The Anceint site of Sarai Khola Taxila (1000 BC) (2021)

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(All pictures are owned, text reproduce from W. Bernhard Report, kindly respect copyrights)

Introduction:-

Located about half a kilometer to the west of Kala Nala bridge on the G.T. Road and four km in southwest of Taxila Museum, Sarai Khola was discovered in 1968. It was considered an important discovery as it brought to light the presence of the late Neolithic and Kat Dijjan settlements in the Taxila Valley. Sarai Khola gave valuable information regarding the early farming communities in Pakistan. It may be interesting to reproduce the chronological sequence in Taxila Valley prior to and after the discovery of Sarai Khola. The archaeological remains discovered in Sarai Khola significantly contributed to the research carried out on the archeological and cultural aspects of Taxila Valley.

The mound's importance can be judged because it pushed back the chronology of Taxila Valley from the 6th century B.C. to 4000 B.C. The Department of Archaeology carried out excavations from 1968 to 1973, during which terra cotta figurines of mother goddesses were frequently found. Besides, chest blades and beads, terracotta pots, and shreds were also uncovered. The most interesting discovery was the different types of burial customs of those days. The inhabitants used different styles to bury the dead bodies.

ETHNIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL ALLINITIES OP TWO BRONZE AND IRON AGE POPULATIONS OF NORTH PAKISTAN 

Reference Report of W . Bernhard In stitut für Anthropologie der Universität Mainz,

In the 1960s, alongside the discovery of skeletal materials from the cemeteries of the Gandhara Grave Culture, another cemetery was excavated near the renowned prehistoric and historic town of Taxila. This town, once an influential Buddhist center in the Gandhara region, held great significance during the last centuries B.C. (as referenced in Bernhard 1969, 1981).

Situated a mere two miles southwest of Bhir Mound, which represents the earliest settlement in Taxila near Rawalpindi, this cemetery became known as Sarai Khola Mound due to its proximity to a nearby village. Excavations conducted between 1968 and 1971 revealed four distinct periods of human occupation, spanning from the Late Neolithic (Period I) to the Early Medieval era (Period IV). Of particular interest was the discovery of a cemetery during Period III, separated by layers of deposit from the Kot Diji Period (circa 2800 B.C.) of Period II and the Medieval Period IV (circa 700-800 A.D.) (refer to Halim 1970-71, p. 34-36; Bernhard 1981). Within the Sarai Khola cemetery of Period III, graves were dug in parallel rows. The skeletons within these graves were found in an extended position, oriented in an east-west direction, with the head facing east. Notably, the absence of grave furniture distinguishes this cemetery, leaving the identities of those who utilized the Sarai Khola Mound as their final resting place unknown. Only a few iron objects, including two-finger rings, were discovered in some late cemetery graves. The presence of these iron objects indicates a post-1000 B.C. dating for the cemetery. Further analysis, including C-14 dating of skeletal material, revealed a more precise chronological age of approximately 270 ± 60 years B.C.

This timeframe places the cemetery within the same period when Taxila and Punjab were conquered by Alexander the Great, subsequently becoming part of the Kingdom of Bactria established by Alexander's successors in the northern Afghanistan and western Pakistan region. During my stay in Taxila in 1968, I collected skeletal remains from 47 graves. Subsequent excavation seasons (1969-1971) uncovered an additional 65 graves. The collected material is currently located in Karachi and will be subject to future study. Notably, the 1968 excavation provided well-preserved or restorable skulls of 18 males and 10 females, allowing for extensive anthropological measurements and morphological observations to be conducted (see Table 1). In contrast to the long and narrow-faced population of the Gandhara Grave Complex, the Sarai Khola skeletal series is characterized by a relatively high percentage of brachycranic skulls. This distinction is further supported by the arithmetic means of cranial measurements, which show comparatively low values for cranial length and high values for cranial breadth (see Benhard 1969, 1981). Given its proximity, there is no doubt that the population buried in Sarai Khola Mound was somehow connected to Taxila and the historical events that transpired there. However, the exact identity of these people remains a mystery.

It is unlikely that they belonged to the native population of Taxila. Historical accounts from individuals who accompanied Alexander the Great on his journey to India indicate that the Iranian customs of exposing the dead to vultures, potentially introduced by Persian settlers in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., as well as cremation, were practiced in Taxila (see Marshall 1951, p. 16 ff). Even during Buddhist times, cremation was the prevalent burial method. This may explain the lack of uncovered cemeteries in Taxila thus far. The few skeletons found in Taxila, which do not belong to regular burials, were excavated in the Dharmarajika Monastery and likely represent the remains of monks killed by the White Huns during the sack and burning of the monastery around the end of the 5th century A.D. (see Bernhard 1981). It is also improbable that the burials in Sarai Khola Mound were associated with a village population residing in the immediate vicinity of Taxila. The demographic composition of the cemetery deviates significantly from what one would expect from a rural population, primarily due to the low frequency of child burials. Hence, it is more plausible to suggest that the Sarai Khola cemetery was linked to foreign occupations of Taxila, particularly the seizure of Taxila by Alexander the Great and the subsequent nearly ten-year Greek garrison, as well as the conquest and approximately one-hundred-year domination of the Bactrian Greeks. The results of multivariate statistical analysis support this hypothesis. Thirteen series from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent and 39 series from other regions in Asia, Europe, and North Africa were included in the analysis (for detailed information, refer to Bernhard 1981). Figure 3 illustrates the connections between these series, highlighting the closest morphological affinities to the Sarai Khola collection. It becomes apparent that the Sarai Khola population exhibits morphological relationships, particularly with skeletal series from Southeast and Eastern Europe, while no affinities with series from India and Pakistan are observed. According to the Penrose distance, the closest morphological relationship is found with two Greek series, one from Greece (No. 30) and the other from the Greek colony of Phanagoria (No. 31) in the Black Sea area (see also Bernhard 1981). Cluster analysis further supports these findings, revealing a close connection between the Sarai Khola population and various Greek series (see Bernhard 1981). Based on these results, it is reasonable to suggest that the Sarai Khola cemetery is somehow related to the Greek rule over Taxila, whether during Alexander the Great's campaign to India or the subsequent rule of the Bactrian Greeks. Lukacs' analysis of the dentition of the Sarai Khola skeletal series (1983) reinforces this conclusion, indicating the closest affinities with people from Southwest Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean.