An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s7.6

v1.c9.s7.6

With the phases of Dales and stages of Fairservis may be regarded as one leading to the other, which, by implication, means that the Harappa culture was the natural culmination of a long process, they do not explain the genesis of the culture nor its ethos. As Wheeler, 1968, p. 9, says: ‘whether they (*sc.* the “ill-sorted” industries and cultures of the hills) will ever throw any very revealing light upon the origins of the great valley civilization is increasingly doubtful. None of them shows any clear primary and organic relationship with the Indus valley culture, which remains obstinately a creation of its own lowland environment.’ But not all agree with this. Thus, Fairservis, 1961, pp. 1-35, holds that the ‘essential roots’ of the culture ‘are unquestionable Iranian’, though he also believes that ‘the Harappan civilization presents an almost totally non-Iranian quality’ (Fairservis, 1967, pp. 1-48).