An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c16.s4: 11.4 Late Harappa
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c16.s4
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11.4 Late Harappa
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The term ‘late Harappa’, in contradistinction to the early and middle stages of the development of the Harappa culture [4.9], implies a stage of decline and decay viewed from the cyclic concept of cultural development. Recent investigations have exploded the idea of a uniformity of the culture in time and space and its regional traits are growing apparent. Though present at all the stages of the culture, such traits seem to be more pronounced in the latest stage. The late Harappa pottery is an index to the character of the late Harappa culture [4.10]. It comprises the Harappa, degenerate Harappa and non-Harappa elements woven into evolving regional matrices, the first element representing the great tradition—its unifying trends over the extensive area of its spread—and the last two elements reflecting the little traditions having regional moorings, all the three elements together producing varied manifestations depending upon the degree of interaction between the major components of the ceramic cultures.
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The late Harappa pottery can be broadly divided into four regional groups—Sind, Gujarat, Punjab and the Sutlej-Yamuna basin. Of these the first may be left out of account here.
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[In Gujarat the late Harappa pottery is typified in Pd II B of RANGPUR (Rao, 1963, pp. 22, 86), its features being the indifferent treatment of the surface of the vessels, the coarseness of the fabric and the rarity of the characteristic Indus goblet and beaker, the paintings being generally careless. Many Harappa shapes continue, if in a modified form. See also 4.10.]
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In n. India the late Harappa pottery comprises of two major strands, viz. the Harappa proper and the SISWAL, both characterized by an evolution in forms and surface decorations. The pottery bearing Harappa traits may be called late Harappa proper, while the types derivable from the Siswal tradition may be termed the degenerate Siswal. The two strands have fused together in different proportions, but their distinctive characters seem to be determined by the associated local ceramic traditions.
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The pottery of the late Harappa proper is of medium fabric, slightly inferior in levigation to that of the classical Harappa. It is predominantly wheel-thrown and a tendency towards thicker and sturdier vessels can be clearly discerned. It is treated with light or dull red slip, the bright red slip of the classical Harappa being absent. The following are the diagnostic types, all derived from the Harappa shapes: (1) the storage jar with wide mouth and thick projected rim; (2) the storage jar with narrow mouth, thick projected rim and tapering shoulder; (3) the storage jar with narrow mouth, beaded or collared rim and globular body; (4) the vase with beaded or beaked rim, high concave neck, globular body and disc base; (5) squat base with splayed-out rim, ribbed shoulder and rusticated bottom; (6) the tall vase with flaring rim and pedestalled foot; (7) the dish-on-stand with projecting rim, carinated shoulder and tall stand flanged at the top; (8) the dish-on-stand with drooping rim and broad squat stand; and (9) the dish-on-stand with deep dish, projected undercut rim and squat stand. Certain classical Harappa shapes such as the beaker, goblet, perforated jar, S-shaped tall vase and pyriform jar fell out of use.
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The degenerate Siswal ware associated with the late Harappa ware is of a slightly better levigated fabric than the earlier Siswal ware. The bulk of the pottery is now turned on the wheel and is better fired. The surface is generally treated with a slip ranging from light red to dull red in colour. Buff and grey wares are extremely rare. The use of the wheel, better fabric and red slip of this pottery of Siswal tradition has blurred its distinctiveness. Handmade vessels are limited in number and mainly comprise the dough plate. Although the bulk of the shapes in the red ware can be derived from Fabric A of the early Siswal (Kalibangan I) ware, the use of white pigment is absent in paintings. On the basis of treatment and surface decoration the red ware broadly simulates Fabrics B, C and D of the early Siswal ware. Buff and grey wares, though rare, attest to the continuity of the early Siswal Fabrics E and F.
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The typical shapes of the ware are the following types: (1) the jar with flanged rim, high neck and globular body; (2) the vase with flaring rim and globular body; (3) the vase with obliquely cut out-turned rim and globular body; (4) the *loṭā*-shaped vase; (5) the vase with wide strap handle; (6) the bowl with convex sides; (7) the bowl with everted rim and carinated shoulder; (8) the bowl with flaring rim and ring base; (9) the basin with flaring rim; (10) the basin with undercut rim and pedestal base; (11) the trough with shallow grooves on the interior; and (12) the bowl-like lid.
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The late Harappa pottery is on the whole profusely painted and decorated with incised designs. The painting is generally executed in black over a red slip. Sometimes chocolate pigment has been used over a pinkish-red or buffish background. The use of red colour in addition to black is sometimes noticed on the late Harappa pottery of Gujarat.
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The main designs comprise linear, geometric and naturalistic motifs. The designs are repetitive and less carefully executed. The naturalistic designs are generally stylized. The painting is done in horizontal registers, sometimes subdivided into panels on the upper portions of the vessels. The common linear designs include black bands, horizontal, vertical, obliquely flowing and zigzag lines and loops. The geometric designs comprise hatched triangles, diamonds and rectangles, semicircles, criss-crosses, chevrons, opposed triangles, ladders and Maltese cross. Among the naturalistic motifs may be mentioned branches, hatched leaves, flowers, lotuses with stalk, honeycombs, eye-lid designs, horns, fish, peacocks, cranes, etc. The reserved slip technique is crudely imitated by the scratching of the thick black band on a few sherds from MITATHAL II B. A good number of design elements can be traced to the pre-Harappa tradition.
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The incised designs are drawn both on the interior and exterior of vessels. These are executed with sharp teethed instruments, bamboo chips and finger marks or by impressing cord on the wet surface. Large troughs are incised with shallow grooves on the interior in imitation of Fabric D of the early Siswal. Large storage, water or cooking vessels are rusticated on the exterior and decorated with finger or palm impressions, somewhat comparable with Fabric B of the early Siswal tradition. The most characteristic incised designs on the late Harappa pottery represent vertical, oblique or flowing grooves generally overlapping horizontal grooves at the shoulder of cooking *hāṇḍīs* and can be traced back to early Siswal ware from the type site.
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[For some possible relationship between the late Harappa pottery and OCW, see 4.12 and BAHADRABAD. For an overlap between the former and PGW, [4.15], see BHAGWANPURA,² DADHERI and NAGAR.]
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Rao, S.R., 1963 & 1964, in *AI*, 18 & 19. Sharma, Y.D., 1976, in *Arch. Congress & Seminar 1972*, Kurukshetra, pp. 5-15. Suraj Bhan, 1964, in *Vishveshvaranand Indological Jour.*, 2; 1973, in Agrawal, D.P., & Ghosh, A., ed., *Radiocarbon & Indian Archaeology*, Bombay, pp. 253-63; 1973, "Prehistoric *Arch.* of the Sarasvati & Drishdvati Valleys", Baroda, unpublished thesis; 1975, *Excavation at Mitathal (1968) & other Explorations in the Sutlej-Yamuna Divide*, Kurukshetra. Suraj Bhan & Shaffer, J.G., 1978, in Man & Environment, 2, pp. 59-68. For other sites see respective entries in vol. II.—SURAJ BHAN