Description

The book presents in historical
perspective a faithful but critical
appreciation of archaeological sources of prehistoric Afghanistan which had
hitherto been lying scattered in obscure journals and not easily available
reports. Its presentation of sources is preceded by a thorough analysis of the
environment of Afghanistan and a survey of successive stages in the discovery
of prehistory of this terra-incognita. The sources have led the author to weave a
reconstruction of a reasonably acceptable spectrum of prehistoric culture of this ‘archaeological blank’ with a conceptual framework which is neither
idealistic nor materialistic but is synthetic. This pioneer effort to recollect
and reinterpret archaeological sources with a view to recreating prehistoric
world of the Afghans with maps, charts and illustrations is the first of its kind
in the sphere. The creative and thought-provoking monograph will introduce
prehistoric Afghanistan to a wide readership ranging from the laymen to
research scholars, professional archaeologists, historians and cultural
anthropologists.The Hindu Kush mountainous area running westward from Kabul to Herat is a geological complex of old crystalline rocks and sedimentary rocks. Large areas of Mesozoic rocks border the crystalline rocks of these two mountain-chains and comprise the remaining area of northern mountain ranges. These rocks are mainly sedimentary. For instance northern foothills are composed of limestones. Here low naked, limestone, shale, and sand-stone mountains dominate. The small basins in the northern highland are composed of late Tertiary sediments. Tertiary rocks are found in the north and south of the Mesozoic high-land area. In the north they do not cover extensive area but in the south they spread over!wide plateau between the Southern Hindu Kush and the Sulaiman range. The Sulaiman range with its strong folding has created a strong barrier between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley which is breached only by a few passes which are made of Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks.low hills near Herat are crystalline rocks and undifferentiated metamorphics of the Upper Palaeozoic, with Mesozoic limestones and shales north of the Hari Rud.Wesozoic limestones and shales, Tertiary sandstones, clastics, and basic to intermediate i intrusions and extrusions abound in the south. Desert basins of sandy clay covered avels and pebbles surround the hills. Near the Irano-Afghan borders exista with loose gravels and pebbles surround the hill number of salt-and mudflats”.