Editing Mehrgarh (section)

===Mehrgarh Period II (5500–4800 BCE) and Period III (4800–3500 BCE)===
The Mehrgarh Period II (5500 BCE–4800 BCE) and Merhgarh Period III (4800 BCE–3500 BCE) were ceramic Neolithic, using [[pottery]], and later [[chalcolithic]]. Period II is at site MR4 and Period III is at MR2.<ref name="sharifthapar1"/> Much evidence of manufacturing activity has been found and more advanced techniques were used. Glazed [[faience]] beads were produced and [[terracotta]] figurines became more detailed. Figurines of females were decorated with paint and had diverse hairstyles and ornaments. Two flexed [[burial]]s were found in Period II with a [[red ochre]] cover on the body. The number of burial goods decreased over time, becoming limited to ornaments and with more goods left with burials of females. The first button [[Seal (emblem)|seals]] were produced from terracotta and bone and had geometric designs. Technologies included stone and copper drills, updraft [[kiln]]s, large pit kilns, and copper melting [[crucibles]]. There is further evidence of long-distance trade in Period II: important as an indication of this is the discovery of several [[beads]] of lapis lazuli, once again from [[Badakshan]]. Mehrgarh Periods II and III are also contemporaneous with an expansion of the settled populations of the borderlands at the western edge of South Asia, including the establishment of settlements like Rana Ghundai, [[Sheri Khan Tarakai]], Sarai Kala, Jalilpur, and Ghaligai.<ref name="sharifthapar1"/>

Period III was not much explored, but it was found that Togau phase ({{Circa|4000}}–3500 BCE) was part of this level, covering around 100 hectares in the areas MR.2, MR.4, MR.5 and MR.6, encompassing ruins, burial and dumping grounds, but archaeologist Jean-François Jarrige concluded that "such wide extension was not due to contemporaneous occupation, but rather due to the shift and partial superimposition in time of several villages or settlement clusters across a span of several centuries."<ref>Vidale, Massimo, et al., (2017). [https://www.academia.edu/38492223/Early_Evidence_of_Bead_Making_at_Mehrgarh_Pakistan_A_Tribute_to_the_Scientific_Curiosity_of_Catherine_and_Jean_Fran%C3%A7ois_Jarrige "Early Evidence of Bead-Making at Mehrgarh, Pakistan: A Tribute to the Scientific Curiosity of Catherine and Jean-François Jarrige"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922015231/https://www.academia.edu/38492223/Early_Evidence_of_Bead_Making_at_Mehrgarh_Pakistan_A_Tribute_to_the_Scientific_Curiosity_of_Catherine_and_Jean_Fran%C3%A7ois_Jarrige |date=22 September 2022 }}, in Alok Kumar Kanungo (ed.), Stone Beads of South and Southeast Asia: Archaeology, Ethnography and Global Connections, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, p.&nbsp;234.</ref>

==== Togau phase ====
At the beginning of Mehrgarh III, Togau ceramics appeared at the site. Togau ware was first defined by [[Beatrice de Cardi]] in 1948. Togau is a large mound in the Chhappar Valley of [[Sarawan]], 12 kilometers northwest of [[Kalat, Pakistan|Kalat]] in Balochistan. This type of pottery is found widely in Balochistan and eastern Afghanistan, at sites such as [[Mundigak]], [[Sheri Khan Tarakai]], and [[Periano Ghundai]]. According to Possehl it is attested at 84 sites up to date.{{when|date=February 2023}} [[Anjira]] is a contemporary ancient site near Togau.<ref>Mukhtar Ahmed, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HbvTBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA392 ''Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325173618/https://books.google.ca/books?id=HbvTBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA392 |date=25 March 2022 }} Volume II: A Prelude to Civilization. 2014 {{ISBN|1495941302}} p392</ref>

Togau ceramics are decorated with geometric designs and were already being made with a [[potter's wheel]].

Mehrgarh Period III, during the second half of the 4th millennium BCE, is characterized by important new developments. There is a big increase in the number of settlements in the Quetta Valley, the Surab Region, the Kachhi Plain and elsewhere in the area. Kili Ghul Mohammad (II−III) pottery is similar to Togau Ware.<ref>Ute Franke (2015), [https://ancient-herat.de/uploads/attachments/ckvfk2p0c01nbnhcpcq8n2xba-07a-central-baluchistan-4-mill.pdf Central Baluchistan in the 4th Millennium BCE.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709171451/https://ancient-herat.de/uploads/attachments/ckvfk2p0c01nbnhcpcq8n2xba-07a-central-baluchistan-4-mill.pdf |date=9 July 2022 }} ancient-herat.de</ref>