As per a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the diet of the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation had a dominance of meat. The study, titled ‘Lipid residues in pottery from the Indus Civilisation in North-West India,’ was led by Akshyeta Suryanarayan as a part of her PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge. It analyses the food habits of the people of that era. The study finds that there was a diversity of plant product and regional variation in cropping practices in the Indus Valley.
The study concentrated on seven sites, six of which are located in Haryana and one in Uttar Pradesh. These include Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh), Masudpur VII, Masudpur I, Lohari Ragho, khanak (all are villages), Farmana town, and Rakhigarhi city.
The analysis was conducted on 172 pottery fragments recovered from these sites. The study used ceramic lipid residue analysis to check chemical evidence for meat. This method is used to analyse eating habits of populations in a wide range of archaeological contexts around the world to ascertain and identify food stuff within the ancient vessels. Ceramics are one of the most common artefacts recovered from the sites during the archaeological excavations of proto and historic South Asian sites.
As per the study, cattle and buffalo were the most abundant domestic animals in the Indus Valley. They averaged between 50 and 60 per cent of the animal bones found, while sheep/goat accounted for 10 per cent of the animal remains. The high proportions of cattle bones suggest that a cultural preference for beef consumption was prevalent across the Indus Valley populations. It was supplemented by consumption of mutton and lamb. The study indicates that hares and birds were also eaten by the Indus Valley people, there is little evidence whether chicken was consumed or not.
For storage of liquids such as wine and oil in Harappa, ledge-shouldered jars and large storage jars were used.
In Harappa, 90 per cent of the cattle were kept alive until they were three or three-and-a half years. This suggested that female cattle were used for milking and male cattle were used for farming. In the group of associated animal fossils found, it was established that wild animal species like deer, antelope, gazelle, hares, birds, and riverine/marine resources were also found in small proportions. This was same in the case of rural and urban Indus sites. It suggested that these diverse resources had a place in Indus diet. A similar pattern was found in the sites of north-west India.
As per an earlier research on Indus Valley dietery pattern, published in 2011-2012, it was found that the Indus people consumed curry, brinjal, trumeric, garlic, and ginger.
Indus Valley Civilisation was spread across large parts of modern Pakistan, north-west and western India, and Afghanistan.