Herding and Livestock Management Strategies in the Upper Thar Desert, Sindh (Pakistan): A Zooarchaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Approach

Abstract

Animals and plants have been domesticated since Neolithic period, this culture change is widely known as “Neolithic Revolution”. Consequently, the animal domestication became essential supplementary source in subsistence economy besides agriculture, fishing and hunting. In the ancient civilizations of Indus, Egypt and Mesopotamia animals kept for milk and other dairy products. Similarly, the Indus valley people mainly thrived on animal husbandry; the preferred animals were goat, sheep, cattle and water-buffalo along with several wild animals for hunting. The animal keeping continues till today, and Thar desert is chosen to understand the traditional ways where large herds of cattle and goat are seen roaming on the sand dunes and low-lying valleys among the sand dunes without any custodian. Therefore, this paper details and deals with socioeconomic behavior and system of animal herding, identification, ownership and other social attitudes of the people of Hakra river valley in Thar Desert of Sindh Pakistan.

The research integrates zooarchaeological documentation and ethnoarchaeological observations for collection of field data to understand herd composition, animal movement patterns, and ownership systems. These patterns also reveal important aspects of social organization, including herd ownership, identification practices, and cooperative herding behaviors among local communities.

This paper contributes to understanding pastoral adaptations in arid environments and provides valuable ethnoarchaeological analogies for interpreting animal management strategies in ancient desert societies, particularly within the broader context of South Asian pastoral traditions.