The site of Miri Qalat and the Kech-Makran (Balochistan, Pakistan) during the second half of the 3rd millennium BC

Miri Qalat is the most important archaeological site of the Kech Valley in Kech-Makran located south-west of Pakistani Balochistan. Excavations carried out between 1990 and 1996 by the French Archaeological Mission in Makran led by Roland Besenval in cooperation with the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan, established the first chrono-cultural sequence of the region between the mid-late 5th millennium BCE and the 19th century CE and yielded major data about the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods in this region. Trench I excavations unearthed in particular the remains of a settlement in mudbrick and stone related to the first centuries of the Indus Civilization (2500-1900 BCE), which is known as the first urban phenomenon in South Asia. With Sutkagen-dor and Sotka-Koh, two major maritime trading outposts located in the coastal area of Kech-Makran, Miri Qalat is one of the westernmost sites relating to the Indus Civilization and may played a key role in the regional exchanges between the coastal area of Kech-Makran providing access to maritime commerce with the Oman Peninsula, and the Indus Valley. This publication project, directed by Dr. Aurore Didier, also includes the results of archaeological surveys conducted by the French Mission on some thirty sites dating from the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE which show that the local tradition in connection with a south-eastern Iranian cultural horizon did not disappear with the arrival of the Indus Civilization.

Miri Qalat: View of Trench I excavation in 1996
Miri Qalat: View of Trench I excavation in 1996
Miri Qalat, Indus-related architecture and material
Miri Qalat, Indus-related architecture and material