The Indus Civilization c9.6

c9.6

Another favourite device is the tree pattern which is generally placed in metopes, or panels, alternating with other motifs. Here again, some of the patterns are well defined, while others have so degenerated that they consist merely of vertical lines drawn at intervals to represent the trunks, while horizontal wavy lines between them denote the branches. A very common motif resembling a large comb occurs with solar signs and other devices, some of which are difficult to identify; another well-known design is the chess-board pattern formed of squares, black alternating with the red colour of the underlying slip. Triangles set in single, double and, more rarely, triple rows, some in alternate colours of red and black, form a very effective decoration when not repeated too often. Hatching, as a means of distinguishing one triangle, square, or other motif from another is very common, and appears perhaps to the best advantage in the scale pattern which is particularly well known at Mohenjo-daro. Thin borders or ribbon designs frequently run right round the jars to relieve the main decoration, while linked ovals, sometimes with hatched interiors, evidently copied from beads, ornament the necks of some of the vessels. Thicker borders are also well known, the interior of these being cross-hatched or decorated with roundels or oblique strokes, the slope of the latter being reversed at intervals to avoid monotony.