Karachi's Malir district is home to many prehistoric and historic sites, which I have been documenting since 2001. From 2001 to 2024, I discovered numerous sites, particularly notable rock art locations. In 2012, I found rock paintings and cup-marks in Maher Valley. During my first visit to this valley, I was accompanied by my friends Amiruddin Jokhio from Konkar town, Master Yaqub Kanaro from Maher Valley, and Jaffar Kanaro from Thoohar Kanaro village. The discovery of rock paintings marked a turning point in Sindh's archaeology, as there had previously been no reported rock painting sites in the region. Another significant finding was the numerous cup-marks on Babro Hill. I have discussed cup-marks and rock paintings in my books Symbols in Stone: The Rock Art of Sindh (2018) and Ancient Karachi: Reflections on Rock Art and Megaliths which was published in 2024 by Dr NA Baloch Institute of Heritage Research in Jamshoro.
Dr Robert G. Bednarik, the founding convener and editor of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA), has written extensively on cupules or cup-marks, providing different interpretations of cup-marks. His most seminal article, “Cupules,” published in Rock Art Research in 2008, defines “cupules or cup marks as, in most (but not all) cases, hemispherical depressions or holes in natural rock surfaces.” They served multiple purposes. He argues that cupules can be found in various archaeological contexts. They are present in some Lower Palaeolithic traditions and are very common in Middle Palaeolithic contexts. Some cupules have even been reported from Upper Palaeolithic times. Additionally, they appear frequently in numerous Holocene traditions around the world. Cupules are also commonly found in Neolithic and Bronze Age contexts, as well as in those from the Iron Age. In Europe, they continued to be made frequently during the Middle Ages.
Eminent Italian archaeologists Professor Dr Luca Maria Olivieri and Dr Massimo Vidale discovered cupules or cup-marks in the Swat Valley. Prof Luca Maria Olivieri, Director of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan (IAM), has written extensively on cup-marks in Swat Valley.
Potsherds are found lying near vandalised graves, which appear to be from the pre-Indus period, with most of the pottery depicting geometric designs
I have written a few articles on Sindh's cup-marks. In my forthcoming books, Rock Art of Pakistan and Mysterious Cup-marks of Sindh, I discuss in detail the numerous cupule sites that I have discovered in Sindh, including Babro Hill.
Babro Hill is about 40 km north of Gadap town in the Maher Valley. The Babro Hill rises 1,250 feet and overlooks the Maher Nai (ephemeral river) in the east and the south. To the north of Babro Hill are two ancient graveyards, mostly 'platform-type graves' constructed of dressed and undressed stones. Some of the graves have been vandalised by 'treasure hunters'. Potsherds are also lying near vandalised graves, which appear to be from the pre-Indus period, with most of the pottery depicting geometric designs.
To the southwest of Babro Hill is a gorbandi (dam), which the ancient people of Maher Valley constructed to store water. "Babro" is the pre-Indus period site. The remains of the fortification wall and rooms on the Babro Hill are strewn with potsherds and cherts, blades, flints, and arrowheads of the pre-Indus period and Mesolithic Periods. The pieces of broken bones of humans are also scattered on the northern side of Babro Hill.
Cupules also occur on Babro Hill, with six groups of these. Each group of cupules has different numbers, but all are pounded on the flat, limestone horizontal surface. The first group of cupules is located near the remains of the fortification wall. There are nine cupules in this group, which are oriented east-west. All of the cupules are of equal size, with one exception, which is deeper than the adjoining cup-marks. These cupules appear to be non-utilitarian. They must have had some symbolic value for those who produced them. In the second group are twenty-one cupules, which lie east of the first group. They are also non-utilitarian cupules, which are also oriented east-west. The third group has nine cupules, one larger than the others. They are oriented north-south. Likewise, twenty cup-marks are in the fourth group, which has large-sized cupules. They are also oriented north-south. The depth of the largest cup-mark is 10 cm, and stone blades are scattered near the cupules.
A bit further south of these cup-marks occurs the fifth group of cupules, which contains 40 cup-marks. The depth of the largest cupule is 12 cm. They are also oriented north-south. Around these cup marks are found stone blades, cherts, and painted potsherds, which mainly depict geometric designs. The sixth group of cupules is situated near the fifth group. There are seven cup-marks in this group, with only one large cupule. They are also oriented north-south. One does not find any engravings near these cup-marks; however, potsherds, cherts and broken human bones are found close to these cupules.
Who made these cupules and why? This is an intriguing question that one needs to ask. These cupules were likely made by the ancient people who once inhabited Babro Hill in Maher valley. Their remains can be seen in artefacts, burial grounds, rock paintings, and a few gorbandis (dams), which they constructed to store water for their use. The second question is. 'Why did they make the cupules?' One can argue that these cupules were made for utilitarian and non-utilitarian purposes. Some appear to have been used as food and sacred water receptacles. Some may likely represent the nearby landscape. It is likely that 'numbers' also played an essential role in the cosmology of the ancient Maher Valley. This was one of the reasons that I discussed the numbers in each group. The cupules occurred in a sequence and were made in all four directions of the Babro Hill: east, west, south, and north. This sequence and numbers indicate some meaning associated with the producers of the cupules. We can only guess and argue that they may have been the calendars of the ancient people who lived in the Maher Valley.
If one compares these cup-marks with those located in the various hill streams of the Khirthar Range, one finds one main difference: that of the interconnecting grooves. All of the cupules on Babro Hill do not have interconnecting grooves, whereas those of the Khirthar do have interconnecting grooves. Almost all the cupule sites in the Gadap region do not have interconnecting grooves. Apart from Babro Hill in Maher Valley, cup-marks have been found in different valleys in Khirthar, Bado, and Lakhi hills in Sindh that I have discussed in my books Ancient Karachi: Reflections on Rock Art and Megaliths, The Rock Art of Karachi (2020) and Symbols in Stone: The Rock Art of Sindh (2018).