HARAPPA CIVILISATION AND IT'S ARTEFACTS
HARAPPAN CIVILISATION (c.2600–1900 BCE)/BRONZE AGE CIVILISATION)
INTRODUCTION:-
The Harappan civilisation was the first urban civilisation in South Asia . contemporaneous with the civilisations of Mesopotamia and Egypt .
Of the three aforementioned civilisations , the Harappan civilisation occupied most area ( about 8,00,000 sq km ) .
Earlier historians had called this civilisation the Indus Valley Civilisation , but since then , major settlements have been excavated in the Ghaggar - Hakra belt that spread far beyond the Indus region . Harappa , as the first archaeological site to be discovered , therefore gives its name to the entire civilisation . It forms a part of the proto - history of India , and belongs to the Bronze Age .
While it is classified as a civilisation that is older than Chalcolithic civilisations , in many ways it was far more developed than settlements in the Chalcolithic Age .
The Harappan civilisation can be classified in three phases :
( 1 ) The Early / Pre - Harappan phase ( C. 3200-2600 ... )
( ii ) Mature Harappan phase ( c . 2600-1900 .. )
( iii ) Late Harappan phase ( c . 1900-1300 )
* A general time range is specified as there is a great deal of variation in the dates for different phases .
There exists an undeniable cultural continuity among all the phases of the Harappan civilisation , yet they differ slightly from each other .
The Early Harappan phase , known as the Regionalisation Era , was the formative , proto - urban phase of the Harappan civilisation . It is related to the Hakra phase of settlements , and the settlements in this period are marked by their fortification , a fairly high level of expertise in specialised crafts such as stone - working , bead - making , and metal crafting , the use of wheeled transport , and the existence of trade networks .
Most raw materials except jade , which has not been found in early Harappan settlements , are similar to the ones used in the mature Harappan phase .
However , it did not have the large cities that defined the mature Harappan phase , neither did it have as much expertise in craft specialisation . Some of the early Harappan archaeological sites are Padri in Gujarat , Kalibangan in Rajasthan , Dholavira in Kutch , Harappa in West Punjab , Balakot , Amri , and Bhirrana in Haryana , Kot Diji and Gumla .
It is noteworthy to add that there are early Harappan sites in the active Indus plain . The Mature Harappan phase , or the Integration Era , was the urban phase of the Harappan civilisation , which shows the characteristics of a full - fledged civilisation . It is pertinent to note that the unqualified term , ' Harappan Culture ' or ' Harappan Civilisation ' , primarily refers to this mature urban phase . It is equally important is to understand the fact that the use of term ' Harappan Culture ' or ' Harappan Civilisation for all the excavated sites does not mean that all the other sites are identical to Harappa .
It only pertains to the fact that the other sites have the same basic set of Harappan material traits , such as the typical red and black pottery , terracotta figurines , standardised brick size In 1 : 2 : 4 ratio , and so on .
The last phase of the Harappan civilisation , that is to say , the Late Harappan phase or the Localisation Era , was the post - urban phase defined by a decline in the cities . This is the final period in the Harappan civilisation and refers to the fragmentation of the culture of the Integration Era .
The Late Harappan phase comprises five geographical zones each having distinct phases – the West Punjab Phase ( Cemetery- H Culture ) , the East Punjab Phase , the Jhukar Phase , the Rangpur Phase , and the Ganga Yamuna Doab Phase .
Late Harappan settlements were small compared to mature Harappan ones . The transition from the mature phase does not show any sudden discontinuity as such , but there is a gradual change in seals , pottery confined writing , in the frequency of cubical weights , and so on .
The Late Harappan settlements were also more in number , but they were smaller and more rural , though marked by a diverse agricultural base . Important Jhukar sites are Jhukar , Chanhudaro , and Amri . Rangpur Phase sites are in Kutch , Saurashtra and mainland Gujarat .
Question 1. Harappan civilisation and its artefacts?
Answer:- Artefacts:-
1. Salient features of Harappan crafts and craft production include the standardization, organized mass production, and widespread distribution of many arti-fact types. Jewelry, particularly bangles and beads, probably played an important role in identifying the social persona of individuals, so shell working and bead making were major industries. While the Harappans often employed the same precious materials as their contemporaries, such as gold, they also placed a high value on artificially produced materials, such as faience, and on objects displaying the artisan’s skill and virtuosity, such as long carnelian beads.
1. Ceramics
Workshops :-
Kiln bases , pieces of kiln lining , and scatters of misfired sherds are generally the only remaining evidence of pottery manufacture . However , one potter's workshop , a small structure with several rooms , was discovered in Nausharo at the foot of the wall surrounding the northern mound . Pots made there were stacked on shelves to dry ; they and some tools were left in place when the workshop was suddenly abandoned .
A later building , constructed over the earlier debris , was also a potter's workshop and included an area where the pottery was fired in a bonfire kiln . Sherds from misfired pots were used to surface the lane outside the workshop . Only some of the types of pot tery used in the settlement were made in this workshop .
In the northwest corner of mound Eat Harappa , there was a pottery - making area where several kilns were found . Tools such as bone spatulas and stone blades used in shaping the pottery and red ochre for painting the vessels lay scattered around them . Waste material deposited in a pit included a broken bat ( clay disc ) used when throwing pottery . This area produced a restricted range of vessels ; terra - cotta cakes were made in another industrial area , on mound ET .
A number of kilns were found at Mohenjodaro , in the HR , VS , and Moneer belong to the late period of occupation in the city ; their location , on occasion , in former streets shows they were associated with the period of ur ban decay . It is probable that during the Mature Harappan period , pottery pro duction took place away from the city center . This was the case at Kalibangan , where pottery waste was found in the unwalled area south of citadel .
A ceramic factory area was uncovered at Lal Shah , about a kilometer from Mehrgarh . This contained at least seven updraft kilns , and other debris from pottery manufacture , including stands and sherds used for smoothing the sur faces when finishing pots .
2. Clays .
Fine textured clays for making pottery were available throughout the alluvial plains , and other suitable clays could be had in other areas ; for exam ple , there was excellent ball clay in Saurashtra , including near Kuntasi .
A variety of clays might be used to make different fabrics or for different sections of a vessel , as at Balakot , or this variation might be achieved by using different tempers , as at Mohenjo - daro . A considerable range of tempers was used , including organic material such as cow dung or straw , minerals such as sand , mica , or lime , and other materials such as grog .
The clay was carefully levigated and was sieved when making fine wares .
Manufacture:-
Some pots were modeled by hand by coiling or were built up from slabs , but many were made partially or entirely on a potter's wheel . Although no wheels survive , as they were probably of wood , it is likely that they were similar to those used in the region today . These consist of a turntable , on which the clay is thrown , attached by an axle to a lower flywheel , which is set in a pit and turned with the foot . The wheel could be turned at different speeds , depending on the operations being undertaken , such as throw ing on a fast wheel or trimming a vessel on a wheel turned slowly .
A conical lump of clay with a depression in the top found at Nausharo had probably been set on the wheel to begin throwing when the workshop was suddenly abandoned . Often a bat was used ; this was fastened to the turntable or firmly seated over it . The vessel was thrown on this , allowing it to removed with out the disturbance of cutting it from the wheel . This was particularly useful when a vessel was being constructed in several pieces . Simpler vessels were often cut from the wheel with a string on completion , and a number might be thrown from the same lump of clay in quick succession , a form of mass pro duction for utilitarian wares . The lower part of some vessels was thrown in a mold , allowing vessels to be made standardized sizes . A few flat - based
molds , in different sizes , have been found at Nausharo and pieces of others at Mohenjo - daro and Balakot . The mold was attached to the wheel with chocks under the rim or with clay . The wheel was used again to turn a vessel while removing excess clay or scraping it to make selected parts thinner . Tools found in the workshop at Nausharo included flint blades used to shape the vessel and terra - cotta scrapers .
A wooden paddle and a stone or pottery anvil were used to create rounded bases on leather - hard pottery ; rubbing stones found at Harappa and a pottery dabber from Nageshwar may have been such anvils .
Special wares included more complex shapes that required a high level of skill to produce , for example , the large storage jars . Their basal portion was thrown on the wheel , and the central portion was built up using slabs or coils of clay . These vessels were then turned on the wheel to trim the sides and shape the rim . After forming , cords were wrapped around them to ensure they kept their shape while drying , Pedestaled vessels were also specialist products . These were made in two or three pieces . The flared base could be made in a mold or included in the mak ing of the stem , which was thrown either freehand or round a central mold .
This and the bowl or dish were separately thrown and left to dry to leather hard before being assembled . The upper end of the pedestal and the base of the dish or bowl might be marked with a few short lines before semiliquid clay was applied to the one and soft clay to the other and the two parts joined . A thin coil of clay was then thrown around the join .
Alternatively , the two parts might be brought together immediately after they were thrown ; in this case an additional coil of clay was unnecessary but the top of the pedestal would broaden out . Completed pottery was left to dry , like the twenty - five vessels abandoned on shelves at Nausharo . When it was leather - hard , it could be decorated in various ways .
Some pots were returned to the wheel where horizontal grooves or combed lines were cut into the surface . Others were impressed with the edge of shells or with a pointed stick . Some were fluted or ribbed with the fingers . The inside of many pedestaled bowls was decorated with a series of concentric circles impressed with the end of a reed . A tiny central mark reveals that these circles were drawn first with compasses . Many vessels were coated in a red slip and some were burnished ; both treatments reduced the vessel's porosity .
Only a few types of pot had slip applied to the interior , including some large storage jars that were coated in a black slip inside and out . Some vessels , especially cooking pots , were partially coated with a sandy , gritty clay , which gave protection when the pot was heated on the fire . One particularly fine specialist ware , Reserved Slip ware , was coated first with a black and then a gray slip .
The latter was then selectively removed to create combed patterns exposing the black surface beneath . When the vessels were completely dry , they might be painted , usually with black made from a mixture of iron and manganese oxides or red from red ochre ; occasionally white or very occasionally yellow , blue , or green was also used . Horizontal lines were applied while turning the piece on the wheel to create decorative zones within which , on some vessels , patterns were laid out using a grid . Plant and animal designs were included on many early painted vessels but these were rare later .
3. Firing .
Pots might be fired in a simple bonfire kiln : these are still used in the subcontinent and had been for millennia by Harappan period . Fuel , such as cow dung , reeds , brushwood , or straw , was spread in a shallow pit or over sloping open ground , and the pots were stacked above it , in layers , facing in any direction except completely upright or upside down . Sherds were used to support unstable pots where necessary .
To protect them during firing , particularly fragile pieces were placed inside a lidded jar ( sagger ) , which was sealed with a mixture of straw and clay ; some were found in the potter's workshop at Nausharo . Pre firing graffiti were perhaps used to identify vessels made by different potters when several shared a bonfire firing . The pottery stack was covered with sherds and a layer of dust and ash , then more fuel , and finally a layer of clay spread over the top to seal in the bonfire , with the mouth of a broken jar set in the top to provide a smoke hole ; others set around the edges enabled air to be drawn in and circulate inside the stack .
At Nausharo , terra - cotta cakes may also have been used to cover the stack or pro tect its edges . After lighting , the bonfire kiln would be left for about eight to ten days one to three days for the firing and about a week for the pots to cool .
A small bonfire kiln site was associated with the pottery workshop at Nausharo , and it is possible that most pottery was fired in this way . Other types of kilns are also known , however , perhaps reserved for firing small quantities of fine wares and other specialist products such as stoneware bangles since these allowed the firing conditions to be controlled . This was important , for example , in firing painted pottery . First the pottery was fired in an oxidizing atmosphere . Then the firing was completed in a reducing atmosphere by closing the air vents ; this fixed the black color of the paint by sintering the pigment .
Finally , the air vents were reopened to restore an oxidizing atmosphere in which the unpainted portions of the pottery re turned to red . The majority of kilns were of the updraft type , in which the round or oval clay - lined fire chamber was at the bottom , either constructed in a pit lined with clay or built of bricks and enclosed in an earthen bank . The pots were stacked on a perforated platform supported above the fire chamber on a pillar or tongue of bricks .
A temporary domed roof was constructed over this for each firing and removed afterward ; kilns were sometimes used and renewed over centuries . A funnel - shaped stoke hole at one side allowed the temperature of the kiln to be maintained by adding fuel and controlling the air flow .
Terra cotta baffles were used to prevent heat loss . Additional flues might be present on the other side to ensure that the air circulated fully causing the fuel to burn evenly throughout the kiln . Examples have been excavated at Harappa , Mohenjo - daro , Lothal , Lal Shah , Balakot , and Nageshwar . At other sites in cluding Kalibangan , debris such as vitrified bricks or clay , ash , and sherds of misfired pottery ( wasters ) suggests the presence of kilns .
4. Pottery Types
Harappan pottery ranged from plain everyday pots , usually of a thick sturdy ware , to fine painted vessels . Generally Harappan pots were made of plain reddish orange ware , but a few types were black ; painted exam ples were decorated in the contrasting color .
A few early pots from Mohenjo daro were of a grayish ware , and other wares are known from Gujarat , where they probably derive from earlier local pottery such as Padri ware . The majority of pottery types were found throughout the Harappan realms ; although there was some variation in domestic wares , there was great uniformity in more specialized products . Plain pottery included round - based cook ing pots with a substantial rim for ease of lifting off the fire ; medium - sized storage jars , often with pointed bases to be set in the floor ; dishes and bowls for serving food ; and beakers and cups to drink from . Specialist wares in cluded fine pedestaled dishes and bowls , which may have been used for mak ing offerings , and lavishly painted S - profile jars .
Large black - slipped storage vessels were produced by skilled potters and perhaps only at Harappa . Other characteristic forms included jar stands , perforated jars that may have served as sieves or braziers , and pointed - based goblets , which were very common in the later levels at Mohenjodaro and Harappa .
In addition there were a few regional types used alongside standard Harappan wares in some areas , particularly Sothi - Siswal wares in the eastern province and Sorath wares in Saurashtra , which included distinctive stud - handled bowls . The finer vessels were coated in a red slip and many were painted . In the early Mature Harappan period , the painted designs often included plant and occasionally animal motifs , such as peacocks or pipal leaves , as well as geometric designs , but later painted wares usually bore only the latter . These included various designs using intersecting circles , a distinctive fish scale pattern , and hatched squares or triangles .
5. Stoneware Bangles .
Puzzling vitrified agglomerations of pottery , clay , and bangles found at Mohenjo - daro were subjected to detailed chemical and physical analyses and dissection by M. A. Halim of the Pakistan Department of Archaeology and Massimo Vidale of ISMEO , revealing that the debris resulted from the disastrous misfiring of an elaborate arrangement for firing stoneware bangles .
The stoneware bangles were a sophisticated product . The clay to make them was sieved and well levigated to produce a very fine paste . A thick hollow cylinder was thrown on the wheel and marked off into sections . After a few hours ' drying this was cut , using a cord , into individual bangle blanks , which were then left to dry until hard . A central column was fastened to the wheel over which each bangle in turn was placed , allowing its outer part to be trimmed with a stone blade while the wheel revolved . The interior was also trimmed , either by hand or seated in a shallow bowl set on the wheel .
The surface of the bangle was burnished with a stone and polished with a cloth . Finally a short inscription was scratched on the side with a burin . By skillful throwing and careful control the bangles were made to an exact size , 5.5-6 centimeters internal diameter after firing . The arrangements for firing were complex . The bangles were usually placed in pairs in small , lidded bowls used as saggers , which were stacked in a column of around five and then coated in chaff - tempered clay . This stack was placed in a large , horizon tally ribbed , clay - coated jar . A lid was placed over the jar and also coated in clay to seal it , effectively insulating the bangles from the air during firing . Finally a massive outer cap was placed over the top and impressed with a unicorn seal to ensure that the ensemble could not be tampered with . The sealed vessel was stably set on stacks of terra - cotta bangles in a kiln , which was fired at a high temperature . The finished bangles were a mottled grayish black , resembling fine - grained metamorphic stone , and broken examples show that they were black right through .
This was achieved in part by the reducing firing atmosphere , but the effect may have been enhanced by including some organic material within the nested containers , experiments showed that goat dung produced excellent re sults . These bangles were produced only at Mohenjo - daro and Harappa .
6. Terra-cottas
Terra - cotta rings were manufactured as the " cheapest " form of the bangles that were ubiquitous in the Indus civilization , and some of these had red - painted decoration . Other objects of terra - cotta included inscribed tablets , floor tiles , triangular cakes , and decorated cones whose function is un certain . The most intriguing object was a birdcage found at Harappa , a globular vessel with horizontal and vertical slits in its walls , and a slotted terra - cotta door . But apart from pottery the most common objects of fired clay were hu man and animal figurines .
The figurines were generally hand - modeled , although in later Mature Harappan times the heads of bull figurines were made in a mold , details , such as horns , being added by hand , along with the bodies . Studies of the female figurines found at Harappa revealed that many were made as separate left and right - side halves , comprising head , torso , and legs , joined together before details were added ; the latter included arms and thickened shoulders and accessories such as necklaces .
Many of the features , such as noses , were pinched out by hand , while others , such as eyes and jewelry , were added as blobs and strips of clay . The fabric of the terra - cottas was the same as that used for making pottery . Some bear slight surviving traces of paint . The vast majority of figurines were solid , but a few large animal figures were made of clay over a core of straw that burned out during firing , leaving a hollow interior . Kilns for firing terra cottas were generally smaller than those for pottery ; these are known , for ex ample , from Balakot and Allahdino .
7. Stone
In the pre - Harappan period , metal objects were few and their reper toire quite restricted , whereas there were numerous stone tools of many types . In the Harappan period , the reverse was true , metal objects becoming common and the number and variety of stone tools relatively restricted . Nevertheless there were still many objects for which stone was the most appropriate mate rial , such as grindstones , and others , such as drills and cutting tools , that were made both in stone and metal , either to be used on different materials or for use by different sectors of the population .
Harappan stone artefacts included edge tools mainly of flint but also of jasper and chalcedony , weights , grind stones , seals , beads , and other small objects .
Hard Stone :-
Querns were made of granite , basalt , and other volcanic stone , of ten available as river pebbles . Quartzite or sandstone was used for grinding stone objects . Weights were manufactured mainly of chert , but felspar , chalcedony , carnelian , agate , jasper , and amazonite were also used . Marble , alabaster , and other attractive stones were made into gaming pieces , balls , and other small items , as well as small architectural components such as window grilles .
Vessels such as jar stands might also be made out of stone . Small , perforated spherical objects of various sizes have been interpreted in a number of ways : as mace heads , digging stick weights , or bolas components . Stone was dressed and shaped into artefacts by chipping and hammering with stones , using direct percussion , and finished by grinding and polishing with abrasive stones . Hollowed surfaces and perforations could be made in the same ways or worked with drills and abrasive sand . Sculptures were made by the same methods .
8. Flint .
Pre - Harappan flint tools were generally made of different types of locally available flint . In contrast , those of the Harappans , including the residents of Shortugai in Afghanistan , were made almost exclusively from thecore brownish gray flint from the Rohri Hills in Sindh . This limestone plateau con tains a substantial outcrop of very fine - quality flint that had been quarried since Palaeolithic times . Limestone , used for sculpture and for ring stones , was also available there . Many Harappan quarries were discovered along the plateau edges . These might be sunk more than a meter before a vein of flint was found . The Indus stoneworkers swept aside the debris of earlier flint knappers to make cleared areas where they sat to work the flint . Debris defining one Harappan working floor comprised more than thirty - five thousand pieces of waste flint . First the flint knapper roughly shaped a suitable nodule using direct percussion with a hammerstone . This initial work generally took place near the quarry from which the flint had been extracted .
The roughed - out precore was then worked into a shape suitable for striking blades , using a copper - tipped punch to nove flakes from its sides . Some prepa were taken to Harappan settlements such as Mohenjo - daro , where blades could be struck from them , though blades were also manufactured in the Rohri Hills factory site itself . The nearby town of Kot Diji was an important center for flint blade production . The majority of Indus stone tools were made by using or modifying the long regular blades that were struck from the prepared core , using a copper - tipped tool that was pressed against the top of the core using the weight of the body . Often the core was heated before striking the blades because this enabled longer , smoother blades to be detached . Cores usually yielded several dozen blades before becoming too small . Tiny bullet cores , only about a centimeter in diameter , were made by specialists , and from these cores narrow microblades were struck , around 2-3 millimeters in width . Most blades were used unmodified as cutting tools or were snapped into smaller segments .
A few were used as blanks and shaped into other tools such as borers , scrapers for trimming pottery , and burins for incising shell . Leaf shaped arrowheads were made by retouching blade segments , using pressure flaking with a soft hammer .
Click for:-
