An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c23.s3: 18.3 Combs
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c23.s3
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18.3 Combs
v1.c23.s3.1
Toothed objects of bone, ivory or horn used for cleaning and arranging the hair and holding it in place have been found at a number of excavated sites (Dwivedi, 1976). Combs used for weaving, leather-working, etc., if some specimens could be identified as such, are very few.
v1.c23.s3.2
The earliest combs are from Harappa sites [4.9] besides a Neolithic [4.6.1] one from BURZAHOM. So far ten Harappa combs have been reported, five from Mohenjo-daro, three from Harappa and one each from Chanhu-daro and SURKOTADA.
v1.c23.s3.3
Save for two examples, the Harappa combs are decorated with double incised concentric circles, in one case filled with a black pigment, with the teeth cut with a saw, and are of various types. That these had been used for a considerable time is evident from the polish they have acquired. Out of the five examples from Mohenjo-daro (Marshall, 1931, p. 532; Mackay, 1938, pp. 541-2) only one, double-edged or -sided, lay ‘among the nine skeletons that were found packed together at the western end of Long Lane’ (Mackay, 1938, p. 542). According to Mackay this is the finest comb found at Mohenjo-daro and ‘was probably worn in the hair’ (*ibid*., p. 116) as it was found quite close to a skull. One of the combs is V-shaped and without any decoration which ‘judging from its shape and firmness of the teeth … may have been used to remove vermin from long, lanky hair’
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Fig. 55. Combs; 1-2, Mohenjo-daro; 3, Harappa; 4, Burzahom; 5, Ropar; 6, Nagal; 7, Atranjikhera; 8, Oriup; 9, Nagda; 10-12, Taxila Combs
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Fig. 56. Combs; 13, Taxila; 14, Nevasa; 15, Sambhar
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(Mackay, 1938, p. 541). One comb from Mohenjo-daro (Marshall, 1931, p. 532) is badly burnt and blackened with both its ends missing but was perhaps identical in shape with the other two examples (Marshall, 1931, pl. CXXXII, 13; Mackay, 1938, pl. XCI, 26).
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Of the three specimens from Harappa, both having decoration similar to those from Mohenjo-daro, one has a knobbed handle (*ASI-AR 1927-8*, p. 87) with only one tooth preserved; of the other two one of which has only the middle part of the body and the teeth intact (*ibid.*, p. 88, not included in Vats, 1940) when complete, another, also from Harappa, (Vats, 1940, pl. CXIX, 1), and the one from Chanhu-daro (Mackay, 1943, p. 196) may have been similar to other Harappa specimens. A fragmentary comb of ivory is also reported from SURKOTADA.
v1.c23.s3.8
It is not unlikely that the combs generally used by the Harappans were of wood (Marshall, 1931, p. 532) which would explain their relative paucity. In fact a wooden comb is reported from a cairn burial at Suntsar in the Zhob-Loralai area of Baluchistan (Stein, 1937).
v1.c23.s3.9
In this context reference may also be made to the comb motif painted on Harappa pottery (11.6.1) which, and even the comb itself, according to Mackay, were perhaps venerated in the centres of Harappa culture (Mackay, 1943, p. 98).
v1.c23.s3.10
The ‘saw-edged bone object’ found in Pd I, Neolithic [4.6.1], of BURZAHOM could not have been used as hair comb and was perhaps an implement for weaving, dressing wool or removing hair from skins of animals or even for incising decoration on pottery. Nothing can be said about the use of the three terracotta ‘combs’ of the Chalcolithic Pd [4.14.6] of BAHAL. A fragmentary decorated comb is reported from Pd I, Chalcolithic [4.14.4] of MAHISDAL. An ivory comb from POCHAMPAD has been found from underneath the skull in a Megalithic burial [4.17.7]. That it was kept underneath the skull in a secondary burial suggests that perhaps it was a part of the Megalithic burial customs.
v1.c23.s3.11
Two combs are reported respectively from the PGW and late PGW levels [4.15] at ATRANJIKHERA of which the one found from the former level is of bone while the other is of bone or ivory. The latter is rectangular in shape and is decorated with engraved circlets.
v1.c23.s3.12
Combs from the NBPW levels [4.18], all of ivory, have been found at PANDU RAJAR DHIBI, ORIUP, ROPAR, UJJAIN, NAGDA, NAGAL and PRAKASH. The specimen from NAGDA is squarish in shape, the lower half of the body decorated with concentric semicircles and circlets with dots all along the outer ring of the semicircles and parallel lines on the straight top portion. Of the three combs from NAGAL found in the NBPW and black-and-red ware levels one has similar concentric semicircles on the lower half of the body and is interspaced with circles formed out of circlets with dots, another a horizontal row of circlets with dots on the lower portion and the third a row of concentric circles with dots each capped by three vertically placed circlets with dots in the centre, the upper and lower portions having respectively closely and widely spaced parallel lines. The comb from ORIUP is interesting because of the shape of its top portion and contains a row of circlets with dots on the upper half. The ROPAR comb (Sharma, 1955 and 1956, p. 126) has one straight side and the other curved and has on the margin a double row of circlets with dots and is again of a singular type. The combs from UJJAIN are plain with a round top and the side teeth exceptionally thick. Identically shaped combs have been found in the first century B.C.-A.D. levels at Taxila (Marshall, 1951, pp. 655-6). The comb from PRAKASH is without any ornamentation and lacks finish unlike the other specimens. The comb from PANDU RAJAR DHIBI is not illustrated. Ivory combs have also been found in the NBPW and early historical levels of BESNAGAR (M.D. Khare, personal communication).
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The combs from the early historical levels are variously of ivory, bone and flat horn. The combs from NEVASA, NAGARA, BHOKARDAN and TRIPURĪ are all plain. While the combs from NEVASA and TRIPURĪ are of ivory those from NAGARA, of which two are of the early historical and one of the medieval period, are of flat horn. The one from TRIPURĪ has been found in Vihāra 2; according to Dikshit (1955, p. 131) the use of comb was forbidden to the monks and its discovery in a Buddhist monastery ‘indicates that the laws were not very strictly adhered to in later times’. An ivory comb containing on both sides beautiful figures including *mithuna* couples has been found in early Sātavāhana levels from Dhulikatta in Dt Karimnagar (personally seen by the writer in the Andhra Pradesh Department of Arch. and Museums, Hyderabad).
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Most interesting are the combs from Sirkap (Taxila) datable between the 1st century B.C. and 1st century A.D. (Marshall, 1951, pp. 655-6). According to Marshall ‘they are of a type familiar in the Graeco-Roman world and were no doubt introduced from the West.’ Out of the six specimens found in the excavations only one is plain and ‘the rest are decorated with incised circlets or more elaborate designs, including a shell, foliate devices, duck and a pair of human busts of the kind that are familiar in Graeco-Roman art as well as in the carvings of Gandhāra and Mathurā.’ The teeth of these ivory and bone combs are sawn very evenly with a fine saw and are slightly rounded and not pointed at the ends. Perhaps the smaller and lighter combs were used as ornaments in the hair.
v1.c23.s3.15
One of the best examples is an excellently carved ivory comb found at Sirkap from 1st century A.D. levels (*AI*, 4, 1947-8, p. 79). Half-elliptical in shape with a rectangular section and slightly raised rim, it has 116 projecting teeth, the end ones being thicker than the rest. On one side is the figure of a heavily ornamented seminude woman loosely clad in a *sāri* reclining on her right palm on a pillow with beaded borders. Near the head of the female figure is seated a dwarfish male figure in loin-cloth and with folded legs; the remaining portion of the field is filled up with rows of short notches representing an ornamental cushion. The other side of the comb is divided into four zones by three vertical lines; the first zone has a rather crudely depicted figure of a pouncing lion; the second has an ornamental design perhaps representing an altar or the front of a building (?); the third shows a treading elephant with its trunk, head and body decorated with notches possibly representing trappings and the space in its front, between the forelegs and over its back, filled with rosettes; in the fourth is drawn an inverted conch-shell. According to A. Ghosh ‘the sensuous pose and features of the lady are foreign to the contemporary art of Gandhāra and suggest Mathura as a possible source for the comb,’ even though ‘a general resemblance to the Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda sculptures is also fairly pronounced’ (*AI*, 4, 1947-8, pp. 79-80). Ghosh has also drawn attention to the ivory plaques and a comb from Begram which are later in date but have a family likeness with the Sirkap comb suggesting ‘a common Indian origin, possibly in the Mathura region’.
v1.c23.s3.16
An ivory comb from SAMBHAR is of the Gupta period; it has a single row of teeth and is adorned with incised concentric circles. The bone object with broad, widely spaced teeth found in the early historical levels of KANCHIPURAM could not have possibly served as a comb.
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Dwivedi, V.P., 1976, *Indian Ivories*, Delhi. Mackay, E.J.H., 1938, *Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro*, Delhi; 1943, *Chanhudaro Excavations 1935-6*, New Haven. Marshall, J., 1931, *Mohenjo-daro & the Indus Civilization*, London, 1951, *Taxila*, Cambridge. Sharma, Y.D., 1955 & 1956, in *Lalit Kalā*, 1-2. Stein, A., 1937, *Arch. Reconnoissances in n.-w. India & s.-e. Iran*, London. Vats, M.S., 1940, *Excavations at Harappa*, Delhi.—B.M. PANDE