The Indus Valley Civlilization

An overview of Mound E and ET looking north. Inside the city to the right of the corbelled drain and gateway is an area of the city that has been identified as a crafts quarter. Large quantities of manufacturing debris have been found in this area indicating the presence of workshops for making stone beads, shell ornaments, glazed faience ornaments, stone tools and possibly even gold working.

The Indus Valley civilization was one of the world's first great civilizations. The civilization began to flourish about 4,500 years ago and was centered in the vast river plains of what are now Pakistan and northwestern India. This civilization is sometimes called the Harappan civili­zation, and is named after the Pakistani town of Harappa, where archaeologists first discovered evidence of the culture.

(World Book, 1991)