Mature Harappan

Emergence of Civilizations / Anthro 341: Lecture 18

The emergence of civilization in the Indus valley: Mature Harappan period

ã Copyright Bruce Owen 1999

Mature Indus Period (also called Mature Harappan) 2600 - 2050 BC

contemporary with

starts about the same time as the Sumerian Early Dynastic III (Royal burials at Ur)

and continues to the collapse of the Ur III state (Ur-Nammu's military union of Sumer, the last independent Sumerian state)

and about the same time as the beginning of the Old Kingdom in Egypt (building of the pyramids)

and continues through the Old Kingdom and the subsequent First Intermediate Period

That is, roughly contemporary with the flowering of Sumer and Egypt

Possehl sees the appearance of Mature Harappan culture as a very rapid (200 year?) growth and development out of Early Indus Period society

He ties this to Sumerian trade shifting from Iranian plateau to sea routes around 2600 BC
we will look at the evidence and arguments surrounding this suggestion later

there may have been a dramatic change from the Early Indus period

possibly by conquest, conversion, or ???
Orderly town plans were imposed on top of earlier, disorganized town plans (as at Kalibangan)
At the end of the Early Indus period, several settlements suffered site-wide fires, then were rebuilt

the new construction was in more orderly Harappan style
after the fires, the pottery styles were mixed, with old styles continuing, but mostly the new Harappan style
For example, Kot Diji suffered two massive fires around 2500 BC

evidence of widespread fire at Amri and Kalibangan, also

possible that Kot Diji and the other sites were sacked and then rebuilt by Harappans

in peripheral areas, Harappan pottery coexisted with local styles

suggests that Harappan people (or goods) moved into regions that already had their own independent development
in those areas, Harappan culture is "intrusive"
may indicate

conquest
newly started or increased trade
Harappan outposts or colonies
or...?

subsistence: not much different from Early Indus period

some irrigated wheat and barley
impressions of rice in ceramics at two sites, but apparently rare
most of the population probably lived outside the city and farmed wheat and barley without formal irrigation
animals

cattle, sheep, and goats

cattle of several distinct varieties

also possibly domesticated Indian boar (pig)
seals picture domesticated Indian elephants

Rise of big cities and complex settlement pattern

Used to say just two major cities or capitals: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

Thanks to a lot of survey work in recent years, now there are over 70 other sites known, albeit mostly smaller

Wenke says "over 800"
counting sites depends on what you consider to be a site

Two of these "new" sites are almost as big as Mohenjo-daro

Ganweriwala
Rakhigarhi

so there were probably at least four "primary" centers

Secondary sites seem to be smaller versions of the same model

Kalibangan
Kot Diji
Sandhanawala, Judeirjo-daro, etc.
numerous others

Also possibly special-purpose sites

example: Lothal was apparently a port and trade/manufacturing center

Tank or docking area
stone bead workshop
bronze and ivory workshops
a trading center?

We don't know what proportion of people lived in cities vs. rural areas, but people are assumed to have been largely rural
cities were walled, although maybe for flood control as much as defense

Very uniform artifacts, planning, architecture

So much so that it is hard to distinguish artifacts or building plans of one site from another
A recent study was made to prove that it was at least possible: but mostly by relative proportions of ceramic types, not by variations in the types themselves

that such a project was even necessary shows how uniform the pottery was

Many have commented on this extreme homogeneity as a feature of Harappan civilization

standardized styles of pottery, jewelry, seals, etc. over a vast area
standardized brick proportions and sizes (1:2:4)

7 X 14 X 28 cm

supposedly a standardized pattern of laying bricks: "English bond"

alternating rows of all headers and then all stretchers
although looking at photos suggests that the bricklaying pattern was not really so consistent

standardized length units; several graduated rulers have been found

two basic units

a "cubit" of around 52 cm

varies from 51.8 to 53.6 cm, according to Allchin and Allchin

a "long foot" of 33.5 cm

Allchin and Allchin say 37.6 cm

one ruler is divided into subunits of 1.7 mm, with each 10th mark emphasized, much like a modern metric ruler

standardized weight system

cubical weights of various stones
basic unit is 13.6 grams

about 1/2 ounce

come in sets that include weights of 1 unit, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 units; then 160; then multiples of 16 (320, 640, 1600, 3200, 8000, 128,000) etc.
balances on which the weights were used have also been found
the weights and balances suggest a concern with exact measurement of amounts of materials
maybe associated with exchange

standardized city plans, as discussed below

various interpretations of all this standardization and uniformity:

centralized production of standardized goods that were then widely distributed?
strong control of production in many different places (through training, oversight, or ???) in order to ensure standardization?
extreme cultural conservatism that led people to make things in the same way even without formal controls?
an ideology that promoted conformism?

Typical Harappan city features

size and population

Mohenjo-daro 2.5 square km (250 ha)

over 2.5 times the size of the entire SSU campus
estimates from 35,000 - 41,000 people

Harappa population estimates range from 23,500 to about the same as Mohenjo-daro

Most towns had a "citadel"

on west side of site
raised, rectangular mudbrick platform running north-south

they are consistent in shape, being about twice as long as wide
but they vary in size from 65 X 130 m at Kalibangan (a bit bigger than Stevenson hall), to 215 X 460 m at Harappa (about 4 times as long and 4 times as wide as Stevenson!)

smaller at little sites like Lothal

as high as 12 m
these are bland looking but very large!

citadel typically enclosed by a wall with big corner buttresses/bastions, and buttresses along length of wall
big, presumably administrative buildings on top

at Mohenjo-daro, one big 27 m square courtyard was filled with rows of pillar bases... to hold up a roof, or ??
also at Mohenjo-daro, a sunken rectangular bath (more like swimming pool), wide steps leading down into it...

12 X 7 m, 3 m deep (36 x 21 feet, 9 feet deep)
Two skins of sawn fired brick in gypsum mortar, with a layer of bitumen (naturally occurring asphalt or tar) between them
has a drain
presumably filled with water carried from a large well in an adjacent room
surrounded by porticos and rooms

staggered for privacy?
some with toilets

generally argued that it related to ritual bathing, as was important in later times in India and still is today
only known from Mohenjo-daro; if other sites had similar baths, they have not been found yet...

also many have a "granary"

may be located on citadel or next to it
an elevated solid brick base with crossing channels on top, hints of a wooden superstructure, and a ramp-like entrance or "loading dock"
originally thought to be foundations for a wooden grain storage warehouse

built to allow air flow underneath to prevent rot and spontaneous combustion
because some known Roman granaries were built this way

may or may not actually be granaries, still uncertain

not much evidence of wooden superstructure or grain in the foundations

although that could be due to chances of preservation
and to old-fashioned excavation techniques used in early Harappan excavations, which might have missed delicate seeds

A few burned grains were found between the bricks of the "granary" of Lothal; but is this enough?
they could also be foundations for some other kind of wooden building
one has evidence of repeated small fires on the brick platforms; maybe they are some kind of offering structures?

lower town

east of the citadel
on the natural ground level
dense domestic area
streets

widest streets run north-south, straight through town

secondary streets run east-west, staggered in places (not straight through)

graduation in street widths

secondary streets are about half the width of the main streets; tertiary streets are 1/3 to 1/4 the width of main streets

streets with drains

manholes for cleaning
some drains flow to closed seeps, others apparently lead outside the city

house layout and construction

blank walls face the streets

most room complexes face onto central courtyards
others open directly to side streets

flat, timber roofs
many have stairways indicating use of the roof or a second story
"almost every house had a bathroom" (Mohenjo-Daro?) (this is British English; that means "bath")

usually a "fine sawn brick pavement, often with surrounding curb"
"connection by a drainage channel to [sloping] chutes built into the thickness of the wall, giving access to the main street drains."
"...the roadward side of a block presented a plain blank facade broken only where drainage chutes discharged."
some have pottery drainpipes
some have vertical drains [vs. sloping], which are apparently "privies" (toilets)
some drain into local soak-pits, others into the street drains
Note: this concern with bathing within households is mirrored by the huge bath on the citadel, which could have been semi-public or used by groups of special people

The usual claim: relatively speaking, houses are pretty uniform

just a few fairly standardized layouts
not a large variation in size

compared to Mesopotamia or Egypt, this is probably valid; but there ARE differences...

not all houses had two stories
larger houses have their own wells
also areas at both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro with rows of single-roomed "tenements", presumably for less affluent people (workers? soldiers? slaves?)

massive mud brick city wall around at least the citadel; in at least some cases around the lower town, too

in some cases, a single wall
in others, each is separately walled
may be for flood control

the lower city of Mohenjo-daro was destroyed by flooding several times

Vast use of fired (and unfired) mud brick

Fired brick resists water much better
Would have required huge consumption of fuel

Often said that there are no obvious temples, monumental sculpture, ziggurats, but

in the lower town at Mohenjo-daro, an unusually massive building had a "monumental entrance and double stairway, leading to a raised platform on which was found one of the rare stone sculptures - of a seated figure..."

Allchin and Allchin agree with Wheeler (the excavator) that this was a temple.
although this is not even on the same scale as a Mesopotamian temple
and Harappan sculptures are rare and small

the famous priest is only 17.5 cm high (under 7 inches)
depending on how much is broken off it might originally have been as much as twice that... i.e. only slightly over a foot tall

possibly a similar "temple" on the citadel.
the citadel itself is monumental
the pillared hall might be considered monumental...
the "granary" structures may be foundations for a large wooden building of some other type -- like a monumental hall of some kind

craft specialization

most documented by actual workshop areas
stone sculptors
ceramic kilns - i.e. specialized potters
copper, bronze, goldworkers

copper and goldsmiths shops
copper, arsenic bronze, tin bronze

axes, chisels, knives, saws
spear points, arrow points
copper vessels made from hammered sheet metal pieces
cast figurines, carts, etc.

gold

beads (some very small, which actually take more technical sophistication to make)
pendants, amulets, brooches
needles
gold may have been hard-rock mined!

hard-rock mining is extremely labor intensive
suggests some way of controlling a lot of workers

silver

raised vessels
beads

lead

cakes, plumb-bobs, vases

skilled in combining different metals, inlays, etc.

chert blades (a kind of stone)

regular, long blades from prepared cores
without the local variation seen in Early Indus lithics

shell beads and inlays
stone bead makers

carnelian: agate roasted to produce red-brown color
also extremely small stone beads

seal makers
textile dyers (if not weavers)

dyer's vats (??), implies weaving, too

mass-produced ceramic "goblets"

made very rapidly on a fast wheel
base is pointed, crudely pinched off probably without slowing the wheel
probably analogous to modern cheap, disposable ceramic cups used to hold beverages which one buys today from vendors, at festivals, or are provided at a hosted celebration, for one use only
many have a seal impression

may indicate that they were made for a particular person
for a particular event that person was hosting?
or for a ritual performed for or by that person?

suggests specialized, mass production
compare to bevel-rimmed bowls

context and use probably completely different
they don't suggest redistribution (think about why not...)
but the concept of cheap, disposable containers is similar

terracotta (lightly fired clay) figurines

some 2000 known
bull with moving head
wheeled carts
elephants, birds, etc.
what were these for?

toys?
puppets?

some have holes in the base to stand on sticks
like popsicles
or stick puppets
possible analogy to Indonesian puppetry

which is a theatrical form intended for adults

some apparently held small amounts of burning oil

lamps? But probably not large enough to be functional for lighting much
more like votive candles?

ritual uses

offerings?
charms?

Dice

gambling?
divination?

writing

mostly known from seals

used as in Mesopotamia and Egypt, to seal clay
sealings often have impressions of cloth or cords on the back, suggesting that the sealings marked bundles of some kind
unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, few tablets with writing on them, and very few painted symbols, either
this suggests that the writing might have had a different primary purpose

in Mesopotamia and Egypt, they used writing to record many different statements

"Joe gave 3 sheep to the temple"; "Sam gave 5 sacks of wheat to the palace"; etc.

while in Harappan society, as far as we can tell, they mostly used seals to make many copies of the same statement

probably like "This belongs to John"

inscriptions are always brief

probably only labels identifying names or offices, places, contents

still debated even what language it represents
but apparently a logo-syllabic system

that is, some symbols stand for words or concepts, while others represented sounds that could be combined to form words that didn't have their own symbol
this is like pre-cuneiform and hieroglyphics

presumably indicates specialized literate people, as well as specialized seal makers

religion

some parallels with later Indian beliefs suggest that Indus religion may have been the origin (or part of the origin) of Hinduism
ritual cleanliness
the "priest" figures with their garment off one shoulder

in historic times, this was an indication of piety

seals show a "Lord of the Beasts" figure that many see as an early version of the god Shiva
stone phallic (?) symbols and donut stones: early "lingam" and "yoni" symbols of Shiva and his consort Devi?

trade

internal (within the Indus)

flint from a single region (about 50 km from Mohenjo-Daro) was processed near the source into blades, which were traded throughout the Indus system
shell goods were similarly made at two sites and traded widely
carnelian beads from two sites, etc.
site-level specialization of production with wide distribution

external (with "foreigners")

goods brought to the Indus drainage

metals

gold, silver, copper, lead

stones for jewelry and carving

lapis, turquoise, alabaster, etc.

Lapis trading center in Afghanistan (Shortughai)

a plainly Harappan site
located about 500 km (300 miles) north of the Harappan culture area, separated from it by very difficult terrain

Mesopotamian trade

We'll look at this closely, because it is often said that trade contact with Mesopotamia somehow sparked civilization in the Indus system

much like the claim that is often made about Egypt

according to Sumerian records from the Agade Period (Sargon, 2373-2247 BC), Sumerian merchants traded with people from (at least) three named foreign places

Dilmun (now identified as the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf)
Magan (a port in southern Iran, which is on the coastline between the head of the Persian Gulf and the mouth of the Indus river)
Meluhha (location unknown)

Maybe the Indus?
source of

ivory, oils, furniture
gold, silver, carnelian (a red gemstone)
these are all products that the Indus could have exported

records of Meluhhan ships docking at Sumer

and Meluhhans in various Sumerian cities
also a Meluhhan town or district at one city

the Sumerian records indicate a large volume of trade

according to a Sumerian tablet, one shipment from Meluhha contained 5,900 kg of copper (13,000 lbs, or 6 1/2 tons)!

the bulk of this trade was done through Dilmun, not directly with Meluhha

if Meluhha was the Indus, this largely indirect contact might have reduced Sumer's impact there

Physical evidence of this trade is extremely scanty

A pathetic handful of Mesopotamian imports in the Indus area

3 local imitations of Mesopotamian seals
a few copper items that might be from Sumer
a "Persian gulf type" seal at Lothal (i.e. from Dilmun/Bahrain)

A very modest amount of Indus stuff in Mesopotamia

about two dozen seals either from the Indus or locally made copies; found at Susa and other sites
some carnelian beads, inlay work, etc.

maybe the trade was mostly in perishable goods, like cotton cloth, which the Indus could well have produced

The timing is problematic if this trade is supposed to have been involved in the rise of Indus civilization

The first written mention of this trade dates to Agade period (2373-2247 BC) (Sargon's empire)

mentions only become frequent in Ur III (2168-2062 BC) and the subsequent Larsa dynasty (2062-1770 BC)
then the mentions decline drastically
this drop-off corresponds pretty well to the end of the Late Harappan period...

point: Sumerian documents mentioning trade that might be with the Indus first appeared several hundred years after the Mature Harappan began in 2600 BC
and maybe 700 years after the "Kot Dijian" spread of uniform style, walled towns, etc.
so this trade seems to have been too late to have caused the rise of complexity in the Indus
or maybe we just don't have the evidence of the first stages of it

social stratification

at first glance, Harappan society looks relatively egalitarian

and the material evidence is much more egalitarian than in Mesopotamian and Egyptian society

but there is some variation in housing

citadel dwellings vs. lower town dwellings
houses with or without courtyards, wells, privies
barracks or tenements
rural dwellers
overall, though, there is not much evidence of ostentatiously rich people, while there is a lot of evidence of a sizable number of people living pretty well in the cities, not just a few

granaries (warehouses?) suggest accumulation of vast stores of wealth

if they are, in fact, granaries
some people must have either owned or controlled it

burial information

As Wenke says, the evidence for differentiation in wealth is minor, compared to Mesopotamia or Egypt
but at Harappa:

a coffin burial with a reed shroud
up to 24 pots in some burials
necklaces, beads, etc.

at Lothal and Kalibangan

some have "quantities" of ceramics and ornaments, others don't
a few are in brick chambers
one brick chamber unusually large (4 X 2 m; 13 X 6 feet)

this is comparable in size to the painted tomb at Hierakonpolis (Naqada II)
but Harappan cities at this point were comparable to Uruk or the biggest Egyptian cities of the Old Kingdom

others are communal graves with no goods
others are male-female pairs, maybe early evidence of "sati" (killing the wife when the husband dies, a traditional practice in India, now illegal)

still, no "royal" tombs

nothing like the royal burials at Ur
or burials of Egyptian kings (or even Egyptian nobles)
suggests much less difference in material wealth between classes

but note that certain kinds of goods rarely, if ever, turn up in Harappan burials

metals
jewelry is rare in burials
instead, these are found in non-mortuary caches
so the apparent lack of rich burials may not necessarily reflect the lack of wealth in life, but rather some idea that wealth items were not appropriate grave goods

perhaps an ideology of equality in death, and maybe in life?
or humility in death, maybe in life?

caches of goods below floors of houses

a copper pot full of copper weapons and tools
caches of jewelry
suggests that wealth items were not buried with the dead, but were kept around for the living
and that whoever made these caches was materially better off that those that didn't
that is, that there might have been greater variation in wealth than the burials suggest

seals, sealings, tablets, etc. are found concentrated in certain houses

one house near Mohenjo-daro's "main street" had 11 seals, tablets, etc. with writing on them

possibly a merchant's home?

suggesting the residences of scribes and/or merchants who kept accounts

while other people did not
maybe the people who used writing in their houses were wealthier, higher status, etc.?

political organization

generally assumed to represent one or more state(s) (I would say safely so)
Settlement hierarchy: pretty clearly at least four levels of site sizes, so it surpasses the "three-level" requirement for a state

Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and the two other large sites would be "capitals" or major centers
Kalibangan, Kot Diji, etc. would be secondary centers
Lothal and others would be smaller, specialized towns
and many or most people would live in tiny hamlets or scattered farms around the countryside

Total Harappan population at least 200,000 around 2000 BC

Decline (Late Harappan, 2050 - 1700 BC)

Civilization did not suddenly disappear

Craft production continued at a high level of sophistication: Quetta treasure 1900 BC near Mehrgarh

Several sites in Baluchistan burned around the end of the Mature Harappan period
Sprawled skeletons in a street of Mohenjo-daro might indicate warfare

invasion by foreigners is no longer taken seriously as a cause of the decline of Harappan civilization

extremely little evidence of anyone else suddenly appearing there

but conflict (maybe internal) could well have been involved
or plague?

Harappa had a final stylistic phase that seems to reflect some foreign influence, particularly from Iran

but not a radical replacement or change that might indicate an invasion

Nevertheless, by the end of the Late Harappan, the cities were permanently abandoned

and Sumerian records ceased to mention trade with Meluhha
the Harappan tradition largely disappeared
leaving only echoes in myths and general cultural traits
unlike the Sumerian, Egyptian, and Chinese early civilizations, all of which were known from historical sources, the Harappan civilization was truly lost and forgotten until archaeologists rediscovered it

due to...

Flooding?
Desiccation due to changing rainfall? (affecting animal breeding areas and communication routes)
Desiccation due to shift in river course due to tectonic activity?
Introduction of millet, leading to population shifting to better-suited areas and abandoning the cities?
Epidemic disease?
Military incursions? (by "Indo-Europeans"?)

Conclusions

when did civilization arise?

Neolithic?
Early Indus?
Mature Harappan?

does uniformity mean strong control and therefore power hierarchy?

if so, where are signs of rulers?
could traditionalism and/or something like the recent/current caste system account for the uniformity?

Role of social stratification -- was this a special case?
Roles of irrigation and flood control projects
Role of warfare
Role of trade

internal vs. external
timing; quantity; nature of goods

Was this a pristine civilization, mostly pristine (?), or not at all?