Women of Harappa A

Image A:Two female figurines nursing infants found at Harappa. The female figurine usually holds the infant's head to her breast with one or both arms encircling the infant.

LEFT: The female figurine usually holds the infant's head to her breast with one or both arms encircling the infant. The infants being nursed by female figurines are usually very schematically represented by a bent and pinched roll of clay with or without applied eyes.

RIGHT: The head, body, and legs of the infant are usually pressed against the female’s breast and torso with the legs dangling or gripping the female’s waist.

Image B: Two females figurines with double volute headdresses from Harappa. Female figurines greatly outnumber the male figurines found at Indus sites so far.

LEFT: Double volute headdresses are usually decorated and sometimes painted black as well. Female figurines are usually depicted standing with their legs pressed together all the way to the feet and sometimes have their hands raised to their heads. Approximate dimensions (W x H x D): 3.9 x 10.2 x 2.4 cm.

RIGHT: The "cones" that often decorate figurine headdresses in the figure on the right may be reproductions of the small gold cones that have been found at Indus Civilization sites. Similar small gold cones are still used as hair ornaments in South Asia.

See also Women of Harappa B and Men of Harappa.