New Evidences from the Harappan Cemetery of Seman‐6, District Rohtak,

Vivek Dangi1 and Samunder2

1. Department of History, A. I. Jat H. Memorial College, Rohtak, Haryana (Email: [email protected]) 2. Department of History, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana

Received: 30 September 2013; Accepted: 25 October 2013; Revised: 08 November 2013 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1 (2013): 402‐423

Abstract: Village Seman is situated at a distance of about 8 km north of Meham town, a tehsil headquarter in Rohtak district of Haryana state. It is approachable by a metal road from Meham via Bhaini‐Surjan. It is about 120 km north‐west of New Delhi. There are seven proto‐historic sites in the revenue jurisdiction of this village including one cemetery, which is located about 1 km east of the village. Pottery recovered from the site belongs to classical Harappan phase. On the basis of location and material recovered from the site Seman‐6 can be associated with ‐1. This site was extensively excavated in 2008‐09 and the final report was published. In the present paper pottery recovered during the explorations is discussed which include some new type of pottery.

Keywords: Cemetery, Burial, Seman‐6, Rohtak, Haryana, Harappan Pottery, ‐

Introduction Village Seman is situated at a distance of about 8 km north of Meham town, a tehsil headquarter in Rohtak district of Haryana state. It is approachable by a metalled road from Meham via Bhaini‐Surjan. It is about 120 km north‐west of New Delhi. There are seven proto‐historic sites in the revenue jurisdiction of this village including one cemetery (Dangi 2010:123‐24), which is located about 1 km east of the village (figure 1).

First author first visited the site in July 2006, while doing explorations for his M. Phil dissertation and recovered a complete Harappan vase with a disc base. Apart from this vase not even a single potsherd was found here and at that time, the author was unable to identify the site as a cemetery site. Later on, the site was again visited in July 2007, at that time villagers were removing soil from the south‐eastern side of the site. All over the area, a large number of pottery and human skeletons were found. Unfortunately, this site has been subject to continuous activities for soil removing by local villagers since that time, by which a large number of burials were destroyed. About 107 graves were counted which were disturbed due to the removal of soil. Quick rescue work in Dangi and Samunder 2013: 402‐423 the form of collection of pottery and other antiquities have been done by the author. A large quantity of pottery including complete pots and other antiquities were retrieved. This paper deals with pottery and other grave goods in order to understand the nature and significance of the site.

In the area around Farmana‐1, there are a number of cemetery sites viz. Bedwa‐2, Puthi‐Seman‐2, Bhaini Surjan‐1 and Seman‐6 (figure 2) (Dangi 2010). On the basis of the material culture recovered from Bedwa‐2, Puthi Seman‐2 and Bhainai‐Surjan‐1, these sites can be assigned to the late phase of mature Harappan to Late Harappan period and all these sites are located two to five km away from Farmana‐1. Seman‐6 is located about 500 m north‐west of Farmana‐1 and the pottery recovered from the site belongs to classical Harappan phase. On the basis of location and material recovered from the site Seman‐6 can be associated with Farmana‐1.

Later in January 2008, the site was taken up for an excavation and the first author was the team member of cemetery excavations. Only seven burials in a 7 x 7 m trench were excavated (Shinde et al. 2008). In the year 2008‐09, the site was horizontally excavated and more than 70 graves were cleared properly (Shinde et al. 2009; Shinde et al. 2011). The excavators have classified the burial into three categories, viz. primary burials, secondary burials and symbolic burials on the basis of the presence of the human skeletal remains (Shinde et al. 2009: 19‐20).

1. Primary burials: in the primary burials, a full skeleton was fond in situ, head towards north and legs towards south. Some of such burials are devoid of any grave good.

2. Secondary burial: in the secondary burials, a few bones were found in the grave pit.

3. Symbolic burials: in the symbolic burials, no human skeletal remains were found, but it contains some pottery.

Apart from the above‐motioned three types of burials, some empty pits were also excavated, inside these pits, not even a single potsherd or bone was recovered. It is unable to determine the time period of such pits. The cemetery is located in agricultural fields, and in the cultivation process rectangular pits were often dug for various purposes, such as burying agricultural wastes and so on.

Pottery In total, 40 complete specimens of pottery were recovered from the surface of the site by the first author. Out of them, 12 were already published by the excavator (Shinde et al. 2008), the rest of 28 specimens are included in the present paper.

All the specimens were first properly washed and carefully preserved and now housed in the department of history, the Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. These specimens were drawn to the scale and measured at various points (figure 3). The

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ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 2013 measurement technique was based on Akinori Uesugi’s (2011: 171) method; he adopted the method of Dales and Kenoyer (1986) and Jenkins (1994) with modifications. For recording colours, “Revised Standard Soil Colour Charts” (M. Koyama and H. Takehara) that is based on the Munsell’s soil colour chart was used.

The pottery recovered from the excavations at the site was studied in detail by Dr. A. Uesugi (2011: 674‐800) and his works clearly show the four phases in the ceramic assemblage from the cemetery (figure 4). On the basis of formal and technical features, the pottery recovered from the surface can be broadly classified into two stylistic groups, viz. Harappan pottery and Sothi‐Siswal (non‐Harappan) pottery.

Harappan Pottery The Harappan pottery is usually made of well levigated clay and has very sharp striation marks on the surface, which run continuously in a horizontal direction. It indicates that it was finished on a fast wheel. Another diagnostic feature of Harappan pottery is its painting style, although the number of painted specimens is not much. The Harappan painted pottery is treated with a fine slip and decorated with figurative and geometric motifs. A few specimens included in this paper are painted.

In total 261 specimens of Harappan pottery were recovered from the excavation. If we include these 28 specimens from the surface, the number increases to 289. A. Uesugi (2011: 676) classified the Harappan pottery using the total height and the body diameter, and the same method is adopted in the present study. This classification method is particularly used for the separation of pots and jars. If the ratio of the total height and the body diameter is 1.30 or less are classified as pots and those that have a ratio more than 1.31 are classified as jars. In addition of these two forms, beakers, bowls, dishes, dish‐on‐stands, pot‐on‐stands, lids, etc. are included in my collection. Apart from the general formal classification, particular shapes were divided into sub‐ types (figure 5‐7) (Uesugi 2011: 676).

Beakers In total, six beakers were recovered from the surface and all these beakers fall in the Uesugi’s Type 2. In the excavations, this type of beakers was recovered from Burial nos. 12, 18, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 32. Among the specimens from the surface, figure 8, Nos. 1 and 2 belong to Phase 1; Nos. 4, 5 and 6 belong to Phase 3; and No. 3 belongs to Phase 4. They have a slightly out‐curved rim.

Jar Only one jar (figure 8, no. 9) was collected from the surface and it falls in Type‐1 class of jar. Only three specimens have been recovered from the excavations from Burial nos 6 and 27. This type of jars have elongated elliptical body and out curved neck and this jar falls in the Phase‐3 of ceramic sequence.

Pots Harappan pots were found in 8 specimens. The excavations have yielded 110

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Dangi and Samunder 2013: 402‐423 specimens of Harappan pots, and these were classified into three types, viz. Type 1 having an elliptical, globular and oblong body shapes; Type 2 having a carinated body; and Type 3 having a flanged neck. Specimen of Type 2 was not found from the surface.

Out of 8 specimens recovered from the surface, five specimens can be grouped as Type 1 as having an elliptical or a globular body. These can be further classified into sub‐ types; figure 8, no. 12 belongs to Type 1B, as it has a squat globular body; nos. 7, 8 and 10 belong to Type 1C as having a short oblong body and these can be placed in the Phase 3 of ceramic sequence; No. 11 belongs to Type 1D as having a long elongated body and falls in the Phase 4 of ceramic sequence.

Type 3 was earlier divided into three classes (Uesugi 2011: 681‐682). A new variety of flanged pot, i.e. with a ring base, was recovered from the surface; figure 9 no. 15 and figure 12. I reclassified it as Type 3D; no. 14 falls in Type‐3A (Phase 1); figure 8 no.13 falls in Type 3C (Phase 3); No. 15 falls in Type 3D (Phase 2).

Sothi‐Siswal Pottery The Sothi‐Siswal pottery is distinguished by its modelling and surface finishing technique as well as its shapes. The rim and neck portion of the pottery was finished by smoothening with rotation, as a series of horizontal and continuous striations are visible on the surface of this portion. On the shoulder and body portion, irregular, unidirectional and discontinuous striation marks are visible. Based on these observations, a pot was primarily hand‐modelled and finally finished with a partial use of a wheel or a turn‐table (Uesugi 2011: 179).

Another distinctive feature of the Sothi‐Siswal pottery is appliqué ring base and burnishing. The burnishing was probably done with a hard tool, made of stone, wood or bone, leaving shiny streaks in a horizontal direction on the surface.

The Sothi‐Siswal pottery recovered from the burials is generally painted with black bands of various sizes. They were classified into forms in the same way as the Harappan pottery. That is, they were classified based on the height/ body diameter and visual observations. The pot, jars, bowls, beakers, dish, dish‐on‐stand, bowl‐on‐stand, pot‐on‐stand lid were identified (Uesugi 2011: 689). In total, 13 specimens of the Sothi‐ Siswal pottery were collected from surface and 261 pottery specimens were recovered from the excavations.

Beaker Only one beaker (Figure 10; no. 17) was collected from the surface and it can be placed in Type 2 and it may be assigned to Phase 4, as it has a cylindrical profile.

Jar A total number of four jars (Figure 10; Nos. 18, 19, 20, 232) were recovered from the surface and all specimens fall in Type 1 and can be assigned to Phase 4 of the ceramic sequence.

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Figure 1: Map showing Location of Farmana‐1 and other excavated sites in Ghaggar Basin

Figure 2: Map showing cemetery sites in the vicinity of Farmana‐1

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Figure 3: Measurements of various shapes (Modified after Uesugi 2011: fig 6.1)

Figure 4: Sequence of Harappan and Sothi‐Siswal pottery at Seman‐6 (Modified after Uesugi 2011: fig 9.24 and 9.26)

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Figure 5: Harappan pots types (after Useugi 2011: figure 9.5)

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Figure 6: Harappan Jar and Beaker types (after Uesugi 2011: fig 9.6 and 9.8)

Pots Three pots were collected from the surface; figure 10, no. 21 falls in Type 1, Nos. 22 and 24 can be put in Type 6 and may be assigned to Phase 2.

Bowl Only one bowl (figure 10, no. 25) was recovered from the surface and can be placed in Type 2 which may be assignable to Phase 3.

Pedestalled Pot Two pedestalled pots (figure 10, nos. 26 and 27) were recovered from the surface. These specimens can be grouped in Type 2 and be assignable to Phase 2.

Pedestalled Bowl One specimen (figure 10; no. 28‐A) of such a form was recovered from the surface and it falls in Type 1 and Phase 2 of the ceramic sequence. A shell spoon (No. 28‐B) was found inside it. During the excavations, such spoons were found in some bowls but the excavators have not given any detail of such spoons in the report.

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Figure 7: Sothi‐Siswal Pot and Pot‐on‐Stand types (after Uesugi 2011: fig 9.16 and 9.18)

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Figure 8: Harappan pottery from Seman‐6

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Figure 9: Harappan pottery from Seman‐6

Large number of potsherds and complete specimens were recovered during the survey, but in this paper, only complete specimens are included, which are discussed below. The measurements are shown in centimetre.

Description of Pottery (figure 8‐10) 1. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 4.6; Height 6.2; Body dia.4.2; Base dia. 3.4; Min. thickness 0.3; Max. thickness 0.5; Fabric Fine with crushed pottery.

Short beaker having a cylindrical body with a flat body and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body is finished by scraping with rotation. The base shows string‐cut marks (c.f. , Wheeler 1947:106; ff 16:XVI).

2. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 5YR 7/6A; Rim dia. 4.4; Height 6.3; Body dia. 4.7; Base dia. 4; Min. thickness 0.45; Fabric Fine with tiny mica and crushed pottery.

Short beaker having a slightly bulging body with a flat base and a gently out‐ turned neck with a simple rim. The entire surface is smoothened with rotation. The base is finished by string‐cut.

3. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: dull brown

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7.5YR 6/3; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 5; Height 7.5; Body dia. 4.6; Base dia. 2.4; Min. thickness 0.4; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Beaker having a slightly bulging body with a flat base and an out‐turned neck with a simple rim. The entire surface is smoothened with rotation. The base is finished by string‐cut.

4. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: orange 2.5YR 6/6; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour reddish orange 10YR 6/6; Rim dia. 4.5; Height 7.9; Body dia. 5.05; Base dia. 3.6; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.65; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Beaker having a slightly bulging body with a flat base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower body and the base without rotation.

5. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 4.3; Height 8.2; Body dia. 2.6; Base dia. 2.75; Min. thickness 0.35; Max. thickness 0.5; Fabric Fine with tiny mica; and crushed pottery.

Beaker having a slightly bulging body with a flat base and a gently out‐turned neck with a simple rim. The entire surface is smoothened with rotation. The base is finished by string‐cut.

6. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 6.7; Height 12; Body dia. 7.2; Base dia. 4; Min. thickness; 0.3; Max. thickness 0.4; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Beaker having a slightly bulging body with a flat base and a shortly out‐turned neck with a simple rim. The entire surface is smoothened with rotation. The base is finished by smoothening without rotation after string‐cut.

7. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4 ‐ light yellow orange 7.5YR 8/4; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 5.45; Height 9.1; Neck dia. 5.4; Neck height 1.8; Body dia. 8.4; Body height 7.25; Base dia. 3.6; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.5; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having an elliptical body with a flat base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. There is a low ledge at the juncture between the neck and the body. The entire surface is smoothened with rotation. The base is finished by string‐cut (c.f. Harappa, Wheeler 1947: 103; fig 14:IX).

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Figure 10: Sothi‐Siswal pottery from Seman‐6

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Figure 11: Ceramic Sequence of Pottery recovered from surface

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Figure 12: Flanged pot from surface

Figure 13: Bowl‐on‐stand with shell spoon

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8. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; painting: brownish grey 7.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 6.9; Height 11.5; Neck dia. 6.6; Neck height 2.4; Body dia. 11.1; Body height 9.1; Base dia. 5; Min. thickness 0.4; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having a globular body with a disc base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body is finished by scraping with rotation. The base is finished by smoothening with rotation.

9. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; Internal colour surface: dull orange 7.5YR 6/4; Neck dia. 4.4; Body dia. 8.2; Base dia. 5; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.55; Fabric Fine with tiny mica; and crushed pottery.

Vase having an elliptical body with a flat base and a constricted neck. The entire surface is smoothened with rotation. The base is finished by string‐cut.

10. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: orange 2.5YR 6/6; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 7.4; Height 12.4; Neck dia. 7.4; Neck height 1.9; Body dia. 11.8; Body height 10.5; Base dia. 4.4; Min. thickness 0.3; Max. thickness 0.5; Fabric Fine with tiny mica; and crushed pottery.

Vase having a globular body with a disc base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. There is a ledge at the juncture between the neck and the body. The entire external surface and the internal surface of the neck portion are slipped in orange. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body is finished by scraping with rotation. The base shows a string‐cut mark. (Cf Harappa, Wheeler 1947: 103; fig 14:IX)

11. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: orange 2.5YR 6/6; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 8.7; Height 18.5; Neck dia. 8.6; Neck height 2.9; Body dia. 16.2; Body height 15.9; Base dia. 5.6; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.6; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having an elongated body with a flat base and a gently out‐curved neck with a shortly projecting rim. The external surface of the body and the internal surface of the neck portion are slipped in orange, and the rim is painted with a narrow black band. There is a pre‐firing incised line on the body. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are

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smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body including the base is finished by scraping with rotation. (Cf Harappa, Wheeler 1947: 103; fig 14:VII)

12. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; painting: brownish grey 7.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; white slip: dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; Section colour orange 5YR 7/6; Rim dia. 10.1; Height 15.8; Neck dia. 8.9; Neck height 2.9; Body dia. 17.8; Body height 13.1; Base dia. 6; Min. thickness 0.5; Max. thickness 0.7; Fabric Fine with tiny mica; and crushed pottery.

Vase having a globular body with a flat base and a gently out‐curved neck with a beaked rim. The entire external surface and the internal surface of the neck portion are slipped in dull orange (white), and the external surface is painted with black bands. The external surface of the upper part of the vessel and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body is finished by scraping with rotation (cf. Harappa, Wheeler 1947: 103; fig 14:XIF), and our specimen is plain.

13. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: orange 2.5YR 6/6; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 9.6; Height 17; Neck dia. 12.4; Neck height 2; Body dia. 18.8; Body height 15; Base dia. 6; Min. thickness 0.4; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Flanged jar having a globular body with a flat base and a gently out‐curved neck with an angular rim. The external surface is slipped in orange and is painted with black bands. The upper half of the body was probably painted with figurative motifs, but they have been rubbed off. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower body is finished by scraping with rotation. The external surface of the base is finished smooth.

14. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: dull reddish brown 5YR 5/4; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: dull orange 7.5YR 7/3; Rim dia. 9.2; Height 17.9; Neck dia. 11.4; Neck height 1.2; Body dia. 20.3; Body height 16.7; Base dia. 9.8; Min. thickness 0.65; Max. thickness 1; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Flanged jar having a globular body with a rounded flat base and a flanged neck with a pointed rim. The entire external surface is slipped in dull reddish brown and is painted with figurative motifs and bands. The external surface of the upper part of the body is divided into three panels. The uppermost panel is filled with a comb‐like motif flanked by leaf motifs. There is a dot‐in‐circle flanked by two short wavy motifs below the comb‐like motif. In the middle

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panel is a row of dot‐in‐circles. The lowermost panel is filled by wavy lines or fish‐scale motifs. The external surface of the upper part of the vessel and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body is finished by scraping with rotation.

15. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: light yellow orange 7.5YR 8/3; slip: red 10R 5/6; painting dark reddish grey 10R 3/1; Internal colour surface: orange 2.5YR 6/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 13; Height 23.1; Neck dia. 18; Neck height 2.6; Body dia. 27; Body height 20.5; Base dia. 14; Min. thickness 0.65; Max. thickness 0.8; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Flanged jar having a globular body with a pedestal and a flanged neck with an angular rim. There is a ledge on the lower part of the body. The entire external surface and the internal surface of the neck portion are slipped in red. Black bands are intact on the lower part of the body. It is not clear whether the upper part of the body was originally painted or not, since the surface has been rubbed off. The external surface of the upper part of the body and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the lower part of the body is finished by scraping with rotation. The pedestal is smoothened with rotation. Such pedestal flanged was not found during the excavations at the site. (cf. Cemetery R 37, Jenkins, P.C. 1997:41; fig 6:5)

16. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour slip: red 10R 5/8; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6 ‐ 2.5YR 6/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 7.6; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.8; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Lid with missing knob. The external surface is slipped in red. The surface is entirely smoothened with rotation.

17. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: pale reddish orange 2.5YR 7/4; Internal colour surface: orange 2.5YR 6/6; Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/6; Rim dia. 6; Height 14.2; Body dia. 5.8; Base dia. 4; Min. thickness 0.7; Max. thickness 0.8; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Beaker having a tall body with a flat base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The external surface of the neck portion and the entire internal surface are smoothened with rotation, and the external surface of the body portion without rotation.

18. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: pale reddish orange 2.5YR 7/4; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: reddish orange 10R 6/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 7/8; Rim dia. 7; Height 12; Neck dia. 5.9; Neck height 2.8; Body dia. 8.8; Body height 9.3; Base

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dia. 4.7; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.9; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having an elliptical body with a ring base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The entire external surface is slipped in pale reddish orange (white). Black paintings are partially intact over white slip. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

19. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: pale reddish orange 2.5YR 7/4; Internal colour surface: orange 2.5YR 7/6 ‐ reddish orange 10R 6/6; Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/6; Rim dia. 7; Height 13.1; Neck dia. 6.15; Neck height 3.1; Body dia. 9; Body height 9.9; Base dia. 3.9; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.5; Fabric Fine with tiny mica and crushed pottery.

Vase having an elliptical body with a ring base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The entire external surface is slipped in pale reddish orange (white). The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

20. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour surface: red 10R 5/6; painting: dark reddish grey 10R 4/1; Internal colour surface: red 10R 5/6; painting: dark reddish grey 10R 4/1; Section colour red 10R 5/6; Rim dia. 6.9; Height 13.1; Neck dia. 5.9; Neck height 1.1; Body dia. 8.5; Body height 12; Base dia. 4.1; Min. thickness 0.6; Max. thickness 0.9; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase or beaker having an elongated elliptical body with a ring base and an out‐ curved neck with a simple rim. The external surface of the vessel except for the portion adjacent to the base is painted in black. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

21. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: light yellow orange 7.5YR 8/4 ‐ dull orange 7.5YR 7/4; Internal colour surface: light yellow orange 7.5YR 8/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 7.6; Height 11.5; Neck dia. 6.7; Neck height 1.8; Body dia. 10.7; Body height 9.5; Base dia. 5.05; Min. thickness 0.55; Max. thickness 0.6; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having an elliptical body with a ring base and a shortly out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

22. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: orange 5YR 7/6; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1;Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/6; Rim dia. 15.6; Height 14.3; Neck dia. 7; Neck height 3; Body dia. 15.7; Body height 11.3; Base dia. 5.8; Min. thickness 0.4; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having a globular body with a ring base and an out‐curved neck with a

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projecting rim. The external surface of the upper part of the vessel is painted in black. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

23. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: pale orange 5YR 8/4 ‐ orange 5YR 7/6; Internal colour surface: reddish orange 10R 6/6; Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/6; Rim dia. 9.1; Height 15.5; Neck dia. 7.86; Neck height 3.1; Body dia. 13.2; Body height 12.4; Base dia. 5.6; Min. thickness 0.6; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having an elliptical body with a ring base and a gently out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The entire external surface is slipped in pale reddish orange (white) and is painted in black. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

24. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: pale reddish orange 2.5YR 7/3; painting: reddish grey 2.5YR 4/1; Internal colour surface: orange 2.5YR 6/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 9; Height 15.7; Neck dia. 7.9; Neck height 3.7; Body dia. 19.2; Body height 12; Base dia. 8.5; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.5; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase having a bulging body with a ring base and a out‐curved neck with a projecting rim. The rim is narrowly painted with a black band. There are traces of painting on the body, although the motif is uncertain. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

25. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull orange 5YR 7/4; painting: dark reddish grey 10R 4/1; Internal colour white slip: dull orange 5YR 7/4; painting: dark reddish grey 10R 4/1; Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/6; Rim dia. 13; Height 7.1; Min. thickness 0.4; Max. thickness 0.6; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Medium bowl having a round base and an out‐curved neck with a simple rim. The rim is painted with a narrow band. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation on both sides.

26. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: orange 5YR 7/6; Internal colour surface: reddish orange 10R 6/6; white slip: orange 5YR 7/6; Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/6; Rim dia. 8.3; Height 19.5; Neck dia. 7.2;’ Neck height 1.5; Body dia. 12.7; Body height 12.1; Pedestal height 5.5; Base dia. 8; Min. thickness 0.5; Max. thickness 0.7; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase‐on‐stand consisting of a vase with an elliptical body, shortly out‐curved neck and a low pedestal. The neck portion is smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation. The pedestal is smoothened with rotation on

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both sides. The vase and the pedestal are bendy jointed.

27. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: dull reddish orange 10R 6/4 ‐ reddish orange 10R 6/6; Internal colour surface: orange 2.5YR 6/6; white slip: dull reddish orange 10R 6/4 ‐ reddish orange 10R 6/6; Section colour orange 2.5YR 6/6; Rim dia. 7.7; Height 20.7; Neck dia. 64.8; Neck height 1.3; Body dia. 12.5; Body height 11.5; Pedestal height 8.5; Base dia. 12; Min. thickness 0.7; Max. thickness 0.8; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Vase‐on‐stand consisting of a vase with an elliptical body and a shortly out‐ curved neck, and a low pedestal. The neck portion of the vase and the pedestal are smoothened with rotation, and the body portion without rotation.

28A. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); External colour white slip: pale orange 5YR 8/4; painting: dark grey N3/; Internal colour white slip: pale orange 5YR 8/4; Section colour reddish orange 10R 6/8; Rim dia. 9.7; Height 17; Body dia. 13.5; Pedestal height 9.5; Base dia. 13.3; Min.thickness 0.5; Max.thickness 0.7; Fabric Fine with tiny mica.

Small bowl‐on‐stand consisting of a flanged bowl and a low pedestal. The bowl has a squat body and an angular rim. The upper part of the bowl and the pedestal are smoothened with rotation and the lower part without rotation on both sides. There are traces of painting on the rim and the body of the bowl, and on the rim of the pedestal. The vase and the pedestal are bendy jointed.

28B. Provenance: Seman‐6 (Farmana cemetery); A shell spoon, found inside pot no 28‐A.

Conclusion The pottery recovered from the excavation clearly indicates that the entire ceramic assemblage belongs to the urban Harappan period. Pottery, seals, sealing and other artefacts recovered from the excavations at the habitation and cemetery of Farmana, along with AMS dates, also suggests that the entire occupational deposits can safely be placed between 2500 BCE to 2300 BCE. Although on the surface of the habitation site, potsherds of Late Harappan period and Painted Grey Ware were also found but in the excavation such remains were not found in the stratigraphic context. In the present paper pottery recovered from the surface was properly placed in the ceramic sequence (figure 11) and a new variety of flanged pot i.e. ring base was found; hence the flanged pots were reclassified.

Acknowledgements It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge many individuals who enlightened me during my research work such as Prof. Manmohan Kumar, Dr. V. Shinde, Dr. P.P. Joglaker, Dr. R.S. Bisht, Shri. G.B. Sharma and Dr. J.S Kharakwal for their support, valuable suggestions and encouragement. I owe sincere thanks to Dr. Akinori Uesugi, for his

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Dangi and Samunder 2013: 402‐423 support in many ways; he provided me all the necessary illustrations of Farmana excavations, to include in this work. I am grateful to Appu Singh and his family for providing me hospitality during field survey in 2006‐2009 and special thanks to little Pretti.

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