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    Indus Valley Civilization

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    aaban riaz
    The Indus Valley civilization was one of the earliest urban cultures in South Asia, dating between 2500-1700 BCE. Excavations have revealed artistic works including stone and bronze sculptures of humans and animals that were likely used for worship. Terracotta figurines were also popular, typically depicting standing females heavily adorned and some males with horns. Pottery was mass produced and painted with geometric patterns and some images of animals. Fragments also provide early evidence of cotton textiles and dyeing. While stone was scarce in the Indus region, sources on the periphery were used to produce tools such as the flint blades found at Mohenjo-daro.

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    Indus Valley Civilization

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    aaban riaz
    34 views2 pages
    The Indus Valley civilization was one of the earliest urban cultures in South Asia, dating between 2500-1700 BCE. Excavations have revealed artistic works including stone and bronze sculptures of humans and animals that were likely used for worship. Terracotta figurines were also popular, typically depicting standing females heavily adorned and some males with horns. Pottery was mass produced and painted with geometric patterns and some images of animals. Fragments also provide early evidence of cotton textiles and dyeing. While stone was scarce in the Indus region, sources on the periphery were used to produce tools such as the flint blades found at Mohenjo-daro.

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    The Indus Valley civilization was one of the earliest urban cultures in South Asia, dating between 2500-1700 BCE. Excavations have revealed artistic works including stone and bronze sculptures of humans and animals that were likely used for worship. Terracotta figurines were also popular, typically depicting standing females heavily adorned and some males with horns. Pottery was mass produced and painted with geometric patterns and some images of animals. Fragments also provide early evidence of cotton textiles and dyeing. While stone was scarce in the Indus region, sources on the periphery were used to produce tools such as the flint blades found at Mohenjo-daro.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    34 views2 pages

    Indus Valley Civilization

    Uploaded by

    aaban riaz
    The Indus Valley civilization was one of the earliest urban cultures in South Asia, dating between 2500-1700 BCE. Excavations have revealed artistic works including stone and bronze sculptures of humans and animals that were likely used for worship. Terracotta figurines were also popular, typically depicting standing females heavily adorned and some males with horns. Pottery was mass produced and painted with geometric patterns and some images of animals. Fragments also provide early evidence of cotton textiles and dyeing. While stone was scarce in the Indus region, sources on the periphery were used to produce tools such as the flint blades found at Mohenjo-daro.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Indus Valley civilization

    Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappan civilization, the
    earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The nuclear dates of the
    civilization appear to be about 2500–1700 BCE, though the southern sites may
    have lasted later into the 2nd millennium BCE.

    Excavations of Indus cities have produced much evidence of artistic activity.


    Such finds are important because they provide insights into the minds, lives,
    and religious beliefs of their creators. Stone sculpture is extremely rare, and
    much of it is quite crude. The total repertoire cannot compare to the work
    done in Mesopotamia during the same periods. The figures are apparently all
    intended as images for worship. Such figures include seated men, recumbent
    composite animals, or—in unique instances (from Harappa)—a standing nude
    male and a dancing figure. The finest pieces are of excellent quality. There is
    also a small but notable repertoire of cast-bronze figures, including several
    fragments and complete examples of dancing girls, small chariots, carts, and
    animals. The technical excellence of the bronzes suggests a highly developed
    art, but the number of examples is still small. They appear to be Indian
    workmanship rather than imports.

    The popular art of the Harappans was in the form of terra-cotta figurines. The


    majority is of standing females, often heavily laden with jewelry, but standing
    males—some with beard and horns—are also present. It has been generally
    agreed that these figures are largely deities (perhaps a Great Mother and a
    Great God), but some small figures of mothers with children or of domestic
    activities are probably toys. There are varieties of terra-cotta animals, carts,
    and toys—such as monkeys pierced to climb a string and cattle that nod their
    heads. Painted pottery is the only evidence that there was a tradition of
    painting. Much of the work is executed with boldness and delicacy of feeling,
    but the restrictions of the art do not leave much scope for creativity.
    The pottery of the Indus cities has all the marks of mass production. A substantial
    proportion is thrown on the wheel (probably the same kind of foot wheel that is still
    found in the Indus region and to the west to this day, as distinguished from the Indian
    spun wheel common throughout the remaining parts of the subcontinent). The majority
    of the pottery is competent plain ware, well-formed and fired but lacking
    in aesthetic appeal. A substantial portion of the pottery has a red slip and is painted with
    black decoration. Larger pots were probably built up on a turntable. Among the painted
    designs, conventionalized vegetable patterns are common, and the elaborate geometric
    designs of the painted pottery of Balochistan give way to simpler motifs, such as
    intersecting circles or a scale pattern. Birds, animals, fish, and more interesting scenes
    are comparatively rare. Of the vessel forms, a shallow platter on a tall stand (known as
    the offering stand) is noteworthy, as is a tall cylindrical vessel perforated with small
    holes over its entire length and often open at top and bottom. The function of this latter
    vessel remains a mystery.

    Although little has survived, very great interest attaches to the fragments of cotton
    textiles recovered at Mohenjo-daro. These provide the earliest evidence of a crop and
    industry for which India has long been famous. It is assumed that the raw cotton must
    have been brought in bales to the cities to be spun, woven, and perhaps dyed, as the
    presence of dyers’ vats would seem to indicate.

    Stone, although largely absent from the great alluvial plain of the Indus, played a major
    role in Harappan material culture. Scattered sources, mostly on the periphery, were
    exploited as major factory sites. Thus, the stone blades found in great numbers at
    Mohenjo-daro originated in the flint quarries at Sukkur, where they were probably
    struck in quantity from prepared cores.

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