Chapter 10: Alabaster Acquisition Networks | Download PDF
New Introductory Paragraph by Randall Law, 2024
Harappans used alabaster (the massive form of the mineral gypsum) to fashion many things including
ornaments, vessels, inlays, window screens and ringstones. Massive beds of alabaster occur in the Salt
Range, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and northern Balochistan regions of Pakistan. Artifacts from Harappa
were compared to geologic samples from multiple sources in these regions using a combination of
strontium and sulfur isotope analysis.
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ALABASTER ACQUISITION NETWORKS
Chapter Introduction – The different forms of gypsum at Indus Civilization sites
The mineral gypsum – hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4•2H2O), is found in many forms at Indus Civilization sites. Transparent tabular crystals known as selenite have been recovered at Harappa (recall Figure 4.4 C). Gypsum mortar was sometimes used at the site (Vats 1940: 12-13), as well as at Mohenjodaro (Mackay 1938: 162), for the “pointing” (filling the joints) of brick masonry. At Dholavira, the inlayed lettering of what appears to have been a large signboard was composed of a heated gypsum paste (R.S. Bisht personal communication 2004). Naturally precipitated g ypsum has been found encrusting artifacts at Mohenjo-daro (Mackay 1938: 162, 525) and in the soils around Harappa (Amundson and Pendall 1991: 18). The white coating on the exterior of pots in some burials at Harappa, which some believe to be deliberately applied gypsum plaster (Strahan 1991), may actually be natural encrustations. In this chapter, I identify the sources from which residents of Harappa acquired the massive variety of gypsum known as alabaster.
The name “alabaster” has been used to describe ornamental stones of varying chemical compositions. “Oriental” or “Eg yptian” alabaster is actually travertine – calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and is sometimes also called “onyx marble” (el-Hiwanni and Loukina 1972; Webster 1958). Recall the small stone ring (Figure 4.7 B) mentioned in Chapter 4 that looks much like the travertine quarried today in the Chagai Hills of Balochistan (Ahmad 1975: 124-128). This is not the type of material that is under examination here. Genuine alabaster is the compact, massive form of gypsum. Gypsum alabaster (hereafter just alabaster) is semi-translucent in thin pieces and has a sugary texture that becomes satiny when polished. Purer varieties are white to pink in color. These qualities, along with the fact that it is a relatively common and easily carved stone (Mohs hardness of 2), made it a popular ornamental material in many areas of the ancient world (Rapp 2002: 123-127). The Indus Civilization was no exception. A wide range of alabaster objects have been found at Indus settlements including large and small rings, whorls, mace-heads, bangles, beads, cubical weights, discs, balls, inlays, pendants, “gamesmen”, lattice-screens, plugs, bowls and bottles (see Lahiri 1992 for a site by site listing of alabaster artifacts).
Gale and others (1988) successfully employed a combination of sulfur isotope and strontium isotope analysis to determine the geologic provenience of alabaster artifacts from Mycenaean Greece. Using these same methods, a set of alabaster objects from Harappa is compared to geologic samples from multiple locations in three potential source formations surrounding the Indus Valley. This study is supplemented with isotopic analyses of a small set of artifacts from three other Early Harappan and/or Harappan period sites as well as with the characterization of an unusual type of quartz recovered at Harappa, which may derive from one of the alabaster sources under consideration. Before presenting the details of those studies, I first provide an overview of the forms and contexts in which alabaster is found at the site of Harappa.
The rest of Chapter 10 is in the attached PDF below.
Images
Figure 10.1 Alabaster artifacts excavated by the Harappa Archaeological Research Project (1986-2001).
Figure 10.2 Mounds, areas, and trenches (in bold) where alabaster objects or fragments of manufacturing debris have been recovered. Diamond shapes and arrows denotes trenches/areas where "Mari Diamonds" were found.
Figure 10.3 Alabaster debris and non-diagnostic fragments from Harappa.
Figure 10.4 An assortment of alabaster artifacts from Harappa. Those noted with artifact numbers were analyzed for this study.
Figure 10.5 Regions, sources and sites discussed in this chapter.
Figure 10.6 Quaternary gypsite deposit immediately below the desert alluvium, Bikaner district, western Rajasthan.
Figure 10.7 Alabaster lattice fragments on display at the Mohenjo-daro museum.
Figure 10.8 A mass of selenite crystals from the Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat.
Figure 10.9 Massive alabaster gypsum beds at Buri Khel, central Salt Range.
Figure 10.10 Massive alabaster gypsum beds at Saiduwali Nala, western Salt Range (Khassor Range).
Figure 10.11 Massive alabaster gypsum beds at Bahad-ur-Khel, Kohat District, NWFP.
Figure 10.12 Variation in the isotopic composition of sulfur in seawater through time (after Shields et al. 2004 and Strauss 1997).
Figure 10.13 Variation in the isotopic composition of strontium in seawater through time (after McArthur et al. 2001).
Figure 10.14 Sulfur isotope values for alabaster sources in Pakistan and artifacts from Harappa and three other sites.
Figure 10.15 Strontium isotope values for alabaster sources in Pakistan and artifacts from Harappa and three other sites.
Figure 10.16 Bivariate plot of strontium and sulfur isotope values for alabaster sources in Pakistan and artifacts from Harappa and three other sites.
Figure 10.17 Labeled bivariate plot of strontium and sulfur isotope values for alabaster sources in Pakistan and artifacts from Harappa and three other sites.
Figure 10.18 Mari “Diamonds” – artifacts, sources and analyses
The Chapter section titles are:
Alabaster at Harappa
Potential sources of Harappan alabaster
Gypsum occurrences that are not alabaster sources
Indus Alluvium/Thar Desert
Western Sindh
Gujarat
The Salt Range
The Sulaiman Range
Kohat
Other potential alabaster sources
Afghanistan
Hazara (NWFP)
Jammu and Kashmir
Western Himalayas
Determining the geologic provenience of Harappan alabaster artifacts
Geologic background – Marine evaporites and isotope curves for S and Sr in seawater
The sulfur curve
The strontium curve
Sulfur and strontium isotope analyses of geologic sources and Harappan artifacts
Sulfur isotope analysis and results
Strontium isotope analysis and results
Bivariate plotting of the S and Sr analysis data
Chronological and spatial interpretation of alabaster provenience determinations
Characterization of Mari “Diamonds” from Harappa
Chapter conclusion
