Harappa Archaeological Research Project

HARP (Harappa Archaeological Research Project) a group of scholars from a variety of fields dedicated to advancing the study of the ancient Indus Valley civilization.

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.

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Detail view of the fill inside the "granary" buttress

Detail view of the fill inside the "granary" buttress. Large pottery sherds, bone, and baked brick fragments lie on the bottom with finer silts on the top

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Wild caper trees

The new green shoots of the thorny wild caper trees of Sindh and Punjab can be crushed with alkaline salts to create a paint-like substance that will bleach white lines on carnelian when heated to the proper temperature.

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Jasper drill bits

Jasper drill bits were used for drilling carnelian and amazonite beads during the Ravi and subsequent phases at Harappa. On the left are two snapped drill tips while on the right is a broken drill base. All are from the Ravi phase.

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Terra cotta bead necklace

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

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Granary without sediment and artifacts

All of the sediment and artifacts were removed from "granary" buttress [99] for analysis, revealing the method of corbelled arch construction.

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Mark Kenoyer paints designs

Attempts at replication of ancient techniques through modern experiments (experimental archaeology) is an important part of research at Harappa. Here, J.

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Ravi phase floors in section

After excavation, the section view of the Ravi phase floors with agate manufacturing debris was drawn and photographed, and block samples were taken for micromorphological study.