Abstract
The cultural significance of an area may be discerned from the archaeological remains which it possesses.
The Bajaur area has rich archaeological remains of the prehistoric, proto-historic and historic periods. The
prehistory or the Stone Age of the area comprises Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. The present paper
aims at introducing the last period of the Stone Age or prehistory which is generally known as Neolithic.
The term Neolithic literally means ‘new Stone Age’. It is characterized by the presence of some distinctive
features such as polished and ground stone tools along with flaked stone tools and domestication of
plants and animals. The Neolithic is further divided into two periods- aceramic or pre-pottery Neolithic and
ceramic or pottery Neolithic. It succeeded the Mesolithic period that began about 12,000 years B.P. in the
Holocene geological era.
The Neolithic period in the Bajaur area is represented by the Palaeolithic rock shelter of Ango Gatkai. The
excavation conducted here in 2004 has revealed a two-meter thick cultural deposit containing seven stratified
layers of which the three upper layers 1-3 in the profile are aceramic Neolithic because there is complete
absence of potsherds from the cultural materials at the site. The first evidence of pre- pottery Neolithic was
found at the site of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan. The rock shelter of Ango Gatkai is the second aceramic
Neolithic site in Pakistan after Mehrgarh and Kile Gul Muhammad in Baluchistan.
Lutfur Rehman. (2018) A Ceramic Neolithic in the Bajaur Area, Pakistan, Pakistan Heritage, Volume 10 , Issue 1 .
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