The communities that lived in Baluchistan and in the Indus Valley were generally settled agricultural economies, reliant on land cultivation to support proto-urban settlements. In these conditions, cultures developed and flourished, especially that of painted pottery and terracotta sculpture. As such, craftsmen came to be very important members of Indus societies, and specialization in individual crafts led to trade between communities in this region.
The tribes of Pakistan were structured into well-established agricultural societies by the first millennium BC, as illustrated by archaeological discoveries of bronze and iron tools. Their development was linked to the changing environmental conditions of the period. This encouraged the emergence of different agricultural traditions amongst the tribes of Central Asia, which in turn were responsible for shaping the development of local, tribal cultures.
The third millennium BC saw important changes to the structure of Central Asian societies. Some communities died out, whilst others flourished and developed new agricultural technologies, and there was a significant movement of tribes in this period. Earthenware and metal objects have been found in burial sites across Asia, whilst changes in agricultural practices can be observed, reflecting the movement of northern steppe tribes into Central Asia.
The establishment of settled agricultural societies in the Bronze Age allowed social and cultural developments to occur. Population growth across this period also led to expansion into new geographical areas, as illustrated by archaeological excavations across Central Asia. The emergence of metallurgy and the production of tools and craft objects in metal went hand-in-hand with the need to procure raw materials from other areas, thus promoting the earliest lines of trade across Asia and encouraging social and cultural interaction between regions.
The period 5,500 BC to 2,900 BC was a time of innovation and exchange in Iran and Afghanistan. Settled agricultural economies were already well established, and proto-urban societies grew up from the foundations this provided. Pottery and metal-working are two of the most important cultural developments that took place during this period, whilst crafts and technologies were exchanged between communities and so were adapted and improved.
Societies and cultures in Bronze Age China varied significantly from region to region. From archaeological excavations, it is clear that a considerable degree of cultural exchange and interaction took place in the provinces of Gansu, Quinghai and Xinjiang. Tools and artefacts in bronze have been discovered from all of these regions, although there still remains much to be done to gain a full understanding of these complex Bronze Age cultures.
The slate cliffs of Kazakhstan bear evidence of an ancient Sun God cult, represented in anthropomorphic form, and worshipped two millennia before the start of the Common Era. There are no written documents to supply details of this cult or of the worship it entailed, but many engravings, especially at the cultic site of Tamgaly, show a humanised ‘Sun’, sometimes accompanied by a zoomorphic figure.
The history of Azerbaijan is intrinsically related to the movement of nomadic tribes in the region. Despite being sheltered to the north by the Caucasus Mountains, the country has been successively inhabited on numerous occasions throughout its history by nomadic tribes such as the Scythians, Bulgars, Huns, Turks, and finally the Mongols.
Dunhuang, in the Gansu province of China, was an important Buddhist center between the years 500 and 1,000 AD, and hosted a large number of monasteries. Pilgrims from China, India and Tibet met here and in the nearby Mogao Caves, where there is a large extant body of Buddhist art and written sources, forming our most detailed source of information about the Buddhist communities of China, and their interaction with co-religionists from other countries, in this era.
