Previous Year Question
The earliest evidence of agriculture in Indian sub-continent is found at
Lothal
Harappa
Mehrgarh
Mundigak
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
The correct answer is Mehrgarh.
Mehrgarh is one of the earliest known sites of agriculture and settled village life in the Indian subcontinent. It is situated in the Kachi Plain of present-day Balochistan, Pakistan, near the Bolan Pass.
Settlement at Mehrgarh is considered to have begun around 7000 BCE. Its earliest phase is regarded as an aceramic Neolithic phase, meaning that the inhabitants practised agriculture and animal husbandry even before the use of pottery had begun.
Evidence of the cultivation of wheat and barley has been found at the site. There is also evidence for the domestication of sheep, goats and cattle. Mehrgarh is therefore extremely important for understanding the transition from a hunting-gathering way of life to a food-producing economy.
Early Mehrgarh also had mud-brick houses, structures associated with the storage of grain, and stone and bone tools. In later phases, pottery, more developed crafts and evidence of contacts with distant regions appeared.