Around the Indus in 90 Slides 2: Slide Captions

This is an easily printed list of all 90 slide captions.

91. Interaction networks of the Ravi Phase c. 3300-2800 BC.
Arrows extend from Harappa to likely source areas for raw materials such as agate, lapis lazuli, steatite, marine shell and copper. These raw materials were transformed into ornaments and tools at Harappa for local trade.

The Ravi Phase denotes a newly discovered early phase of Indus culture (c. 3300-2800 BC, see the Time line.)

[The first 90 Slides, a more general introduction to the ancient Indus, are elsewhere on this site.]

92. Map of Harappa archaeological site
The excavation map is defined by the Harappa Archaeological Research Project, and shows the extent of occupation phases during different chronological phases. The major excavation areas featured in this presentation are Trenches 38, 39 and 42 on Mound AB, Trench 37, 41 and 43 on Mound F and Trenches 10 and 11 on Mound E.

93. Trench 39 South
Excavations in Trench 39 South on Mound AB in 1996 revealed an extensive deposit of the Kot Diji phase occupation dating to between 2800 and 2600 BC. A geometric button seal (128) was found in the upper part of this rectangular Trench 39 South. White tags mark major features, such as hearths and floor levels. Above the highest white tag is a thick mud brick wall built during the later Harappa Phase that protected these important deposits from erosion.

94. Excavation team
J. Mark Kenoyer (top center, arm outstretched) and excavation team gather at the edge of Trench 39 South at the end of the excavation season. Over the past twelve years many of the local workmen from Harappa and surrounding villages have become extremely skilled excavators and are an integral part of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP).

95. Trench 39S
Looking up from the bottom of Trench 39S one can see habitation levels spanning over 500 years from approximately 3300 BC at the bottom to 2800 BC at the top. The white arrow pointing north is lying at the edge of a large storage pit dug into natural soil by the earliest settlers of Harappa, around 3300 BC.

96. Trench 39 North
Excavations on Mound AB in 1998 began with the clearance of surface debris to expose the many habitation levels, beginning with natural soil in the lower foreground. This view shows almost 1700 years of superimposed occupation levels beginning around 3300 BC (Ravi Phase) and continuing to approximately 1600 BC (Late Harappan) at the top of the mound.

97. 1998 Harappa Excavation Crew
The 1998 excavation crew of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project. Seated at the front left are Mohammad Afzal Khan, representative of the Department of Archaeology, Government of Pakistan, Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and Dr. Richard H. Meadow. The group is standing at the edge of Trench 39 North with the remains of an early pottery kiln of the Ravi Phase, (circa 3300 BC) in the foreground.

98. Ravi Phase Pit
During the Ravi Phase (circa 3300-2800 BC) the earliest inhabitants lived in huts made of wooden posts probably covered with reeds and clay. They stored grain and other foodstuffs in small bell shaped pits that were plastered with fine clay. The white stain in the smaller pit is a post mold and the larger pit is the bottom of a storage area.

99. Ravi Phase Floor
Excavations in Trench 39 South 1996 uncovered the floor of a house dating to the Ravi Phase (circa 3100 BC). Many complete vessels were found sitting on the floor along with broken necklaces, bone and stone tools, spindle whorls and bangles made of marine shell as well as of terra cotta. It is not clear why the house was abandoned with so many valuable objects scattered around.

100. Ravi Phase Pottery Fragments
All pottery from the first part of the Ravi Phase was hand built. Most of the forms were finely made shallow bowls, deep bowls, narrow-mouthed carinated vessels, or thick walled cooking pots.

101. Hand-built Pot
Dating to c. 3100 BC, this hand-built pot with polychrome decoration is one of the earliest examples of intersecting circle motif in the Indus valley region. This motif along with others, such as the fish scale and pipal leaf designs, continue to be employed into the later Kot Diji and Harappa Phases.

102.Ravi Phase Motifs
Whereas many other motifs of the Ravi Phase (Period 1) disappear in the later Kot Diji Phase (Period 2), the intersecting circle and fish scale motifs continued to be used, but they came to be executed in black paint on a red slip. In this image the lower sherds belong to the Kot Diji Phase (2800-2600 BC) and the upper ones belong to the later Harappa Phase (after 2600 BC).

103. Master Potter
Mohammad Nawaz, master potter from Harappa, demonstrates how fish scale and intersecting circle motifs may have been painted onto Harappan pottery. Here he is demonstrating at the Elvehjem Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, USA during the major exhibition titled "Great Cities, Small Treasures: the Ancient World of the Indus Valley".

104. Ravi Phase Pot
This Ravi Phase hand-built pot with polychrome design was found next to the one with intersecting circles illustrated earlier (101). The net and bird motifs are found at other sites to the northwest in Bannu district, but they do not continue n into the later Kot Diji and Harappa Phases.

105. Ravi Phase Cooking Pots
Cooking pots during the Ravi Phase were made in large globular shapes that had a low center of gravity to keep them from tipping over when filled with food. In order to protect the fine clay from cracking due to the heat of the fire, the exterior was covered with a slurry of coarse sandy clay mixed with calcium carbonate nodules and some pebbles.

106. Ravi Phase Pedestaled vessel
Pedestaled vessels such as this hand-built painted bowl-on-stand of the Ravi Phase appear to be the predecessors of a vessel form that becomes more common during the later Kot Diji and Harappa Phases.

107. Harappa Potters
Mohammad Nawaz (center) and Zaman (right) holding replicas of hand-built Ravi style pottery. Bashir on the left holds an original Ravi bowl-on-stand that dates to around 3300 BC.

108. Terra cotta bull figurine
This figurine is from Early Harappan (Period 2, Kot Diji Phase) levels at Harappa. The legs on are joined together, and along with the highly stylized hump, delicate horns and tail, are characteristic stylistic features of the Early Harappan bull figurines.

109. Female Figurines
Early Harappan (Kot Dijian Phase, Period II) female figurines are often broken. On the left is the lower half of a figurine, showing wide hips and pointed legs. On the right is the upper half of a figurine with traces of painting.

110. Figurine
Early Harappan female figurine holding a bowl in her two hands. The face is painted with bold eyes and a necklace with pendant beads is painted at the throat. The lower body is decorated with cross hatched painted design that may indicate the patterns of ancient Indus textiles.

111. Terra cotta necklace find
Conservators very carefully excavate and consolidate a necklace of terra cotta beads found in the Ravi Phase levels at Harappa in 1998. On the left is Arif Husain of Karachi University assisting Elizabeth Robertson of the Smithsonian Institution.

112. Terra cotta bead necklace
This terra cotta bead necklace with two strands of long biconical beads dates to the Ravi Phase (c. 3300 BC).

113. Terra cotta beads
Many different styles of terra cotta beads were made during the during the Ravi Phase at Harappa (circa 3300 BC -2800 BC).

114. Textile Evidence
The earliest evidence for normal weave textiles at Harappa is found in this impression on a Ravi Phase bead from Harappa, dating to around 3300 BC. This fragment is only 1 cm long. Normal weave denotes interlacing single threads (one thread over/under the next). Such weaving may have been done on a simple loom with bone tools such as those seen in 116.

115. Textile impressions
Textile impressions on a toy bed made during the Harappan Phase (c. 2600-1900 BC) show finely woven cloth made of uniformly spun threads. This example shows a fairly tightly woven normal weave.

116. Bone tools
Bone tools from the Ravi Phase levels at Harappa ( c. 3300-2800 BC) include projectile points (top three objects), a bone awl that may have been used for making basketry (middle) and polished rib fragments that may have been used in weaving. The perforated bone piece may have been used for separating strands of thread during spinning or weaving.

117. Steatite bead necklace
Fragments of a steatite bead necklace recovered from the floor of a house dating to the Ravi Phase (circa 3100 BC, see 99). The beads have been fired and glazed.

118. Steatite beads
Steatite beads from the Early Harappan Periods at Harappa. On the right are many different styles of Ravi Phase beads (circa 3300-2800 BC). Note the blue green glazed bead in the center and the row of unfired beads in the second to the bottom row. The beads on the left are from the Kot Diji Phase ( circa 2800-2600 BC). Note the blue lapis lazuli bead at the right edge of the second row from the top.

119. Ravi Phase beads
These beads from the Ravi Phase (3300-2800 BC) at Harappa have been made from carnelian and amazonite (right hand bead). The raw material used to make these beads was brought to the site from source areas probably in Gujarat, over 900 km to the southeast.

120. Small pot Period 3B
A small pot dating to the Period 3C of the Harappa Phase (c. 2200-2000 BC) was found in excavations on Mound E in 1998. This tiny pot contained fired steatite beads similar to those made during the Ravi Phase as well as faience beads and beads made from the seed of a plant that is commonly called "Job's Tears" [Coix lacrymajobi].

121. Gold Disc
Fired steatite beads appear to have been extremely important to the Indus people because they were incorporated into exquisite ornaments, such as this "eye bead" made of gold with steatite inlay found in 1995 at Harappa [Harappa Phase].

122. "Priest King" Forehead
The central ornament worn on the forehead of the famous "priest-king" sculpture from Mohenjo-daro appears to represent an eye bead, possibly made of gold with steatite inlay in the center.

123. Ancient Indus Jewelry
Fired steatite was an important material used in many different types of Indus jeweler. Steatite beads are found in all four necklaces in the center of this collection of jewelry from Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.

124. Inscribed Ravi sherd
The origins of Indus writing can now be traced to the Ravi Phase (c. 3300-2800 BC) at Harappa. Some inscriptions were made on the bottom of the pottery before firing. Other inscriptions such as this one were made after firing. This inscription (c. 3300 BC) appears to be three plant symbols arranged to appear almost anthropomorphic. The trident looking projections on these symbols seem to set the foundation for later symbols such as those seen in 131.

125. Kot Dijian Phase Symbols
These particular symbols made on the bottom of terra cotta vessels prior to firing were probably made by potters during the Kot Dijian Period in order to identify their own vessels or ones being made for specific customers. Some of these single pre-firing potter's marks (2800-2600 BC) were eventually incorporated in to later Indus writing (2600 BC).

126. Inscribed mold fragment
This fragment of a mold used for making large storage jars has three pre-firing graffiti signs. Such symbols when combined together may have served to indicate the name of the owner rather than just being abstract symbols. This piece dates to the end of the Early Harappa Phase (c. 2600 BC).

127. Inscribed sherds
Many sherds inscribed after firing have single geometric signs. This collection of Early Harappan sherds from Periods 1 and 2 (c. 3300-2800 BC) show a range of geometric signs that are roughly similar to later signs in the Indus script.

128. Button seal
This fired steatite button seal from the Kot Dijian Phase (Period 2, 2800-2600 BC) shows a unique pattern that may be an early form of the Harappan script sign that may represent "house" or "temple."

129. Button seal find
The discovery of a button seal is always exciting. Mushtaq, one of the excavation assistants from Harappa Town is proud to have found the second seal of the 1998 excavation season.

130. Button seal
Button seal from the upper layers of Mound AB. Although this seal was found in mixed deposits dating to the Harappan and Late Harappan Periods, the carving suggests that it is actually an Early Harappan seal, dating to around 2800-2600 BC.

131. Inscribed sherd, Kot Dijian Phase
This sign was carved onto the pottery vessel after it was fired and may indicate the type of goods being stored in the vessel or the owner of the vessel itself. Another possible explanation is that this symbol represents a deity or spirit to which the contents of the vessel were sacrificed. This symbol becomes very common in the later Indus script.

132. Sherd with signs
On some sherds, two signs of the Early Indus script (Kot Dijian Phase) appear together. The complete shapes of these signs can be seen on later seals carved with the Indus script (see 133). The sign on the left eventually becomes one of the most common signs of the Indus script (only part of which is preserved).

133. Unicorn seal
A steatite unicorn seal from Harappa with Indus script. This seal was found in the central area of Mound E and dates to Period 3B or early 3C, around 2450-2200 BC. When pressed into clay the impression will be reversed. Since the Indus script may have been read from right to left, the last two signs visible at the top right hand edge of the seal would in fact be the last two signs of the inscription. They thus would be positioned in the same order as seen on the Early Harappan sherd (132) that dates up to four hundred years earlier.

134. Inscribed rim sherd
Three signs are inscribed on this rim sherd of the Early Harappan Period (Kot Dijian Phase), dating to around 2800 BC. Two of the signs appear to be pictographs for a bow and arrow, but they probably had some other meaning that was defined by the diagonal slash at the end of the sequence of symbols. The bow and arrow sign is quite common in the later Indus script (see 135).

135. Inscribed storage jar
Many large storage jars of the Harappa Phase (2600-1900 BC) have writing inscribed along the upper portion of the vessel. This inscription includes a figure of a man with the bow and arrow sign in each hand. It is impossible to shoot two bows and arrows at the same time so this is clearly not a pictograph, but rather a combined symbol used as part of a Indus writing system.

136. Sealing find
One of the most exciting discoveries of the 1998 excavation season was finding a seal impression or sealing in a hearth of the Early Harappan Period (Kot Diji Phase, circa 2800 BC). Here William Belcher is seen photographing the important discovery with the assistance of Mushtaq. The white paper is used to reflect light into the dark shadow of the excavation.

137. Seal impression
This Early Harappan seal impression or sealing of a square seal has several script signs and two ladder like motifs (Kot Diji Phase, c. 2800 BC). The wet clay was probably placed on a bundle of goods to seal it and then was broken off when the bundle was opened. Since this sealing was found in a hearth area, it is probable that the raw clay was hardened accidentally when it was swept into the fire along with other trash, possibly even the rope or reeds used to bundle the goods.

138. Three clay sealings
Three clay sealings from the Harappa Phase levels (2600-1900 BC) that may have come from large bundles of goods shipped to the site from a distant region. The clay does not appear to be the same type of clay as found near Harappa and each sealing has the impression of two different seals.

139. Raw Materials and Trade Networks
This map shows raw material distributions in the Indus Valley and adjacent regions. The extensive trade networks of the Harappan Period (2600-1900 BC) linked distant resource areas to the major cities in the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys. Goods were shipped by boat along the rivers or by oxcart overland. The use of seals and sealings appears to have been integral to the development of trade networks. Seal impressions probably identified the owner(s) of goods, and perhaps the contents of the terra cotta vessels they were shipped in. Impressed clay was also used to seal rope or cloth that bound bales of goods.

140. Eastern edge of Mound E
A large number of seals and inscribed objects were discovered in excavations on the eastern edge of Mound E from 1993 to 1997. This view of excavations in Trench 10W shows two rooms of houses along the edge of a north-south street. A square steatite seal was found in the dust bin in the center of the photograph and numerous incised and molded tablets were found in the overlying debris. These deposits date to Period 3B of the Harappa Phase, circa 2450-2200 BC.

141. Trench 11
Excavations in 1998 expanded the area of Trench 11 which lies to the west of Trench 10 on Mound E in order to recover seals and inscribed objects inside actual houses. Richard Meadow (HARP Project Director) discusses some finds with Afzal Khan (Department of Archaeology, Government of Pakistan) and Maria Jaffrey, a trainee from Lahore.

142. Molded tablets
Molded tablets from Trench 11 sometimes have impressions on one, two, three or four sides. This group of molded tablets shows the complete set of motifs. One side is comprised entirely of script and has six characters, the first of which (on the very top) appears to be some sort of animal. A second side shows a human figure grappling with a short horned bull. A small plant with at least six branches is discernible behind the individual. The third panel portrays a figure seated on a charpoy or throne in a yogic position, with arms resting on the knees. Both arms are covered with bangles, and traces of a horned headdress and long hair are visible on some of the impressions. A second individual, also with long hair and wearing bangles, is seated on a short stool to the proper left of the individual on the "throne." The fourth panel shows a deity standing with both feet on the ground and wearing a horned headdress. A branch with three pipal leaves projects from the center of the headdress. Bangles on seen on both arms.

143. Eastern edge of Mound E
Clearing the ancient Harappan debris from the eroded surface outside of the mud brick city wall at the eastern edge of Mound E. In 1997 this area of Trench 11 was cleared to define the stratigraphic sequence between Period 3B and 3C. It was possible to determine that many of the incised and molded tablets were coming from the second half of Period 3B (c. 2300-2200 BC) continuing into the beginning of Period 3C (c. 2200-2100 BC).

144. City Wall
The curving line of the mud brick city wall at the eastern edge of Mound E rose high above the level of an ancient street that followed the exterior of the wall. A small apron or divider wall made of mud bricks was set right in the middle of the street, approximately four meters from the edge of the main city wall. This apron wall was built at this distance from the city wall around the entire mound.

145. Unicorn seal
A square steatite unicorn seal with a unique inscription was found in the street debris on the inside of the city wall. The two sets of signs on the right hand side of the seal would appear in reverse, i.e. be on the left, when it was pressed into clay. Harappan Period, c. 2300 BC.

146. Sixteen three sided tablets
Sixteen three sided tablets (c. 2300 BC) with incised inscription on each face were found all together in the debris that had been dumped over the curtain wall (144). On one of the three sides is an inscription that is identical to the last two signs on the seal (145).

147. Electron Microscope analysis
Scanning Electron Microscope analysis of the incising marks on the steatite tablets indicates the use of three different specialized bronze graving tools (see 148). Each tablet was first shaped from raw unfired steatite and then incised with the script. After incising, it was fired in a high temperature kiln that would have taken two or more days to reach the temperature of 1000 degrees Centigrade that is necessary to harden the steatite. On this group of tablets, the edge of the incision is very sharp and has no distinctive grooves.

148. Electron microscope analysis
For the second group of tablets the leading edge of the incision is more rounded and there are grooves along the wide slope of the cutting angle. The third type of tool is equally distinct. When combined with tablets found in earlier years there are now 22 examples of three sided incised steatite tablets all incised with the same sequence of signs. These 22 tablets can be grouped into three different sets of tablets based on the type of tool used to inscribe them and the style of inscribing. [The ovals in the photographs are air holes in the mold; they were not in the original piece.]

149. Three groups of tablets
Three groups of tablets can be defined on the basis of the type of tool used to incise them and the style of inscribing. The most complex script sign appears to have been made with different numbers of strokes for each of the three groups. This sign looks like a person carrying two containers and with the horned U shape sign where the head should be. The different strokes used to create this sign reflect three different styles of hand writing. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were probably inscribed by different scribes. [This and the three strokes are the same signs as on an intaglio steal found in the same area as the sets (145).]

150. Stroke direction
The red arrows indicate the direction of strokes used to incise each group of tablets.

151. Two inscribed tablets
These two inscribed tablets (c. 2300 BC) have the same inscription, but it was written in opposite directions. What is even more interesting is that the top tablet is incised with the same "handwriting" as the Group 2 tablets described in (149). The bottom tablet belongs to the handwriting of Group 1 of the inscribed tablets (149).

152. Inscribed sherd, Harappa Phase
Most inscribed sherds are part of larger vessels that were inscribed and then broken. This object (c. 2300 BC) was inscribed as a sherd. It is clear that broken sherds were occasionally used as a form of "scrap paper" to send notes or serve as temporary records.

153. "Granary area"
Limited excavations in the granary area at Harappa starting in 1997 (Trench 41 area) and 1999 have begun a new examination of this important building, first excavated in the 1920s. Although referred to as a granary, this characterization by earlier archaeologists of similar large structures at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa is not borne out by any compelling evidence such as grain deposits. The structure, the largest known from a Harappan site, could have served any number of other functions.

154. Unicorn seal
Unicorn seal from Trench 37, which lies to the east of the "Granary." This type of seal comes from levels dating to Harappa Phase Period 3B. Similar seals were found near the "granary" in 1997.

155. Trench 39 North
Overview of Trench 39 North, looking at the Harappan and Late Harappan Period levels. The brick wall is part of a large building that was constructed with wooden beams and columns. In the foreground is a doorway and in the left background is an earlier brick drain that led out to a street area.

156. Long rectangular seal with no animal motif
This type of seal is only found in the last part of the Harappan Phase, Period 3C. A similar rectangular seal was found on Mound F in the 1998 excavations of the circular platforms (Trench 43).

157. Mound F, looking towards Mound AB
The so-called circular working platform area and workmen's quarters are seen in the mid-ground. New excavations of a circular working platform was begun in 1998 and continues in 1999. Initial results suggest that the platforms were not used for processing grain, but were more likely associated with processing something using water. One possibility is the preparation of indigo dye or dyeing.

158. Circular platform
In 1998, the circular platform first exposed by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1946 was re-exposed and the area around the platform was expanded to reveal the presence of the room in which it was enclosed. The brick walls had been removed by brick robbers and only the mud brick foundations were preserved along with a few tell-tale baked bricks. This particular platform seeems to date to the beginning of the Harappa Phase Period 3C (c. 2200 BC). 159. New Circular platform
To the west of Wheeler's circular platform a new platform was discovered. This platform was excavated using modern stratigraphic procedures and detailed documentation. Charcoal, sediment, animal bone, charred plant and other botanical samples were collected from each stratum to complement the other artifacts such as pottery, seals and domestic debris. These samples should allow a more precise reconstruction of the function of these enigmatic structures.

160. Seal Fragment
Seal fragment of a man with double bun and three fingered hand or trident. Trench 39 North, upper levels, Harappa Phase.

161. Major Sites and Interaction Networks
This map shows the networks that connected urban centers such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa during the Harappan Period (2600-2000 BC) with their hinterlands and distant resource areas.In addition to these two cities, other known urban centers include Dholavira, Ganweriwala and Rakhigarhi.

162. Dish or lid
Late Harappan Period dish or lid with perforation at edge for hanging or attaching to large jar. It shows a Blackbuck antelope with trefoil design made of combined circle-and-dot motifs, possibly representing stars. It is associated with burial pottery of the Cemetery H period, dating after 1900 BC.
The Late Harappan Period at Harappa is represented by the Cemetery H culture (190-1300 BC) which is named after the discovery of a large cemetery filled with painted burial urns and some extended inhumations. The earlier burials in this cemetery were laid out much like Harappan coffin burials, but in the later burials, adults were cremated and the bones placed in large urns (164). The change in burial customs represents a major shift in religion and can also be correlated to important changes in economic and political organization. Cemetery H pottery and related ceramics have been found throughout northern Pakistan, even as far north as Swat, where they mix with distinctive local traditions. In the east, numerous sites in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab provide evidence for the gradual expansion of settlements into this heavily forested region. One impetus for this expansion may have been the increasing use of rice and other summer (kharif) crops that could be grown using monsoon stimulated rains. Until late in the Harappan Period (after 2200 BC) the agricultural foundation of the Harappan cities was largely winter (rabi) crops that included wheat and barley. Although the Cemetery H culture encompassed a relatively large area, the trade connections with the western highlands began to break down as did the trade with the coast. Lapis lazuli and turquoise beads are rarely found in the settlements, and marine shell for ornaments and ritual objects gradually disappeared. On the other hand the technology of faience manufacture becomes more refined, possibly in order to compensate for the lack of raw materials such as shell, faience and possibly even carnelian.

163. Dish-on-stand
Late Harappan Period Dish-on-stand from Harappa with a hole in the center of the dish that may have been used for a special ritual purpose. The dish is pedestaled on a heavy base with triple ridges. This unique form of vessel was found at the foot of a flexed burial, which had other pottery arranged at the head of the corpse. Cemetery H period, after 1900 BC.

164. Large burial urn
Late Harappan Period large burial urn with ledged rim for holding a bowl-shaped lid. The painted panel around the shoulder of the vessel depicts flying peacocks with sun or star motifs and wavy lines that may represent water. Cemetery H period, after 1900 BC. These new pottery styles seem to have been introduced at the very end of the Harappan Period. The transitional phase (Period 4) at Harappa has begun to yield richly diverse material remains suggesting a period of considerable dynamism as socio-cultural traditions became realigned.

165. Three vessels
Three vessels of the Late Harappan Cemetery H period (after 1900 BC). In the center is a small painted globular pot from a burial group. These forms and their surface treatments are quite distinct from the characteristics of the preceding Harappan Period.

166. Excavation team
Excavation of the Late Harappan Period habitation levels was undertaken by the Harappa Project in 1996 in Trench 38 under the direction of Manabu Koiso, Japan (front left seated with red turban) and Field Director J. Mark Kenoyer (standing far right).

167. Cemetery H house
Cemetery H house wall and floor level dating to around 1700 BC Complete bricks used to make the wall indicates an active brick industry rather than the decline previously assumed.

168. Trench 38 Large Globular Pot
Beneath the Late Harappan wall in Trench 38 is a large globular pot covered with an inverted bottle shaped vessel that was used as a lid. This and the other small bowl protruding from the section were set in the floor of a room earlier than the wall. In the background is the whitewashed gateway to the tomb of a local saint, Baba Noor Shah Wali.

169. Small pot
A small pot was found on the floor just to the west of the large globular vessel (the big hole in the wall is where it once sat). In the foreground are other large jars set into the floor and used as hearths or garbage pits. Trench 38, Late Harappan Period.

170. Bead Pot
Initial probing to determine the contents of this small pot (169) from Trench 38, Late Harappan Period, revealed the presence of carnelian and faience beads.

171. Bead Pot
Careful excavations of the pot by J. M. Kenoyer required several weeks. This was done in the evenings after other excavation lab work was finished. The pot and its contents were photographed before and after each layer was removed. (Photo by Manabu Koiso.)

172. Bead Pot
After removal of the overlying sediment it was clear that the pot was filled with beads. Each bead was mapped in and then photographed before removal. In the lower levels were many tiny beads that had settled to the bottom.

173. Pot with beads
In the end, the small Late Harappan Period Pot yielded 133 beads and other decorative objects. Although left behind by a bead collector at almost 1700 BC, the wide variety of beads and other objects found inside the pot belong to all periods of Harappan occupation. In addition to carnelian and faience beads, which are the most numerous, the vessel contained a red-brown glass bead, the first of its kind from the subcontinent.

174. Faience beads
Faience beads of different shapes and colors were found in the bead pot (173). Some of these appear to be imitations of the natural stones; deep azure blue lapis lazuli, blue-green turquoise and banded to imitate banded agate. The red-brown glass bead (175) is in the center.

175. Red-brown glass bead
This is perhaps the earliest glass in the subcontinent, dating at least to 1700 BC. Trench 38, Late Harappan Period.

176. Stone beads
The beads in the top three rows of from the bead pot (173) were drilled with tapering holes, possibly with tubular drill or tapered cylindrical drill. The green beads are amazonite, banded agate, jasper. The rest are carnelian. The beads in the bottom two rows were drilled with tubular drills (see 177). The black and white banded agate was shaped to make eye beads.

177. Tubular drill hole
Tubular drill hole in an unfinished bead found from the bead pot (173) at Harappa. This unfinished bead with a tubular drilled hole suggests that bead workshops were still producing ornaments at Harappa during the Late Harappan Period, circa 1700 BC. The color of the carnelian suggests that it is not from Gujarat and the modified technology of tubular drilling indicates that the "Ernestite" stone drills of the Harappan Period were no longer reaching the site. The raw material used to make these drills has not been located.

178. A collection of beads
This collection was found from the eroding surface of Bawani, a site not far from Harappa that dates from the 3rd century BC. The red brown beads are glass beads of the Early Historic Period showing a continuity in glass technology from the Harappan to the Early Historic Period.

179. Faqir in Sindh
This man is wearing prayer beads made of carnelian around his neck.

180. Late Harappan Localization Era Map
This map shows the major cultural interaction regions c. 1900-1300 BC: Cemetery H in the north, Jhukar in the south and Rangpur in Gujarat. During this period there were still urban centers in the Punjab and Sindh, but there was a breakdown in trade from the coast to the northern regions and from the northwestern mountains to the plains.