DISCOVERY OF COUPLE OF HUNTED ICE-AGE ELEPHANT TUSK

Introduction and Background:

“Khanabadosh” sounds like a strange appellation for an academic NGO, devoted to scientific studies and archaeological assessment of primitive hominid group who first occupied the Potohar plateau of Pakistan in remote antiquity of the Pleistocene Age, about 2.0 million years ago.

Khanabadosh Research and Exploration Society, created about four years back by Amir Taj and Ansar Ahmad (The author), young devotees to National Geographic, has been registered under the Societies Act, 1860 at Islamabad.

Origin and Meaning of “Khanabadosh”:

Khanabadosh means a “Nomad” or homeless wanderer, the name carries a poetic or philosophic connotation to self-less gleaners of knowledge who project and transmit their findings to others without seeking any material returns for their gain. This is in acknowledgement of the services of the nomadic tribes in ancient times who played their silent role in propagating the cultural elements from one region to another, and thereby in homogenizing the social differences of mankind.

Scope and Objectives of the Society:

The society has a vast scope of initiating and reviving the tradition of field research in its bag of novel ideas, which may bring in a new renaissance in the decadent social mores in the country, and help to translate the ambitious ideals of the Higher Education Commission to generate a genuine research culture in the academic institutions of Pakistan.

Trigger for Registration:

The event of its recent registration was triggered by the discovery of a couple of Ice Age elephant tusks and several Stone Age tools in the Upper Siwalik or pinjaur bed of sand, gravel, and silt deposits in the rolling hilly wilderness near Dhok Nila on the left bank of River Soan in the heart of Potohar Plateau in District Chakwal.

Collaboration with Dr. Syed M. Ashfaque:

The exited discoveries of these tusks and stone-age tools immediately contacted our guru, Dr. Syed M. Ashfaque, a retired professional archaeologist, currently engaged by HEC as an Eminent Educationist and Researcher assigned to the Pakistan Study Centre at the University of the Punjab. Dr. Ashfaque who has long experience in Paleolithic studies in Potohar came to inspect the site, and was accepted to lead the “Hunt for Hunter” project with Khanabadosh, also told the region abounded in the wildlife of African taxa during the Pleistocene Age.

Discovery of Ice-Age Elephant Tusks:

The significant thing about the tusks was that they were in pairs, which seems to have belonged to the same beast. The crude stone tools found in association with the fossil in the same deposit suggested that the ice age elephant was hunted by the early Potohar man about 1.5 million years ago. It indicates the chance of finding in the same Pinjaur deposit the skeletal remains of a few hominids, who might have been killed by the enraged and beleaguered beast in the struggle for life.

Establishment of Field Camp:

Dr. Ashfaque had earlier suggested to the creators of the Khanabadosh Research and Exploration Society to establish a field camp somewhere in northern Punjab to gather material and scientific data on mammalian and hominoid fossils in Potohar. The discovery of Dhok nila has prompted a materialization of that suggestion, and the young men have already negotiated to acquire a piece of land there close to their field of discovery to establish their camp-1 for systematic initiation of of a consistent program of field works in search of the Potohar men-Homo erectus Potoharensis, to give a proper name to the creature which has remained illusive so far, deposit the hard work entailed in its search by De Terra and Peterson, and several subsequent field workers.

Conference and Preliminary Report:

The first conference held just after the discoveries above and the report is now published here very first, marks the preliminary stages of the program of Khanabadosh Research and Exploration Society to seek the blessings of the Pakistani nation in our ambitious task of expanding the horizon of knowledge about our beautiful country, and to promote in it the tourism industry.

Multidisciplinary Approach and Future Prospects:

Our research is essentially a multidisciplinary affair that may open up prospects of employing our talented and educated youth, and inspire them to play their role in making this country great.