Component-I (A) – Personal Details
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Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University,Tirupati. Prof.Ravi Korisettar VS Wakankar Archaeological Research Institute Bhopal Dr. V.N. Prabhakar IIT, Gandhinagar. Prof. P. Ajithprasad The M.S. University of Baroda, Baroda. Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Pre and Protohistoric Cultures of India Module Name/Title Protohistory of India and Pakistan III: Indus Crafts and Arts Module Id I C / PPHCI / 20 Pre requisites Objectives Understanding the crafts and artistic expressions of Indus Valley Civilization Keywords Ceramics, sculpture, figurines, lapidary, beads, ornaments, faience, seals, sealings, stoneware, metallurgy, textiles. E-text (Quadrant-I): 1. Introduction The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600 – 1900 BCE) is well known for the standardisation it had achieved during its 700 year period. The surplus in food production during the Neolithic period enabled the creation and, later support of craftsmen who indulged in manufacturing various kinds of objects, both utilitarian as well as adornment. The development of craft activities can be traced back to the Neolithic period, the earliest evidence of which comes from Mehrgarh. The Neolithic people of Mehrgarh traded with far off regions for exotic materials like turquoise, lapis lazuli, steatite, special categories of shells, etc. Undoubtedly, these materials were traded for their rarity in local sources and therefore valued high. The research data accumulated for over one hundred years have provided excellent evidence to understand the procurement and processing of raw materials, and distribution of finished products. There is evidence for systematic exploitation of raw materials from near as well as distant sources. Randall Law has systematically documented in detail on the transformation of strategies in raw material acquisition from the Early Harappan phase to Mature Harappan phase. The raw materials procured were of diverse nature, ranging from metals like copper, lead, silver, gold to semi-precious stones like turquoise, vesuvianite, lapis lazuli, amazonite, agate-carnelian, jasper, bloodstone, quartz, amethyst, just to name a few. The scientific investigations available today are helpful in identifying these different raw material sources through understanding the chemical composition of finished artefacts and remains of raw materials from a proper stratigraphic context and comparing them with the available raw material sources currently exploited and from those which were exploited in the past and abandoned. The procurement of raw materials required a good understanding of the local geology and properties of materials and also through contacts with the various tribes and clans populated near these sources. Once the raw material sources were identified and their values understood, the Harappans adopted various strategies to maintain a continuous flow. The best example is a host of Harappan sites located in the Badakshan region of modern Afghanistan, on the banks of River Oxus, and very close to the precious lapis lazuli sources. Similarly, a host of Harappan/Sorath Harappan sites in Gujarat near the agate- carnelian raw material sources indicate the dominance of Harappans in exploiting them. Once the raw materials were procured, they were fashioned into various items of utilitarian and ornamental purpose. The expertise in finishing these raw materials into artefacts of artistic specimen can be inferred from the numerous categories of objects that have come down to us. The finishing of these artefacts also required a particular level of skill which was developed over 2 a period of time, the remnants of which can be seen in the preceding periods of Mature Harappa phase. The stratigraphic correlation to this development of skill in craft activities could be seen best at the site of Harappa where a continuous occupation starting from around 3700 BCE onwards has been documented. Further, based on the analysis of excavated sites, it has been further inferred that standardisation in craft production combined with craft specialisation could have led to socio-economic stratification through a network of controlled production. Mark Kenoyer observes that a complex socio-economic process could have played in the entire sequence of acquisition, production and distribution of products. The location of specific craft activities in a urban site can also indicate on the nature of segregation which may further implies on certain factors leading to their segregation. For example, the pottery kilns were normally located outside the habitation so that the fumes generated during firing may not affect the population. This may be true in the case of metallurgical processes of smelting and melting, which produces lots of heat and fumes, and thus needs to be segregated from the populous localities of a city. Thus, several factors as observed in the excavation of Harappan sites can tell a great deal of story behind the socio-economic factors of third millennium BCE. These have also been supported by various ethnographic models on different craft activities. The craft activities of the Harappans can be gleaned from the various categories of artefacts produced by them. Based on the technology involved in the manufacture and nature of raw material the craft activities have been summarised as follows: • Crafts production with simple technology from the locally available raw materials. Examples in this regard are woodworking, basket making, simple weaving, terracotta pottery production, and house building; • Crafts production with relatively simple technology on the imported raw materials, e.g., chipped stone tool-making and stone-shaping for domestic purposes; • Crafts production using complex technology on the locally available aterials, e.g., stoneware bangle production, elaborate painted and decorated pottery production, weaving and carpet making, inlaid woodwork production and construction of decorative architecture; and • Crafts production using complex technology on the imported raw materials, e.g., agate-carnelian bead manufacture, seal production, copper / bronze metallurgy, stone carving, precious metalworking, shell working and faience manufacture. 2. Objectives In this module, we shall learn about the various craft activities of the Harappans and understand the technology behind them to a certain extent. We will also try to find out examples of craftmanship of different materials from Harappan sites found from the excavations. 2.1. Ceramics The Indus Valley Civilization is characterised by a remarkable sophistication in the production of pottery consisting of red coloured surface often painted with various motifs and designs. The painted pottery of the Indus Civilization constituted <10% while the remaining ones were unpainted and used for most mundane and day to day use. The painted ceramics was an important craft activity and the entire length and breadth of this civilization is marked by the presence of this type of pottery. Excavated sites like Harappa, Mohenjo Daro, Kalibangan, Lothal, Dholavira, Banawali, Rakhigarhi have yielded best examples of the painted pottery. The pottery was manufactured in a variety of techniques that involved both wheel turned and partly wheel turned and finished by hand. It has been observed through ethnographic parallels that large storage jars were partly wheelmade and finished by hand because of its massive size. Some of the pottery specimen like slender jars and large goblets were manufactured using a coiling technique. The coils of fine clay were prepared and placed one above the other, creating a rough form and shape and then the exterior surface smoothened and finished on a wheel using burnishing tools like leather, smooth pebbles, and also long chert blades. Often, the exterior surface was finished smoothly, while the interior of the pottery preserved the remains of coiling of clay placed one above the other. 3 While the pottery is in leather hard condition, burnishing and polishing of the surface takes place and then application of a chosen shade of red ochre (iron oxide), a naturally occurring mineral is applied, which is readily absorbed by the pottery surface. This forms the base of the pottery, over which a different ochre shade (mixture of dark red-brown iron oxide and black manganese) is used to create the black coloured designs consisting of intricate patterns of loops, hatches, criss-cross patterns, intersecting circles, fish-scale patters and faunal representations of the contemporary environment. The slip applied over the pottery during leather hard condition or slightly dried condition turns bright red, the typical characteristic colour of Indus Civilization pottery, upon heating in a kiln. The black coloured decorations applied over this slip fuses well into the base slip of the pottery and creates a distinct pattern. Several distinct pottery shapes were manufactured based on the need, for utilitarian as well as decorative purposes. The broad shapes of pottery are bowls, dishes, plates, storage jars, ‘S’ shaped jars, perforated jars, dishes-on-stand, cooking pots, beakers, goblets, miniature vessels and others. The elaborately painted pottery of Harappan Civilization indicates also the economic status of the owner of the ceramics as it takes longer time and labour to arrive at the finished product. The plain and undecorated pottery is easier to manufacture and also requires lesser time when compared to painted pottery. Thus, the ceramics