence of the lost Indus city of Harappa.
- In the 1920s, archaeologists uncovered the remains of two long-forgotten cities and found the Indus Valley civilisation.
(The Hindu and HT)
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