In the 1970 ' s during an archeological dig in western Pakistan, the oldest piece of pearl jewelry in existence was unearthed. The site where the pearl and shell necklace was settle, is in what is now confessed as the ancient city of Mehrgarh.
Dating back more than 9000 years, the city of Mehrgarh is one of the oldest, structured settlements radically discovered; the mortals who lived in Mehrgarh dwelled in the world ' s first blush houses, grew the world ' s first barley, and farmed the first goats and sheep. In historical terms Mehrgarh marked the beginning of the ' Neolithic Era, ' otherwise known as the ' New - Stone Age; ' an extremely important milestone in our collective history, marking the very beginnings of organized society.
As the dig progressed, more and more evidence was uncovered attesting to Mehgarh being a large planned urban environment in existence for over thousands of years. Mehrgarh was fully equipped with water systems, drains, markets, trading businesses, clinics even the world ' s first recorded dentist! But perhaps the most remarkable insight, dental hygiene aside, was provided by tools and implements fashioned from copper ore; the world ' s earliest evidence to date of man ' s ability to work metals.
Unwittingly steering humanity around yet another corner in human evolution, the people of Mehrgarh with their extraordinary innovations in metallurgy marked our specie ' s earliest transition within the ' Neolithic Era ' to the ' Chalcolithic, ' or ' Copper Age. ' As more and more copper and bronze artifacts were uncovered from the city ' s foundations it also became apparent that artisans of Mehrgarh were extremely adept in the arts; particularly sculpture and jewelry.
The jewelry and metalwork casting techniques discovered at the Mehrgarh excavations proved beyond doubt that the people who dwelled there were far more advanced than any other civilization for thousands of years to come. Exhibiting astonishing prescience, the jewelers and metalworkers of Mehrgarh were discovered to have employed equipment such as stone and copper drills, updraft kilns, pit kilns and copper melting crucibles working from smelting workshops equipped with forges, very similar to a modern ' smithy. '
Throughout the excavations, ancient burial sites dotted in and around the city walls revealed a wealth of ornamentation and jewelry. The burial sites which revealed the largest amounts of artifacts were those of males, containing intricate goods such as terracotta and bronze figurines of women and animals, baskets, tools, beads, bangles, pendants and necklaces. Much of the jewelry discovered included gems like lapis lazuli, carnelian, agate, turquoise, shells and pearls. These gemstones were not indigenous to the area, showing that the artisans of Mehrgarh traded throughout a wide area with the lapis lazuli and copper originating from the highlands of Afghanistan, carnelian and agate coming from Gujarat in India and the shells and pearls from Pakistan ' s southern coasts on the Arabian Sea.
