Ancient site · Settlement
Burzahom
A Neolithic village near Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley. Its first farmers lived in pit dwellings dug into the ground, some with steps, and made bone and polished stone tools, including harvesting knives like those of China.
Bones of dogs and deer were found buried with people, and a carved stone shows a hunting scene. Later people built mudbrick houses and raised large standing stones (menhirs). The finds show contacts with Central Asia and the Indus world.
- Dates
- c. 3000–1000 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 34.17° N, 74.87° E
How we know
No writing existed; dated by radiocarbon, which puts the first occupation before about 2350 BCE.
Nearby sites
- Taxila c. 1000 BCE–5th century CE
- Takht-i-Bahi 1st–7th century CE
- Harappa c. 3300–1300 BCE; city at its height c. 2600–1900 BCE
- Bhirrana claimed c. 7500 BCE; most scholars: 4th millennium BCE to c. 1900 BCE
- Kalibangan c. 3500–1750 BCE
- Rakhigarhi village from c. 4600 BCE; city c. 2600–1900 BCE
Related
- Northern Neolithic (Kashmir) archaeological culture
- The world in 3000 BCE: The First Kings chapter