Harappan ornaments

The jewellary in gold and silver-bangles, necklaces and other ornaments are well crafted. They are "so well finished and so highly polished that they might have come out of a Bond Street Jeweller`s of today rather than from a pre-historic house of thousands years ago" says Marshall. The Harappan people also made brilliantly naturalistic models of animals, specially monkeys and squirrels, used as pin-heads and beads. They also made toys in terracotta with movable heads, monkeys which would slide down a string, little toy carts (one of the oldest example of a wheeled vehicle) and whistles shaped like birds.

It is evident from the discovery of a large number of spindles of various sizes that people used both of cotton and woolen materials. Men and women wore two separate pieces of clothes similar to dhoti and shawl . The `shawl` covered the left shoulder, passing below the right shoulder. Both men and women wore ornaments. While necklaces, fillets, armlets and finger-rings were common to both sexes, women wore girdles, earrings and anklets. Ornaments were made of gold, silver, copper, ivory, precious and semi-precious stones, bones and shells etc. From archaeological findings it appears that the Harappans were conscious of fashion. Different hairstyles and beards were in vogue. Cinnabar was used as a cosmetic and face-paints, lipsticks and collyrium (eye liners) were also known to them.

Occupation & Trade of Harappa Civilization

Like other civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece, Indus valley grew on thefloodplains of river Indus. The original cities and many of the towns seemed to havebeen built right upon the shores of the river.The Harappans were agriculturalists, Their economy was entirely dominated byhorticulture. There were massive granaries in each city. The Indus River valley wasquite fertile when the Harappans thrived there. Many of the Harappan seals hadpictures of animals that imply a wet and marshy environment, such as rhinoceroses,elephants, and tigers. The Harappans also had a wide variety of domesticated animals:camels, cats, dogs, goats, sheep, and buffalo.Rainfall in Sind and Punjab was heavy. There is evidence of the cultivation of wheat,barley, peas, mustard, cotton and rice. Domesticated animals were kept in the house.Horse bones have also been discovered at Surkotda, indicating use of the animal. Themain diet consisted of wheat, barley and milk products. Fruits, vegetables, fish andmeat were also consumed. Music and dance appear to be the main sources ofentertainment. The discovery of various equipments such as axes, knives, spears anddaggers made of bronze and copper suggest metal work as a major professioncommonly pursued in the towns. Copper was used for making weapons and utensilsbesides ornaments. Spinning, weaving and pottery also formed important occupation.Pottery in red with designs painted in black resembling shapes such as interestingcircles, pipal, leaves, peacocks were on it. The discovery of numerous seals made ofclay with figures of animals like the tiger, rhinoceros, elephant and crocodile gives usmore information of the significance of these animals in the Harappan society. Theseseals also have inscriptions in pictographic script. Agriculture with domesticating animalswas a major occupation. The location of granaries near river, where the civilization itselfflourished was an important feature. Trade:The Harappan cities were connected with rural agricultural communities and distantresource and mining areas through strong trade systems. They used animals riverboats and bullock carts for transport. This trade is reflected in the widespreaddistribution of exquisite beads and ornaments, metal tools and pottery that wereproduced by specialized artisans in the towns and cities. The major commodities ininternal trade consisted of Cotton, lumber, grain, livestock and other food stuffs. A highlystandardized system of weights was used to control trade and also probably forcollecting taxes.The Indus valley people had also close commercial relation with Central Asia, theArabian Gulf region and the distant Mesopotamian cities, such as Susa and UrExcavations at Lothal reveals the existence of a dock supporting the activities of tradein that period. Trade also existed with Northern Afghanistan from where the Harappansbought the famous blue gemstones,` Lapiz Lazuli`.

harappan agriculture

The Harappan villages, mostly situated near the flood plains, produced sufficient foodgrains not only

to feed themselves but also to town people.

The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood water receded, and

reaped their harvests of wheat and barley in April, before the advent of the next flood.

No hoe or ploughshare has been discovered, but the furrows discovered in the pre-Harappan phase

at Kalibangan show that the fields were ploughed in Rajasthan. The Harappan probably used the

wooden ploughshare.

The chief crops were wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum, mustard, etc. Probably the people of Lothal

used rice as early as 1800 BC. The Indus people were the earliest people to produce cotton.

Because cotton was first produced in the Indus region, the Greeks called it sindon, which is derived

from Sindh. Wheat samples from the Indus cities have been identified as belonging to Triticum

sphaerococcum and two subspecies of Triticum Sativum- vulgare and compactum.

Barley is also found, of the species Hordeum vulgare, variety nudum and variety hexastichum. Other

Harappan crops include dates, melon, sesame, and varieties of leguminous plants, such as field

peas. From Chanhu-daro, seeds of mustard (most probably Brassica juncea) were obtained.

A number of domesticated animal species have been found in excavations at the Harappan sites. The

Indian humped cattle (Ros indicus) were most frequently encountered. The buffalo is less common

and may have been wild.

Sheep and goats occur, as does the Indian pig. Elephant was present, but not necessarily as a

domesticated species. The horse was possibly present but extremely rare and apparently only

present in the last stages of the Harappan period.

Pottery In Harappan Culture

Though most of the Harappan pottery is plain yet a substantial part is treated with a red slip and black painted decoration.

They are uniformly sturdy and well baked.They are chiefly wheel made pottery and out of plain and painted ware,the plain variety are more

common.The painted decorations consist of horizontal lines of varied thickness,leaf

patterns,scales,chequers,latticework ,palm and peepal trees.Birds,fishes and animals are also shown.The pottery included pedestals,dishes,goblets,cylindrical vessels perforated all over and various

varieties of bowls.Pottery was glazed,polychrome,incised,perforated and knobbed.

textiles on Harappan trading shipsThe archaeobotanist blog summarizes some recent reports on textile and fibres identifictions from Harappan contexts, including hard evidence for jute (published by Wright et al). Taken together with jute and sunn hemp finds from eastern Iran, recent evidence for Harappan silk (made from the native Assam

silk moth), and older evidence for flax and cotton, we can regard the Harappan civilization as the most diversified textile producers of the Bronze Age world. They also made nets made out wild palm fibres.

Costumes

Thecostumes ofIndus valleycivilizationhave beenrevealed fromunearthedfigurines. Thedress on theclay figurinecan beconsidered as the normal attire of the female of the time. The waist isbare and a very scanty skirt is worn. The skirt is held by a girdle that ismade of beads or of bands of woven material secured by a pin orfastening of some kind. One figure wears a cloak which is wrappedaround the upper part of the body. Head-dresses are used which are made of stiffened cotton cloth. A tight collar that gives anappearance of greater length to the neck is worn by a few of the figurines.The male figures are generally seen to be nude. Probably a rob with or without embroidery was worn over the left shoulder and underthe right arm. The figure of a man at Harappa might be wearing a close-clinging dhoti. Footwear as such was not found. Cotton as afabric was used but no evidence was available as far as use of linen and wool are considered.

FoodArchaeologists can tell what Indus Valley people ate by examining the teeth and bones of skeletons they discover. They also examine rubbish pits for animal bones, seafood shells, fruit seeds and other food remains for clues to their diet.

Indus people kept cattle, pigs, sheep and goats for food. Cows provided milk and meat. Farmers grew fruit such as dates, grapes and melons, and field crops such as wheat and peas.

Indus Valley people ate a healthy diet. Most people probably ate more fruit and vegetables than meat. From the evidence of teeth in skeletons, it seems men were better-fed than women. Most people's teeth were healthy too.