A banded agate bead (at left), a long terra cotta bead (center) and a cylindrical steatite bead (at right) were all found in the deposits of a room in Trench 54.

The ancient Harappans went to great efforts to obtain exotic colored stones for making beads of different shapes and sizes.

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.

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