nature of ornaments during harappan period a · from mohenjo‐daro (mackay 1998), and harappa and...

Nature of Ornaments during Harappan Period – A Review

Sikhasree Ray1 1. Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune 411006, Maharashtra,

India

Received: 15 October 2013; Accepted: 28 October 2013; Revised: 10 November 2013 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1 (2013): 539‐555

Abstract: The excavated Harappan sites like Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, Mehrgarh, Sanauli, Farmana and many others have given the evidence of different types of ornaments made out of various material. These ornaments are found in association with skeletons in the burials as well as in the Harappan settlements. Though they are few in numbers, they give a glimpse of their use by different sections of the society. A preliminary observation of the Harappan figurines and objects associated in the burials suggests that predominantly these ornaments were worn by the females. Moreover, some of the ornament patterns are seen to have been continued during the latter periods also. An attempt is made here to look into the preference of ornament in the Harappan society and also to look for the continuity of some of the patterns till the Early Historic period.

Keywords: Ornaments, Harappan Period, Chalcolithic, Necklace, Bangles, Burials, Figurines

Introduction The concept of ornaments and ornamentation forms an important aspect of human cultural attributes. It has a very long and continuing tradition. The use of ornaments in various forms may have taken place from very early period the evidence for which is, however, shrouded in obscurity. The archaeological evidence for using ornaments are found from the Upper Palaeolithic onwards in the form of various types of raw materials, shapes and sizes, and various designs and motifs used to decorate various parts of the body in India (Bednarik 1993: 33‐40; Sonawane 1996:84‐88). The earliest ornaments, evidenced from the Paleolithic period, are predominantly in the form of beads made of ostrich shells, a few in shells and bones. Bead as one of the ornaments and shell as the raw material used for making different types of ornaments are in existence from the Palaeolithic period onwards, even to the present day. The Harappan culture, regional Chalcolithic and subsequent periods have produced a huge amount of ornaments of different shape and materials like gold, copper, terracotta, semiprecious stone, shell, bones, ivory, seeds etc. The ornaments were designed to suit the personality, economic status and affordability of the individuals in a particular given

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society in a cultural milieu. It also tells about the use of ornaments, preferences as well as the personal ideology and aesthetic sense of the period and the user.

The archaeological findings from the excavations give an authentic evidence of ornaments that helps us having a clear idea about various aspects of the prevailing ornaments of a particular period. The excavations at a number of Harappan sites have revealed a large number of ornaments like beads, pendants, bangles, anklets and ear studs made out of various types of material. It tells that the Harappans were very fond of the ornamentation and were well advanced in the technology, and they were leading a well aesthetically appreciated life. The use or the concept of these ornaments like in relation to gender of the wearer of different ornament, actual use of some ornament, the way they were used are difficult to say depending on the finding only from a limited evidence. For the understanding of these concepts one has to rely on the ornaments found in association with burials, terracotta figurines and through the human depiction in the seals found from those periods. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been done to review the different ornaments found from the Harappan sites, to understand this concept of ornament in this period through the study of burials offerings, figurines, seals giving evidence of ornaments and in the same time attempt is also made to see the continuation of some of the ornament in the later period.

Important Sites Taken for Study The major sites taken for the study include Harrappa, Mohenjodaro, Surkotada, Farmana, Dholavira, Sanauli, Lothal, Kalibangan, Kuntasi, Bhirrana, Nageswar, Bhagbanpura, Mandi, Mitathal and Banawali. Ornaments from the Harappan Period Necklace Necklace made out of beads and pendants are important form of ornaments that have a very long history in the Indian subcontinent (Kenoyer 1991: 79‐98.).The Harappan people were very fond of wearing necklace which is evidenced from a number of figurines as well a huge amount of the beads recovered during excavations. The Harappans were wearing several necklaces with discs or long beads as pendant (Kenoyer 1991: 79‐98.). During the Harappan period, the necklaces were made out of beads of different materials mostly steatite, carnelian, agate, onyx, lapis lazuli, shell, gold, copper and terracotta. Beads of Steatites were more popular during this period and it is found almost in all the Harappan sites. Three quarters of the bead found at Mohenjo‐Daro were made up of the steatite (Mackay 1998) (Fig. 1). At Kuntasi out of 725 beads, 255 were made of micro steatite (Dhavalikar et al 1996) and 725 steatite beads are found from Surkotada (Joshi 1990). Moreover the beads made of steatite are also evident in association of burials from Farmana (Shinde et al 2010) (Fig 2), Harappa and Mohenjo‐Daro. Next preferable material was faience. Terracotta beads were also found in a good number but material being very cheap suggests that they must have

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been used or worn by the poorer sections of the people. The gold beads are very rarely found. One gold bead, small cup‐shaped with a tiny loop inside, has been found at Farmana (Figure 3). This was made of gold foil. Besides, there are a few fragments of gold probably used as ornaments. Gold beads are also evident from Harappa and Mohenjo‐Daro (Kenoyer 1991: 79‐98.), Lothal (Rao 1973, 1979) (Fig. 2 and 3) and some other sites (see table no.1). Mandi in Uttar Pradesh has yielded a hoard of gold beads (Tewari 2004) (Fig. 4). Silver was more common than gold. Copper and bronze were very frequently used. The main types of beads that are found in Harappan sites are: (Fig. 2 and 3).

Type 1: Disc shape, this shape of bead is generally found made out of steatite. Type 2: Barrel shape, this type bead is more commonly found made out of agate. Type 3: Long barrel shape, this type of bead are mainly made of carnelian. Type 4: Long Tapered bead, this is also mostly made of carnelian. Type 5: Etched carnelian. Type 6: Faceted bead, this type of bead is mostly made of terracotta and some

semiprecious stones. Type 7: Segmented bead, this type of bead is mainly made of terracotta or metal. Type 8: Tubular denticulate.

Pendants Pendants found from the Harappan period are of different shapes and also from different materials (table no. 1). It has been observed from the Harappan figurines that the Harappan people were using the pendants very often as the part of necklace. A variety of pendants have been found from the Harappan sites as following:

Type 1: An animal shaped and bird shaped pendants/ amulets have been discovered from Mohenjo‐Daro (Mackay 1998), and Harappa and from quite a number of other sites.

Type 2: Shape of marine shells are also used as the pendant (Fig. 5). Type 3: Disc shaped (Fig.6): One pendant of ivory of this shape is found from

Surkotada (Joshi 1990) having one hole at the top and decoration of two incised circles and 4 dots in one side and the other side is plain. At Mohenjo‐Daro, a plaque made out of terracotta with two holes at the top was found (Mackay 1998). This type of pendant is also made of thin metal sheet (Fig. 7).

Type 4: Leaf shaped (Fig. 8). Type 5: Crescent shaped pendant evidenced from Kuntasi (Fig. 9). Type 6: Gamesman shape: This type of pendant is quite common in Harappan period

(Fig.10). Type 7: Wheel spike shape/Floral shape (Fig. 11). Type 8: Drop shape (Fig. 12).

Spacer Spacers are very less in number and mostly made of steatite. Among the spacers used


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by the Harappan people, which is evidenced from almost all the sites are the spacers joined together or made of gold or silver sheet with one or more than one hole. This type of spacer in gold from Mohenjodaro and Mandi (Tewari 2004) (Fig.13) and in Silver from Kuntasi (Fig.14) are reported (Dhavalikar et al 1996).

Ear Ornaments So far the ear ornaments are concerned the information found during Harappan period is meager. No ear ornaments that can be assigned as ear ornaments were found from Mohenjo‐Daro. Though some of the figurines are shown having ear ornaments. However unusual form of stud made of faience was found which appears to have been used as the ear ornaments at Mohenjo‐ daro (Mackay 1998). But from other sites of Harappan period quite a few type of ear ornaments have been noticed. The different types represented are:

Type 1: It is circular disc type with a knob at back (Fig. 15). This has been evidenced from Mohenjoadro(Mackay 1998), Kuntasi(Dhavalikaret al 1996) and Surkotada (Joshi 1990).

Type 2: Peg shape (Fig. 16), peg shaped is found at Kuntasi (Dhavalikar et al. 1996). Type 3: Pulley shape (Fig. 17): This shaped ear ornament is evidenced from Lothal(Rao

1973, 1979), Surkotada (Joshi 1990), Kuntasi (Dhavalikar et al. 1996) and some other sites. These types of ear ornament are found in the early Historic period from a number of the sites especially from Sisupalgarh (Ray 2013).

Bangles The evidence of the use of bangle as a form of ornament is found in the Neolithic phase at Mehrgarh in the form of circlets of shell. Subsequently during Harappan period it started increasing in the styles and appeared in various materials. Bracelets or armlets in Harappan period were made of terracotta, shell, faience, metal like copper, gold or silver. Terracotta and shell were the most favored materials for this type of ornament as seen from the findings from the excavations. The dancing girl as well as the terracotta female figurine depicts multi bangles use by the Harappan people.

Use of Shell bangles were probably most favorable ornament used by the Harappan people as a number of shell bangles were reported from the excavated sites. They too can be observed in the hands of the skeleton found in the burials. A few shell artefacts are found in Farmana, mostly consisting of bangles in the burials (Shinde et al. 2010). The bangles are semi‐circular in section and plain. During this period shell bangles are rare and found only in a few cases.

Terracotta is the next most common material used for the bangles and recovered from almost all the sites. The bangles from Farmana are predominantly made out of terracotta (Shinde et al 2010). They are circular in shape, and are in two varieties‐ single and double (joined together). The first one is very common, whereas a very few double bangles have been reported. These bangles have been treated with slip and fired red in

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high temperature. These bangles of different sizes are circular in section and appear to have been hand‐modeled. They are plain without any decorations on them.

Faience is another common material found for the bangles making. At Mitathal, most of the bangles are exclusively made out of faience (Bhan 1975). A number of bangles made of faience are also found from the other excavated Harappan sites.

Bangles made of metal object like gold, copper and silver have also been reported from the Harappan sites. Among them gold and silver are occasionally found from a few sites (Table 1). Among metals copper was the most preferred material and common for ornament and other artefact making. Only one gold bangle was found from Mohenjo‐Daro (Mackay 1998). A large number of copper bangles are also found from the Harappan sites. A number of copper bangles have been found in Farmana (Shinde et al. 2010). In addition, a farmer came across a small cache of 22 solid bangles close to this smelting area, while ploughing the field for agricultural activities (Shinde et al 2010). The copper bangles both thin and thick varieties are reported from a number of sites like Lothal, Harappa and Farmana (Table 1). On the basis of designs all the bangles can be divided into following types:

Type 1: Chevron design, Bangles having this design is reported from almost all the site. Type 2: Segmented pattern Type 3: Scattered slanting line Type 4: Geometrical pattern Type 5: Ridge at the centre Type 6: Rope design Type 7: Horizontal oblique grooves. Type 8: Geometric design Type 9: Criss‐ cross Type 10: Slanting line design Type 11: With Harappan script Type 12: Incised oblique design Type 13: Horizontal oblique grooves Type 14: Incised acute angles Type 15: Concentric circles Type 16: Circular with opening ends Type 17: Circular with overlapping end

Among the above types, Type 2 is found to be made of terracotta, shell, and faience (Fig. 18). The shell bangles imitate Type 2, 5,7,15. Type 1 (Fig.19) and 6 (Fig.20) are found only in faience variety and rarely in terracotta and shell variety. These types seem to have continued in the later period as evidenced from Megalithic site in Vidarbha (Fig. 21). They are also found from a number of early historic sites in India (Fig. 22 and 23) as evidenced from the excavated sites. During the mediaeval period it is noticed in most of the sculptures found in the temples (Ray 2013). Except Type 6, 16,


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17 all the types can be noticed in the terracotta and mostly in faience bangle. Type 16 (Fig. 24) and 17 (Fig. 25) are only seen in the bangles made out metal especially in copper. Again these type of bangles are unearthed from megalithic sites of Vidarbha. They too appear during the early historic period. Even in the recent times, people use the same kind of ornament as bangle or large size as anklet.

Table 1: Raw Materials used for the Production of Ornaments at Harappan Sites (As per the information gathered from excavation reports)

Site Name Necklace/ Bead

Pendant Spacer Bangle Ear Ornament

Ring

Mohenjodaro 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, 9,10,11,14

6,8,11 11 9, 11, 14 11 10

Harappa 1, 7, 8 8, 9, 11 10 8,10,11 8 10 Lothal 6,8,9,10,11,15 15 11 6,8,9,10 6, 8, 10, 15 6, 9,10

Kalibangan 2, 6, 11, 14 6,8, 9, 10 Surkotada 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 15 8, 9, 10 10 Dholavira 1,2,3,4,6,7,8 Sannauli 1,2,3,4,5,7, 8, 9, 11 Farmana 1, 2,3, 4, 8 9, 10, Kuntasi

1, 2 ,6,7,8, 9, 11, 3,6,8,9, 12 10 8,10 8, 12 10

Mandi 3,5,10,11 11 Bhagwanpur 1,2,3,7,8 6,8,10, 13 Nageswar 8 8, 9 Mitathal 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 6,8,9,10 Birrana 9 6, 8, 10 Banawali 1, 2, 3, 7 6, 8 Rangpur 1, 6, 8,11 9,11 8 11 1= Steatite, 2 = Carnelian, 3 = Agate, 4 = Lapis Lazuli, 5 = Onyx, 6 = Faience, 7 = Other Semiprecious Stones, 8= Terracotta, 9 = Shell, 10 = Copper, 11=Gold, 12‐ Granite/stone, 13=Glass, 14= Silver, 15 = Ivory

Rings Rings of copper wire have been found from a number of sites (Table 1). No gold or silver rings have been reported from the studied sites.

Type 1: Plain circular ring (Fig. 26) Type 2: Circular ring with open end (Fig. 27) Type 3: Circular ring with coiled shape (Fig. 28)

The type 1 is made out of copper, shell and ivory while the type 2 and 3 are made out of metal especially copper only.

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Anklets The anklets were worn by Harappan women as seen by the figurine found and also recovered from the burials. It seems most of these anklets were strand of steatite beads worn by the people of the period. This assumption is strengthened by the occurrence of a large amount of such beads near the ankle portion of the skeletons found. More over the thick large copper bangle could have been used as the anklet.

The Table 1 suggests that the occurrence of steatite beads was most common, it was probably favorable and affordable material used for ornaments. Most of the sites have given a good number of this material though some sites have yielded a few. The pendants are numerous in comparison to other material and frequently used. This could have been also happened as terracotta objects are less durable and thrown as refuse quite often forming archaeological remains. Though the other material especially gold and shell appears but is found from a very a few sites. Absence of pendants at other sites might have been for the reason that the Harappan people were probably using the beads like long carnelian beads as the pendants. So far the bangles are concerned the Harppan people were using mostly bangle made of terracotta, shell and metal especially copper. The evidences of these materials are found almost in all the above mentioned sites. Only at Kuntasi and Bhagwanpura no evidence of shell has been found. Ear ornaments are mostly made of terracotta and metal and the finger rings were exclusively seen made out of copper.

Ornaments Recovered in Association with the Burials Unlike in the habitation deposits, normally artifacts come into context in various ways such as a refuse, stored or as hoard. In the burials, they are incorporated intentionally. Here personal ornaments often form an important part. So these ornaments are found in different state of preservation in different parts of burials belonging to different shapes, sizes and raw materials occurring at different locations of the burial. The ornaments are not only found in the body of the skeleton, but also as burial goods offered by various agencies. Hence, they show not only belonging of the deceased, but also forming a part of family position, wealth and appreciation. Hence, it speaks about contemporary practice of decorating the body and also their procurement, craftsmanship, technology available, economic condition of the deceased or their relatives (Mohanty in press). As far as the burials of Harappan period are concerned, only a few sites have given the evidence of burial tradition and again only some of the burials have given the evidence of ornaments. However these evidences give clear idea about the concept of ornament prevailing in the Harappan society. The sites that have given the burial evidence are Harappa (Vats 1997), Mohenjo‐Daro (Mackay 1998), Sanauli (Sharma et al 2006, 36: 166 ‐179), Farmana (Shinde et al 2010), Rupar, Kalibangan (Lal et al 2003) and Lothal (Rao 1973, 1979). In the present research only the detailed account of the ornaments associated with the burials found from Harappa, Farmana and Sanauli are presented whereas from the other mentioned sites the data are collected from general information available.


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In the Harappan burials the evidence of beads made out of steatite, carnelian and agate as part of necklace were found near the neck of the skeleton (See Table 2). This suggests that the Harappan people might have been using the beaded string as the necklace. Though in Sanauli an 18 years old female skeleton has been found with a tight necklace made of spiral gold wire found over two thick copper wire held together with small agate beads and 8 carnelian beads found near the neck (Sharma et al. 2006, 36: 166 ‐179).

Most of the burials are shown wearing the bangles made of shell (Fig. 29), copper (Fig. 30) and a few gold (Fig. 31)(Sharma et al. 2006, 36: 166 ‐179). The female burials are shown wearing one or two bangles at the wrist and in some cases wearing bangles at the elbow also. In one of the burials at Harappa a female skeleton is found wearing 13 shell bangles in the left wrist, forearm and above the elbow and in another burial 7 shell bangles are found in the left arm. It is also observed that the female has been shown wearing bangle of two different materials like shell in one hand and copper bangle in another hand (Kenoyer 1991 17 (2): 79‐98.). In Farmana a female burial (no. 20) is found having 3 shell bangles in one hand and 5 copper bangles in the other hand (Shinde et al. 2010).

A Few of the burials were seen with the ear ornament. At Sanauli a skeleton was found with a cap shaped gold ear ornament near the ear (Sharma et al 2006, 36: 166 ‐179) (Fig. 32). Quite a few of burials give the evidence of anklet made out of only steatite bead (Table 2). These beads were found scattered near both the ankles. Harappan people might have been wearing girdles made of beads in the waist. It is observed from some of these burials as the beads are found scattered near the waist. The details of all the ornaments found in association with the burial are given in Table 2. The Table 2 shows that necklaces were worn by both male and female. The use of bangles and ear ornaments are not only restricted to the women, but sparingly the men used it. It might be possible that the male in a high position in the society or wealthy person used them as most of the burials where they found belong to affluent or high ranked person in the society. Finger rings are also used by both men and women. Anklets might have been the ornament of only female as in most of the female burials it is found. Amulets made of stone are noticed only from two child burials which suggest that they might have been used to protect from the evil spirits or for good health.

Ornaments Evidenced from the Figurines The Harappan sites have yielded a number of both male and female figurines. These figurines are often depicted wearing ornaments. This gives an idea about the preference and the concept of ornament in the Harappan society. Both male and female figurines are found wearing one or more than one strings of beaded necklace, and in some cases pendants. The female figurines are often shown wearing bangles in their hand. On the other hand, the male figurines are hardly shown with it. It is generally seen that bangles were worn on both arms from wrist to upper arm. There are also

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Table 2: Ornaments from Harappan Burials

Name of the Site

Burials Necklace Bangles Ear Ornament

Anklet Finger Ring

Amulet Waist Band

M/F/C

Farmana No.1 1, 2, 8 ‐ ‐ 1 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ No,3 3 ‐ ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ No.4 ‐ ‐ ‐ 1 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ No.5 ‐ 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ C No.20 ‐ 7, 8 ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ F No.26 3 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ No.37 1 7 8 1 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ No. 41 5 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F No.49A ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ No.50A ‐ ‐ ‐ 1 ‐ ‐ ‐ F No.50B ‐ 7, 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F No.65 ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ Harappa 127A 2, 4 7 ‐ 1 ‐ ‐ ‐ F 200A ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 2 F I52A ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F 49B 1, 3, 6, 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 11 ‐ F 134A ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 11 ‐ F 156A ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 8 ‐ ‐ F 194A ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F 49A ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F 49C ‐ 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F 147A 1, 5 7 ‐ ‐ 2 ‐ ‐ M 196A 1, 3 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 8, 9 M 34B 11 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ M Mohenjo‐Daro

‐ 1 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐

‐ 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F Sanauli ‐ 1, 3 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ M ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 3 C ‐ 1, 2, 8, 9 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ F Rupar ‐ 8 6, 7 ‐ ‐ 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ Kalibangan ‐ 1, 2 7 ‐ ‐ 8 ‐ ‐ ‐ Lothal ‐ ‐ ‐ 8 ‐ M ‐ 7 7 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 1= Steatite, 2 = Carnelian, 3 = Agate, 4 = Lapis Lazuli, 5 =Jasper, 6 = Faience, 7= Shell, 8 = Copper9=Gold, 10‐ Silver, 11= stone

depictions of persons wearing one or two bangles at the wrist of one or both arms. However, it is very difficult to identify the types of bangles worn or the combinations of design and color being used. It can be traced from the tangible evidence from the types of bangles being worn comes from burial. Earrings are also very rarely depicted. In most of the cases they represent circular strips to show the ear ornaments. Among the figurines the dancing girl from Mohenjo‐Daro is one of the best specimens. It is


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shown wearing plain necklace, three hanging pendants about 20 to 25 bangles in the left hand from wrist to arm and one bangle in the right wrist and arm (Fig. 33). Some of the figurines are loaded with more elaborate layers of necklaces extending to the waist, each with several long pendant beads (Fig. 34). In some of the figurines spiral shaped armlets and bracelets are represented. The anklets shown in the figurines may be made out of beads. The figurines are even shown with elaborate hair dresses and girdles. Evidence of Ornaments from the Seals It is really difficult to trace out the ornaments by just looking at their depiction on the seals as the figures represented on the seals are very small. However, from the types of lines and on the basis of idea of ornaments found in the burials and also from the figurines it can be assumed to some extent. The seal from Mohenjo‐Daro (Fig. 35) depicts the figure of a male with horned head dress and both arms filled with what have been interpreted as bangles. Another seal depicts a male figure having horns on his head and having bangles in both of the hands (Fig. 36). All these figures wear a large number of bangles, in some cases a number of strings of bead. All these depictions look like male figures. Another seal represents the figures of kneeling worshippers wearing horn as head gear and bangles (Fig. 37), they may be minor goddesses (Mackay 1998).

Figure 1: Map showing important Harappan sites (Courtesy: Shinde et al. 2011)

Figuure 2: Stone (Courtes

Fig

Beads, Lothsy: ASI)

gure 4: Gold

hal

beads from

Figure 3

Mandi (Cou

3: Gold bead(Courtesy:

urtesy: Tewa

Ray 2

ds from Loth ASI)

ari 2004)

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hal


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Figure 5: Marine Shell

Pendant

Figure 6: Disc Shaped Terracotta Pendant

Figure 7: Disc Shaped Gold Bead

Figure 8: Leaf Shaped Pendant

Figure 9: Crescent Shaped Pendant

Figure 10: Gamesman Shaped Pendant

Figure 11: Wheel/Spike/Floral Shaped Pendant

Figure 12: Drop Shaped

Pendant Figure 13: Gold and Silver

Spacers from Mandi Figure 14: Silver Spacers

from Kuntasi

Figure 16: Peg Shaped Ear

Ornament

Figure 15: Disc Shaped Ear Ornament with Knob at the back

Figure 17: Pulley Shaped Ear

Ornament

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Figure 18: Shell Bangle

Fragment Figure 19: Faience Bangle with Chevron Design

Figure 20: Faience Bangle with Rope Design

Figure 21: Bangles from Vidarbha Megaliths

Figure 22: Early Historic Terracotta Bangle

Figure 23: Early Historic Terracotta Bangle

Figure 24: Bangle with

Opening ends Figure 25: Bangle with Overlapping ends

Figure 26: Plain Circular Metal Rings

Figure 27: Metal Rings with Opening Ends

Figure 28: Coil Shaped Metal Ring


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Figure 29: Burial from Farmana

Figure 30: Burial from Farmana

Figure 31: Burial from Sanauli

Figure 32: Gold Cap from Sanauli

Figure 33: Bronze Dancing Girl

Figure 34: Terracotta Female Figurnie

Figure 35: Carved

Steatite Seal Figure 36: Carved Steatite

Seal Figure 37: Carved Steatite

Seal Courtesy (Figures 5 to 37): Dhavalikar et al.1997, Shinde et al. 2011; Sharma et al. 2005; Tewari 2004, www.humanpast.net, www.exoticindiaart.com, www.harappa.com

Conclusion This preliminary observation of the ornaments and ornamentation do not completely justify the range of ornaments used by different class of people. The amount of beads, bead hoards, isolated ornaments, decorative items found from limited excavations carried out at Harappan domain may not give a clear picture of their use. Looking into

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the repository of ornaments, especially semiprecious stone bead, steatite and faience bead, and their large number of findings suggests that these were extensively used. The long carnelian beads are very rare and have been recovered in some of the important sites only. They must have been quite expensive and probably used by the affluent class. Similar is the case with lapis lazuli and etched carnelian bead. On the basis of the more occurrence of steatite and terracotta beads and the less occurrence of other exquisite raw materials like carnelian, agate, onyx, copper and gold, it can be presumed that the former were relatively more valuable than the common forms made from steatite and terra‐cotta. An individual wearing the beads of other material might be belonging to a higher status than an individual wearing similar ornaments made from steatite or terra‐cotta.

The findings from the burials give a good picture of the use of ornaments. Though the seals depict headgear, they are missing in the burials. Both male and female were shown wearing strands of necklace stringed out of semiprecious stone bead, steatite and may be of some organic material. Again it is seen that the pendants were also stuck into the necklaces. The loop behind the seals suggests that they were probably worn as pendants though they have not been yet found in association with the burials. The pendants besides the beads are also seen in the form of shells especially small miniature conch shell. The bangles, anklets, waistbands are found made of various kinds of materials as mentioned above.

The most important findings of our present discussion are that the women were more ornamented than the men. Secondly, different raw materials were used for making bangles worn by the same people in different hands. While the left hand is generally shown wearing good number of bangles made out of shells, the right hand has a few copper bangles. This could be because right hand was more functional causing breakage of the shell bangles. Hence copper bangles are worn in the right hand. Was it that right hand was quite often exposed while articulating, copper bangle being a luxury item. The wearer may have wanted to show up her wealth position. The use of multi bangles might have been symbol of high status or wealthy or ranked community or class of people. This concept seems to have been continued through the ages as in the temples also most of the nayikas or icons are shown with multi bangles whereas in comparison the common are shown with less no or few bangles.

The use of waist bands or girdles during the Harappan period is seen not only in burial contexts but also in the figurines. Girdle became an important ornament seeing from the time of the Early Historic period and continued to be depicted in subsequent periods. They are shown wearing by both men and women with more ornately designed. Though it is very difficult to say the exact period when the hair dress and girdle were introduced, probably we have the first archaeological or tangible evidence from the Harappan period. However, it shows that the tradition of use of ornament in different parts of the body which is initiated during Happen period continued till today in some form and other.


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Acknowledgement I owe my heartily gratitude to my supervisor Prof. R.K. Mohanty for his guidance and suggestions in every step. I am thankful to my friends Shantanu Vaidya, Pankaj Goyal, Nikhil Das, Tejal Ruikar and Soumi who rendered their help whenever I needed. I am thankful to all the scholars whose excavation report is available for providing data for this study. All the photos that are inserted in the text are taken from the published excavation reports and some from the websites.

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nature of ornaments during harappan period a · from mohenjo‐daro (mackay 1998), and harappa and...

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