An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s9.37

v1.c9.s9.37

While the trade with Mesopotamia may have been essentially by sea—and in this coastal sites like Sutkagendor may have played a role—that with C. Asia and Afghanistan was evidently overland. In Afghanistan Harappa pottery has been identified at Shoturgai, which clearly indicates contacts with the Indus valley. It is not unlikely that here were some Harappa tradesmen who in return brought to the Indian subcontinent the much coveted semiprecious stone, lapis lazuli, for which Badakhshan is well known. The Indus contacts did not end up with Afghanistan. The discovery at Altin-Depe of a seal depicting an animal with three heads, one bent down, another looking forward and the third turned backwards—a style reminiscent of some Indus seals—and of another seal with two doubtless signs of the Indus script is proof enough of the C. Asian contacts even in those days. [cf. Gupta, 1979, 2, ch. 3.]