Study claims diet in Indus Valley Civilisation predominantly consisted of beef, meat

  • It would not be inappropriate for Hindus to doubt the intent of promoting beef consumption by portraying ancient Hindus as beef eaters, while no other historical evidence of such a diet choice has been found till date!
  • Cow is regarded as a ‘mother’ by Hindus since historical times. Owing to this fact, portraying ancient Hindus as beef eaters is pure malice!
  • The Govt. should investigate this the claims and expose the truth!

Hissar (Haryana) – According to the study published in ‘Journal of Archeological Science’, the Indus Valley Civilisation, considered the oldest human civilisation, subsisted mainly on a diet of meat. The study based on the ceramic pottery, claims that beef was a predominant component of the diet. The research was led by Akshyeta Suryanarayan, a Ph.D. scholar from Cambridge University. She published this study in her paper titled ‘Lipid residues in pottery from the Indus Civilisation in northwest India’. The study is co-authored by former chancellor of Pune’s Deccan College and a renowned archeologist Prof. Vasant Shinde, Prof. Ravindra Singh of Banaras Hindu University.

Aksheta Suryanarayanan
  1. Suryanarayan told that her PhD research was based on ‘the type of food  cooked in the Indus Valley Civilisation’. To study this, they looked for Lipid residues in the ceramic pottery found in archeological digs. Lipids are any of a diverse group of organic compounds including fats, oils, hormones, and certain components of membranes that are not water soluble
  2. “Out of domestic animals, cattle/buffalo are the most abundant, averaging between 50% and 60% of the animal bones found, with sheep/goat accounting for 10% animal remains. The high proportions of cattle bones may suggest a cultural preference for beef consumption across Indus populations”, the study revealed. (It is inappropriate to make such conclusion based on just cattle bones. Apparently, ancient Hindus domesticated cattle on large scale and with the sudden dissolution of Indus Civilisation, the bones of dead animals are found! – Editor)