Mohenjo-Daro

Bitumen was used in ancient times as an adhesive for sealing hydraulic structures and as mortar for masonry (5]. The Bible mentions that Noah used pitch for caulking the Ark. Not unlike the Tower of Babylon, the houses of one of the most ancient cities in the world, Mohenjo-Daro in the upper Indus valley, were constructed with bricks of clay and bitumen monar [61. 

Early analyses for 14 archaeological asphalts from various sources are collected in Table II. The late R. J. Forbes of the Shell Laboratories in Amsterdam contributed most, with samples from Ur and Babylon as well as from Mohenjo Daro in the Indus Valley far to the east (3). Analytical methods were not described clearly, yet several similarities in the results of diflEerent analysts are evident. The bitumen content of nine... 

There are also evident diflFerences among the results of analyses given in Table II. Least bitumen appears to be removed by ethyl ether and carbon bisulfide and most by chloroform and pyridine. The contents of sulfur and especially minerals in the bitumens seem erratic. The ratio of carbonate to silica is about 2 1 at Susa but is much higher at Babylon and much lower at Jarmo, Ur, and Mohenjo Daro. These diflFerences and the high gypsum content at Mohenjo Daro suggest that each site had separate sources of asphalt. 

Eventually, a drift and concentration of tribes founded the great civilisations of the Nile in Egypt, Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates in modern-day Iraq, the Hwang-Ho valley in China and the Indus civilisation of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa - all of which came into their own between 4000 and 2000 BC. 

Fed by melting snow from the Himalayas, the Indus River and its tributaries sustain life in central Pakistan. South Asia s first urbanized civilization developed in the Indus River valley in the period 2600-1900 B.c. An archaeologist posed the question, With whom were the residents of the Indus Civilization interacting when they acquired rock and mineral resources " Many archaeological rock and mineral artifacts were studied, but we will focus on silver ornaments found at Allahdino and Mohenjo-daro (Figure 20-19). 

Figure 20-19 Map of South Asia. Arrows show regions that could be sources of silver found at the Indus Civilization sites of Mohenjo-daro and Allahdino. Balochistan is a region of present day Pakistan, and Rajasthan is a region of present day India. [Relief map adapated from Bhktop B, Wikipedia Commons, http // en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File Relief Map of Middle East.jpg.]...

Figure 20-20 Lead isotope ratios of silver ornaments compared with isotope ratios from known lead ore sources near the Indus River basin. Most isotope ratios from ornaments found near Allahdino match the ore composition from South Balochistan. Isotope ratios from ornaments found near Mohenjo-daro are similar to those from South Rajasthan and from one mine in Oman. [Adapted from R. W. Law and j. H. Burton, Am. Lab. News Ed., September 2008, p. 14 R. W. Law. Inter-Regional Interaction and Urbanism in the Ancient Indus Valley (Kyoto Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 2010).]... 

Nine of ten ornaments found at Allahdino have a lead isotope composition similar to that of silver-containing lead ore from South Balochistan (Figure 20-20), which is near Allahdino. Five ornaments from Mohenjo-daro and one of ten from Allahdino do not match any known mining sites in Pakistan but are similar in isotopic composition to ore from South Rajasthan in India and a site across the Arabian Sea in Oman. It is possible that the silver came from these more distant sites. Archaeologists make increasing use of the most sophisticated analytical techniques to address question in anthropology. 

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