The Indus Valley civilization predominantly had meat in their diet, preferred meat

A recent study has found that people living in the Indus Valley civilization in northwestern India had a high proportion of meat in their diet, with cattle / buffalo being the most dominant. The study, called ‘Lipid residue in ceramics from the Indus civilization in Northwest India’, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, studied lipid residue to determine what types of food were used in ceramic pots in the Indus Valley civilization. The analysis was carried out on 172 ceramic fragments found in rural and urban settlements in northwestern India. The study was conducted essentially at five sites: four villages: Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh; Masudpur and Lohari Ragho in Hisar, Haryana; Khanak in Bhiwani, Haryana – and a city, Farmana, in Rohtak, Haryana; and a city, Farmana, also in Haryana.

Led by Akshyeta Suryanarayan as part of her doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge, the research found that 80% of the “assemblage of fauna from various Indus sites” belonged to species of domestic animals. Fauna assemblage refers to a group of related animal fossils particular to a given geographic or geological setting. The study found that among domestic animals, cattle / buffalo were most abundant, accounting for 50 to 60% of the animal bones found. Sheep / goats made up 10% of the remains. “High ratios of cattle bones may suggest a cultural preference for beef consumption in Indus populations, complemented by lamb / mutton consumption,” the study said. In addition, pigs were found to constitute about 2% to 3% of the total fauna assemblages at the Indus sites. In addition, the remains of deer, antelope, gazelle, hares, birds and river / marine resources are also found in small proportions in fauna assemblages. This suggests that “various resources had a place in the Indus diet.”

“The pattern is similar at sites in northwestern India, where domestic and wild mammals, and smaller proportions of birds, reptiles, river fish and mollusks, were consumed. In the study region, livestock make up the largest proportion of domestic species at all sites, but not all excavated sites have information available, ”the study said.

People also kept livestock for their dairy needs and consumption. Ninety percent of the cattle were kept alive until three to three and a half years, indicating that the females were used for milk production and the males for traction.

In addition to meat consumption, the study also found that summer and winter crops were practiced and there is evidence of barley, wheat, rice and millet. “Apart from cereals, the archaeobotanical ensemble is extremely diverse, characterized by a variety of legumes, oilseeds, and winter and summer fruits. Cereal, legume, vegetable starches and underground storage organs have also been identified on stone tool surfaces, ceramics, and human and livestock teeth at the Farmana site, ”the study adds.