0:00:36 > 0:00:39I'm Nimra. I live in Pakistan,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43home to a large part of the Indus civilisation.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53The Indus civilisation existed 4,500 years ago
0:00:53 > 0:00:58in the area which is now known as Pakistan and Northern India.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01The major excavated sites
0:01:01 > 0:01:04in Pakistan are Mohenjo-daro
0:01:04 > 0:01:06and Harappa.
0:01:06 > 0:01:12A lot of the historical sites are a long way from where I live.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14I live in Karachi,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16a big city.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Around 15 million people live here.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23It's where the port is,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25and lots of business happens here.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34Today, Karachi is known as the commercial capital of Pakistan.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39This is my home.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43I'm packing for a trip.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49I'm going to find out the history of my country in 2,500 BC.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58'This is my friend Sara.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01'She's coming along, too.'
0:02:03 > 0:02:06We're going to Harappa,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10one of the most important archaeological sites
0:02:10 > 0:02:13in the whole of the Indus civilisation.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25We're going to meet Dr Asma Ibrahim, an archaeologist.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29She's going to tell us what life was like for the Indus people,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and how archaeologists know about it.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37An archaeologist is a person who is studying the past
0:02:37 > 0:02:42and the ancient lives of people, how they were living,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46so, basically, an archaeologist is an historian as well.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Archaeologists have to carefully analyse and record
0:03:03 > 0:03:08every single artefact which survives.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14Sometimes, it's the only way they can piece together how people used to live -
0:03:14 > 0:03:16like a jigsaw with bits missing.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27What is the best thing you've found in Harappa?
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Well, for me, the best thing which we found at Harappa
0:03:31 > 0:03:33was the skeletons, human skeletons.
0:03:33 > 0:03:39We excavated this area. This is the area where the skeletons were found.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46Archaeologists think people in the cemetery could have been quite well off.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01You know, bones can tell us a lot about a person
0:04:01 > 0:04:04and the people of the time here.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Is this a real skeleton or not?
0:04:06 > 0:04:11Yes, it's a real skeleton. We excavated it from the Harappa site.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14How do you know how the Harappan people lived?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Well, we can study the bones and we can tell how they lived,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21what was their profession.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24You see these lines on the bones?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27These are due to the attachment of the muscles.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31The person who is more hardworking will have stronger bones,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33and there will be more marks.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- How do you know what they ate? - Through their teeth,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39you can tell what they were eating.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42If we take a specimen from the teeth
0:04:42 > 0:04:45and analyse those under the microscope,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48you can tell what diet they had.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52The second thing is, whether they were eating more meat or vegetables
0:04:52 > 0:04:56is very easy to tell from of the size of the teeth.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59If the teeth are not very worn out,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02that means they were having vegetables, an easy diet.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05If they were eating more meat,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09then the teeth would be more damaged or smaller in size.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13- Is this a male or a female? - This is a boy.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15How do you know this is a boy?
0:05:15 > 0:05:19We have many ways to tell if this is a male or a female.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22The first thing is the size of the skull.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27The size of the skull is smaller in females. The size of the jaw
0:05:27 > 0:05:31is smaller in females. And then the size of the pelvic area
0:05:31 > 0:05:36is bigger in the females because of childbirth.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Generally, the bones of the females are smaller than the males.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46There are many different clues
0:05:46 > 0:05:51which can help us to build up a picture of how old an artefact is.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54A process known as radiocarbon dating
0:05:54 > 0:05:59can help to date the age of any object which has been alive.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04After death, the objects release a substance called radioactive carbon.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06How much is left in the item
0:06:06 > 0:06:10can help the scientist work out how old it is.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17We can also get a good idea of how old something is
0:06:17 > 0:06:20when we take it out of the ground.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Even fragments of bones, seeds and broken artefacts
0:06:31 > 0:06:34can provide important clues.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Here we come to one of the trenches on the side.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01How deep an artefact was buried can give us a good idea
0:07:01 > 0:07:05of when it was buried and therefore how old it is.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10It's called stratigraphy. It's a bit like the layers of a cake,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13each layer representing a different time.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Can you see the different layers here?
0:07:31 > 0:07:34What can you see buried here?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- What are these?- These are, um...
0:07:49 > 0:07:54- animal bones.- What do you think they did with the animals?
0:07:54 > 0:07:58The people of Harappa were very well advanced people,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and they started domesticating the animals,
0:08:01 > 0:08:06so they were using them for daily life, agricultural life,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09having the milk from the cows,
0:08:09 > 0:08:14so they knew all about how to domesticate the animals.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19- What type of animal bones are these?- Well, they are bulls,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21dogs and cows.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26- How do you know?- We take the measurements of the bones
0:08:26 > 0:08:29and through the size of the bones, we can tell -
0:08:29 > 0:08:31a cow or a bull or a dog.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- What did the Harappans eat? - We believe
0:08:34 > 0:08:38that they used to include every kind of nutrition.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43They had wheat, barley, vegetables, and meat also, so maybe this menu
0:08:43 > 0:08:46had a variety of different things.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53It is likely that they had plenty of choice on the menu
0:08:53 > 0:08:56as people have in Pakistan today.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Harappa was stumbled upon by accident in the 1820s
0:09:04 > 0:09:09by a slightly shady character by the name of Charles Masson.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12He was the first person
0:09:12 > 0:09:17to bring this ancient site to the attention of westerners,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20but no-one really knew how old it was.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26Charles Masson might have inadvertently alerted the world
0:09:26 > 0:09:30to one of the oldest civilisations in existence,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32but he also had a big secret.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36His real name was James Lewis
0:09:36 > 0:09:40and he was a deserter from the British Army.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48The British were trying to get a foothold
0:09:48 > 0:09:50in this part of the country.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55He was found out, and forced to work as a spy
0:09:55 > 0:09:57in return for an official pardon.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Charles Masson, James Lewis, whatever he was called,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08nonetheless publicised the ancient site in his travel book
0:10:08 > 0:10:13and it captured the attention of the world and the archaeologists.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18But there was a problem with Harappa.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Its great walls and buildings had already been demolished,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27mostly by the British and also by the local people.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33The bricks had been taken away
0:10:33 > 0:10:39and used to build houses and over 200km of railway track
0:10:39 > 0:10:42between Lahore and Multan.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Some of the houses in modern Harappa
0:10:58 > 0:11:02are built out of the stolen 4,500-year-old bricks,
0:11:02 > 0:11:08and they still stand today. Why do you think that's possible?
0:11:09 > 0:11:14This is due to the fact that, in 2600 BC,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18the Indus people developed an advanced technology.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20They baked their bricks in fire
0:11:20 > 0:11:25as well as the less-advanced method of sun-drying bricks.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Fired bricks are stronger.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38Bricks around the world, in Pakistan and in Britain today,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40are still baked in fire.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04There are even 4,500-year-old bricks
0:12:04 > 0:12:07with animal paw-prints!
0:12:07 > 0:12:10That's a dog paw-print
0:12:10 > 0:12:13from 2500 BC.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18What animal do you think made THIS footprint?
0:12:23 > 0:12:29Wow! Dr Asma, look! We've found something.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34- It's a piece of pottery. - Oh, yes. It IS a pot.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37- This is a small pot. - It's all broken up.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Yeah, it seems to be broken up
0:12:39 > 0:12:44- and now we must be very careful to take this out.- Looks like pottery.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49- You can see the rims of the pot? - Yes.- Whenever we find
0:12:49 > 0:12:52some object like this, we are really excited,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55and we have to see which period it belongs to.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59- What did it look like at that time? - When we take it out,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03we will study if there is any pattern on it,
0:13:03 > 0:13:08and then we can tell if this is a typical Harappan pot.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12They were usually red pots with black paint on it.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Common patterns are fish scales...
0:13:18 > 0:13:20..leaves...
0:13:20 > 0:13:23and circles.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26When the items have been excavated,
0:13:26 > 0:13:31the archaeologist then records exactly where it was found
0:13:31 > 0:13:34and what it was.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38This can help us to classify or group the pieces together
0:13:38 > 0:13:43which can then offer more clues than just an individual object.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46The jars are all grouped as pottery.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49They were used for cooking or storage
0:13:49 > 0:13:54so they have been placed with other domestic or household items.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59These artefacts are also terracotta pottery.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03How would YOU classify or group them?
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- Ah, look.- Bangles.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47These bangles are also made out of terracotta, like the pots.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52We could put all the terracotta artefacts together,
0:14:52 > 0:14:57but do you think they should be categorised as jewellery instead?
0:14:57 > 0:14:59In modern Pakistan and India,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03bangles are an important part of traditional costume.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06This tiny bronze statue,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10possibly a dancing girl, is wearing lots of bangles,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13as Nimra and her friends do
0:15:13 > 0:15:15when they do a traditional dance.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19MUSICIANS PLAY TRADITIONAL MUSIC
0:15:54 > 0:15:57The girls need to do a bit of detective work
0:15:57 > 0:16:02to find out exactly what their pottery would have looked like
0:16:02 > 0:16:064,500 years ago. They are taking the fragments
0:16:06 > 0:16:10to the exploration and excavation centre in Karachi.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15All the artefacts excavated from Pakistan's ancient sites
0:16:15 > 0:16:17are assessed here.
0:16:26 > 0:16:32- What are they doing?- They are washing the pottery we excavated.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35After it gets washed,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39we take it to the draughtsman and he will draw them.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44The photographer also needs to catalogue the artefacts.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57Archaeologists like to recreate items from the fragments of pottery
0:16:57 > 0:17:02to see what it would've looked like in 2500 BC.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Even a small section of rim
0:17:07 > 0:17:11can tell us how large a pot might have been,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14just by working out the diameter.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17It can then be drawn to scale.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26From Nimra and Sara's small section of rim,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28a whole new pot can be recreated
0:17:28 > 0:17:32in the traditional style of Harappan pottery.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54It's possible to work out from the girls' fragment
0:17:54 > 0:17:58that the original jar would have been red,
0:17:58 > 0:18:03and on the red would have been a painted design in black.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12After being buried for 4,500 years,
0:18:12 > 0:18:17Nimra and Sara's pottery can finally be revealed to the world
0:18:17 > 0:18:20as it would have been originally in 2500 BC.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23From this fragment of the pottery,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26we'll be able to reconstruct the whole pot
0:18:26 > 0:18:30on the basis of only one fragment.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Subtitles by BBC Broadcast 2005
0:18:52 > 0:18:56E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk