Afghanistan
PREHISTORY
Paleolithic peoples probably roamed Afghanistan as early
as 100,000 BC. The earliest definite evidence of human occupation
was found in the cave of
Darra-i-Kur in Badakhshan,
where a transitional
Neanderthal skull fragment
in association with Mousterian-type tools was discovered; the
remains are of the Middle Paleolithic, dating about 30,000 years
ago. Caves near
Aq Kopruk
yielded evidence of an early
Neolithic culture (c.
9000-6000 BC) based on domesticated animals. Archaeological
research since World War II has revealed
Bronze Age sites, dating
both before and after the Indus Valley (or Harappan)
civilization of the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BC. There was
trade with Bronze Age Mesopotamia and Egypt, the main export
from the Afghan area being lapis lazuli from the mines of
Badakhshan. In
addition, a site with definite links to the Harappan
civilization has been excavated at Shortugai near the Amu River,
northeast of Konduz.
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