  Maps showing (1) Geography of theRigveda withriver names and the extent of the Swat andCemetery H cultures; (2) Archaeological cultures associated withIndo-Iranian migrations (afterEIEC). TheAndronovo,BMAC, andYaz cultures have often been associated withIndo-Iranian migrations. The GGC (Swat), Cemetery H,Copper Hoard, andPGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated withIndo-Aryan migrations. | |
| Period | c. 1200–800 BCE |
|---|---|
| Type site | Swat Protohistoric Graveyards Complex |
TheGandhara grave culture of present-day Pakistan is known by its "protohistoric graves", which were spread mainly in the middleSwat River valley and named the Swat Protohistoric Graveyards Complex, dated in that region toc. 1200–800 BCE.[1] The Italian Archaeological Mission to Pakistan (MAIP) holds that there are no burials with these features after 800 BCE.[2] More recent studies by Pakistani scholars, such as Muhammad Zahir, consider that these protohistoric graves extended over a much wider geography and continued in existence from the 8th century BCE until thehistoric period.[3] The core region was in the middle of the Swat River course and expanded to the valleys ofDir,Kunar,Chitral, andPeshawar.[4] Protohistoric graves were present in north, central, and southernKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province as well as in north-western tribal areas, includingGilgit-Baltistan province,Taxila, andSalt Range in Punjab, Pakistan, along with their presence in IndianKashmir,Ladakh, andUttarakhand.[5]
The grave culture has been regarded as a token of theIndo-Aryan migrations but has also been explained by local cultural continuity. Estimates, based on ancient DNA analyses, suggest ancestors of middle Swat valley people mixed with a population coming from theInner Asian Mountain Corridor, which carriedSteppe ancestry, sometime between 1900 and 1500 BCE.[6]
Close to the end of the second millennium BCE, large graveyards appear in northern Gandhara (middle Swat River valley), featuring mainlyinhumations (c. 1200–900 BCE), the so-called Gandhara grave culture by earlier scholars, a period in which iron technology was introduced.[7] These graveyard types expanded to the northwest into Chitral, aroundSingoor, featuring burial traditions similar to protohistoric graves between the 8th century BCE and 17th century CE.[8]
A constant funeral tradition with pottery and similar artifacts can be found along the banks of theSwat andDir rivers in the north, Chitral, and the Vale of Peshawar.[9] Simply-made terracotta figurines were buried with the pottery, and other items are decorated with simple dot designs.[citation needed]
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.[10] There are more than thirty cemeteries of this tradition found inSwat and the surrounding valleys ofDir,Buner,Malakand,Chitral, and in theValley of Peshawar to the south, featuringcist graves, where large stone slabs were used to line the pit, above which another large flat stone was laid, forming a roof. Related settlement sites have also been found, increasing our knowledge of the culture.[11]
Anthropomorphic urns with cremation remains were not frequently found in graves, and the most common pottery within these graves isBurnished Grey Ware andBurnished Red Ware, along with human terracotta figurines. However, later graves are more elaborate, featuring more items, including horse remains andhorse furniture.[12]
Northern Gandhara, in the middle region of the Swat River, presents deposits ofBlack Burnished Ware, prior to the Gandhara grave culture, during theGhalegay IV period, c. 1700–1400 BCE.[13] New research, based on 34 excavated graves in Udegram, and in the nearby site of Gogdara, has uncovered two Gandhara grave culture burial phases, the first between 1400 and 1100 BCE, and the second from 1000 to 800 BCE, with an inter-phase in Gogdara, from 1200 to 900 BCE.[14]
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. These jars were frequently placed in circular pits, surrounded by objects of bronze, gold, and pottery. Multiple burials and fractional remains are found in the later phase, along with iron objects, coeval with the beginning of urban centers ofTaxila andCharsadda.[15]
The polished black-gray pottery has been associated with that of otherBMAC sites, like Dashly in Afghanistan,Tepe Hissar, andTureng Tepe. According toAsko Parpola, the presence of black-red pottery also suggests links withCemetery H culture in Punjab. The burial of bodies, the metal pins used for fastening clothes, and the terracotta statuettes of females, says Parpola, are similar to those found at BMAC. Graves during the Ghalegay V period, c. 1400–1000 BCE, may be connected with those inVakhsh andBishkent Valley. Parpola adds that these graves represent a mix of the practices found in the northernBactrian portion of BMAC, during the period of 1700–1400 BCE and the FedorovoAndronovo culture.[16]
According toUpinder Singh, the Gandhara grave culture is similar to the one in the Ghalegay caves during their V, VI, and VII phases.[17] Rajesh Kochhar says it may be associated with earlyIndo-Aryan speakers as well as theIndo-Aryan migration into theIndian subcontinent,[18] which came from theBactria–Margiana region. According to Kochhar, the Indo-Aryan culture fused with indigenous elements of the remnants of theIndus Valley civilization (OCP, Cemetery H) and gave rise to theVedic Civilization.[18]
Parpola has argued that the Gandhara grave culture is "by no means identical with theBronze Age Culture of Bactria andMargiana".[19] According to Tusa, the Gandhara grave culture and its new contributions are "in line with the cultural traditions of the previous period".[20] According to Parpola, in the centuries preceding the Gandhara culture, during theEarly Harappan period (roughly 3200–2600 BCE), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade between the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, and theIranian plateau.[21] Tusa remarks that
... 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.[20]
According to Kennedy, who argues for local cultural continuity, Gandhara grave culture people shared biological affinities with the population of NeolithicMehrgarh. This suggests a "biological continuum" between the ancient populations ofTimargarha and Mehrgarh.[22] This is contested byElena E. Kuz'mina, who notes remains that are similar to some from Central Asian populations.[23]
Antonini,[24] Stacul,[25] and other scholars argue that this culture is also not related to theBishkent culture andVakhsh culture ofTajikistan.[26] However, Kuz'mina argues the opposite on the basis of both archaeology and the human remains from the separate cultures.[27]
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 fromAligrama,Barikot,Butkara,Katelai,Loe Banr, andUdegram). According to them, the "Indus Periphery-related people" are "genetically similar to post-IVC groups in the Swat Valley of Pakistan" and "are the single most important source of ancestry in South Asia". They further state that "there is no evidence that the main BMAC population contributed genetically to later South Asians". Instead, the Swat valley grave DNA analysis provides further evidence of "Steppe MLBA ancestry being integrated into South Asian groups in the 2nd millennium BCE" and that the later samples from the region from "the 1st millennium BCE had higher proportions of Steppe and AASI derived ancestry more similar to that found on the Indian Cline".[28]
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