History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.s2.1

v1.c15.s2.1

The Harappan pottery is one of the most distinctive ceramics of ancient India. The Indus or the Harappan civilisation, which has been described as “the vastest political experiment before the Roman empire,” was spread over the present states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Harayana, western Uttar Pradesh and the whole of Pakistan. Considering the distribution of the culture, it is not reasonable to expect uniformity in ceramic over such extensive area. Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1974, p. 74) rightly observes : “There is no doubt that the so called uniformity of the Harappan culture in depth has been exaggerated and is due as much to archaic methods of research as to say inherent conservation in the ancient craftsman.” But there are nevertheless certain distinguishing characteristics of the pottery which are common in all these regions. The typical Harappan pottery, both plain and painted, is made of extremely fine well levigated clay, the degraissants used were mica, sand and lime. It was uniformly fired at a high temperature and the fully oxidised cores indicate that the pottery was well baked.