Nausharo

Nausharo is located in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is well known as an archaeological site for the Harappan period . The excavations were carried out between 1985 and 1996 by a French team of archaeologists, under the direction of Jean-François Jarrige. The other sites belonging to the same cluster are Mehrgarh and Pirak.

Nausharo excavation

Excavations at Nausharo, 6 km from Mehrgarh, revealed a dwelling-site contemporaneous and identical to Mehrgarh, It was occupied between 3000 and 2550 BCE and again between 2550 and 1900 BCE.

Pottery workshop at Nausharo

The workshop dates to about 2500-2400 BC, the first Indus phase. At least four rooms of the settlement at Nausharo were dedicated to pottery manufacture, although other deposits of kilns and related artifacts were found elsewhere. The workshop tools included 12 flint blades or blade fragments, a bone tool, a terra cotta tool, a large clay coil shaped in a ring, a piece of red ochre, some raw clay, clay shavings, and two grinding stones. Additional evidence included baked clay receptacles, kilns, saggars, and jar base molds.

The remains of approximately 25 broken unfired clay vessels of various shapes were also discovered. All but one were unpainted. Most of the pedestalled dishes, perforated jars and large bowls were made of the same clay, a fine-grained sandy marl, and most of the vessels found throughout Nausharo were of the same material, between 2700-2300 BC.