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Bricks and urbanism in the Indus Valley rise and decline Aurangzeb Khan∗ and Carsten Lemmen Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Germany Abstract. The Indus Valley Culture (IVC), often denoted by its major city Harappa, spanned almost two millennia from 3200 to 1300 BC. Its tradition reaches back to 7000 BC: a 4000 year long expansion of villages and towns, of trading activity, and of technological advancements culminates between 2600 and 1900 BC in the built-up of large brick-built cities, writing, and political authority; the IVC emerges as one of the first great civilizations in history. During the ensuing 600 years, however, key technologies fall out of use, urban centers are depopulated, and people leave the former core areas of the IVC; although many different hypotheses have been put forward, a conclusive causal chain for this decline has not yet been established. We here combine literature estimates on brick typology, and on urban area for individual cities; in the context of the existing extensive data on Harappan artifact find sites and put in their chronological order, the combined narratives told by bricks, cities, and extent, can provide a new point of departure for discussing the possible reasons for the mysterious decline. 1. Introduction Kenoyer, 1998; Datta, 2001; Possehl, 2002; Law, 2007). At the height of the Indus Civilization, there is an intimate relationship between key technologies, building material, and cities. Or, translated into the social realm, between social and political organization, craftsmanship, and life style. The investigation of the combined evidence for technologies, material, and cities could then possibly inform us about the social, political, or organizational factors involved in its decline. We reconstruct here the chronological dynamics of brick usage by typology, and of urban area for the entire IVC from individual estimates. Combined with existing extensive data on Harappan artifact find sites a narrative of the rural-urban relationship of Harappans emerges. This relationship can provide a new point of departure for discussing the possible reasons for the mysterious IVC decline. In the 1850s, ancient bricks stolen from ruins near Harappa, a town adjacent to the River Ravi in Punjab, Pakistan, attracted archaeological investigation. The bricks were first thought to be part of a Buddhist site, until Marshall (1924) attributed them to an indigenous civilization of South Asia, the Indus Valley Culture (IVC, 3200–1300 BC), whose brick architecture extends back to 7000 BC and the valleys of Baluchistan (Possehl, 1990; Jarrige et al., 1995; Kenoyer, 1998). The building material for the villages and cities of the IVC was predominantly mud brick. Only in the Mature phase were baked bricks used in quantity, especially for walls and floors exposed to water (Possehl, 2002; Datta, 2001). This phase of baked bricks coincides with the the urban phase of the IVC, with many large cities as opposed to the predominant village settlements before and after the Mature phase. 2. Indus Valley chronology and extent The urban phase also spans the period where all key technologies of the IVC, including writing, shell orSeveral chronologies have been developed for the naments, weights, and seals are present; these fall IVC, of which those by Kenoyer (1998) and by Posout of use with deurbanization after 1900 BC (e.g., sehl (2002) are widely employed. From these two, we differentiate an Early Neolithic period, consist∗ Corresponding author. Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, ing of the Kili Ghul Muhammad (7000–5000 BC) Max-Planck-Straße 1, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany. Tel.: +49 4152 87-1521, Fax.: +49 4152 87-2020, and Burj Basket-Marked (5000–4300 BC) phases, a Email.: aurangzeb.khan@hzg.de pre-Harappan or Developed Neolithic period with Page 1 VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE Kotdiji, and Banawali (Chattopadhyaya, 1996). At its peak, the mature IVC extended across the alluvial plains of Punjab and Sindh, Baluchistan, the Gujarat coast, and the surrounding valleys in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (K. P.); in total, it encompassed a vast area of 1 million km2 represented by thousands of individual sites (Fig. 1). Many large cities have been recognized, amongst them are the sites of Harappa and Mohenjodaro with approximately 40 000 inhabitants each (Mcintosh, 2007); total population is estimated at a few million (Lemmen and Khan, 2012). Its extensive and long-range trade network connected by sea to the Sumerian domain and the Arabian peninsula, it connected by land to the Bampur valley and across central Asia (Rao, 1965; Boivin and Fuller, 2009; Law, 2011). After 1900 BC, the trade network collapsed and weights were disused; large cities were abandoned Ka K. P. tan 19 11 4 bian 9 r 16 In d 3 2 21 an th as aj R Si n d h 18 Mature phase Late phase mi 23 1 us 5 14 13 22 S ea nj sh ab 7 20 6 15 Ara Pu 10 8 17 h is the Togau (4300–3800 BC) and Hakra-Kechi (3800– 3200 BC) phases, the IVC proper represented in the Early (3200–2600 BC), Mature (2600–1900 BC), and Late (1900–1300 BC) Harappan phases, and a post-Harappan phase (from 1300 BC). As the constituent phases have been developed from local stratigraphies at type sites dispersed throughout the IVC domain, conflicting phase boundaries, multiple naming for cotemporal phases, and phase overlaps, a separation in the eight phases named above is overly simplified and in a way arbitrary; this simplification is necessary, however, to be able to address the global developments within the IVC in a common temporal frame (Fuller, 2006; Gangal et al., 2010; Lemmen and Khan, 2012). But even if when common temporal frame is established, the dates given in years BC should be treated with caution, as more often than not precise dating has not been performed for most sites. Here, we rely on previously published local chronologies (Tab. 1); as the focus of this paper is not on discussing the divergent local chronologies and dating problems, we continue our analysis in the awareness that this chronology is subject to discussion and further refinements in many places. The Indus Valley cultural tradition dates back to 7000 BC and the foothills and valleys of Baluchistan. At the site of Mehrgarh, early food production was dated to 6500 BC (Jarrige et al., 1995). Already early villages exhibit a planned layout, and houses were built of mud bricks. Pottery appears in the Burj period, as well as a wide array of tools, domesticates, and first copper artifacts (Moulherat et al., 2002; Fuller, 2011). From 5000 BC, the occupation area, which was concentrated in Baluchistan, the Makran coast, and the western borderlands of the Indus, expand north- and westward into K.P., Gujarat and the Punjab plains (Gangal et al., 2010; Lemmen and Khan, 2012). Use of ornamental pottery and gold emerges, along with the manufacture of compartmented seals, glazed steatite, and beads. The use of weight indicates that trade was important for the pre-Harappan economy. The first pre-Harappan cities appear as Mehrgarh, Amri, and Kotdiji before 3500 BC, they are built from mud (or sun-dried) brick. Many more villages than cities continue to expand the cultural domain along the Ghaggar Hakra river and along the Makran coast with a doubling of sites numbers after 3200 BC(Law, 2007). Only in this Early phase do baked bricks appear at few sites, first at Kalibangan, K HAN & L EMMEN luc IN THE I NDUS Ba B RICKS AND URBANISM 24 12 Gu j ar at Figure 1: Spatial extent of the Indus Valley Culture in the Mature and Late phases with major urban centers and towns mentioned in the text: 1 Kalibangan, 2 Rakhigarhi, 3 Banawali, 4 Rehman Dheri, 5 Naru Waro Dharo, 6 Amri, 7 Harappa, 8 Rana Ghundai, 9 Jalilpur, 10 Sur Jangal, 11 Gumla, 12 Lothal, 13 Mohenjodaro, 14 Lakhueenjodaro, 15 Chanhudaro, 16 Bhagwanpura, 17 Damb Sadat, 18 Nindowari, 19 Mundigak, 20 Mehrgarh, 21 Ganweriwala, 22 Kot Diji, 23 Sanghol, and 24 Dholavira. Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 2 B RICKS AND URBANISM IN THE I NDUS VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE K HAN & L EMMEN Table 1: Summary of local chronologies used in this study Chronology Mehrgarh I Kili Ghul Moh. Northern Neolithic11 Mehrgarh II Burj Basket-Marked Mehrgarh III Togau Sheri Khan Tarakai Anarta3 Hakra Wares Kechi Beg Pre-Harappan Jodhpura5 Mehrgarh V Nal Anjira1 Sothi-Siswal Amri-Nal Ravi Damb Sadaat Period (BC) 7000–5500 7000–5000 3200-1900 5500–4800 5000–4300 4800–3500 4300–3800 4300–3000 3500–2600 3800–3200 3800–3200 3800–3200 2600–1800 3250–3000 3200–2800 4300–3200 3200–2600 3200–2600 3200–2600 3200–2600 Chronology Early Harappan Kulli (Early)7 Kot Diji Mehrgarh VI Shahi Tump1 Ahar-Banas3 Mehrgarh VIIC Dasht12 Kot Diji (Late) Kulli Accharwala4 Mature Harappan Uttarpradesh11 Ganeshwar5 Quetta3 Sorath Harappan Sorath BMAC Sorathor Pre-Prabhas10 Period (BC) 3200–2600 3200–2600 3200–2600 3000–2800 3500–3000 3000–1500 2800–2600 2800–2200 2600–1900 2600–1900 2600–1900 2600–1900 2600–1900 2600–1800 2500–1900 2500–1900 2500–1600 2300–1700 2200–1800 2200–1800 Chronology Bara13 Jhukar Late Sorath Cemetery H Rajaput Late Harappan Post-urban Prabhas10 Rangpur IIB9 Rangpur IIC9 Pirak II Malwa Swat Proto-Historic Lustrous Red Ware Complex B Jhangar Iron Age Painted Gray Ware Pirak III Zangian Period (BC) 1900–1300 1900–1700 1900–1600 1900–1500 1900–1300 1900–1300 1900–1300 1800–1500 1800–1500 1800–1500 1800–1000 1700–300 1650–1300 1600–1300 1300–700 1200–1000 1200–1000 1100–500 1000–700 1000–200 Based on Possehl (2002) and Gangal et al. (2010), with changes from 1 Franke-Vogt (2008), 2 Ratnagar (2000), 3 Fuller (2006), Possehl (1999), 5 Kenoyer (2006), 6 Law (2007), 7 Biagi (2011), 8 Shinde et al. (2006), 9 Meadow et al. (1997), 10 Dhavalikar (1984), 11 Possehl (1990), 12 Mortazavi (2011), and 13 Shaffer (1981). 4 and baked brick manufacturing stopped; shell ornaments and seals were disused, and settlements moved eastwards into the Ganges valley(Possehl, 2002; Kenoyer, 1998; Datta, 2001). Sites in Gujarat seem to last longest, but by 1300 BC only few scattered sites remain of the IVC (Rao, 1963; Law, 2007; Mcintosh, 2007). The mystery and challenge in IVC scholarship lies in the unresolved causes for and diverse opinions about this decline; most popular theories include environmental change (e.g., Raikes, 1964; Meher-Homji, 1973; Staubwasser, 2003; MacDonald, 2011), river relocations (e.g., Wilhelmy, 1967; Giosan et al., 2012), or social causes (e.g., Wheeler, 1968; Kenoyer, 2005). All of these theories, however, suffer from contrasting evidence, interpretation uncertainties, a temporal mismatch with the decline period, or have been reinterpreted to serve a particular political and historical view (Possehl, 2002; Guha, 2005). Most certainly, multiple factors contributed to the decline, including a breakdown of trade and religion (Kenoyer, 2005). 3. Data on bricks and urbanism 3.1. City and town size through time The classification of settlements into villages, towns, and cities is not straightforward for the IVC, because of the unquantified contribution of pastoralist activities in between settlements(Possehl, 2002). An enclosing wall would classify a settlement as a city, a gated location with political power over the surrounding rural area and a central place for the exchange of traded goods(Kenoyer, 1998); a sufficient population size for division of labour and an economic and social organization allowing population growth characterize cities according to Childe (1950) and Modelski (2003). To a first degree, a settlement’s area is a proxy for population size, and the ratio of its area of a settlement to the average settlement size an indication of its nodal position in a trade network. For nine such nodal places, cities or towns, chronologically resolved size estimates are available. These are Mehrgarh, Amri, Kotdiji, Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibangan, Ganweriwala, and Rakhigarhi (Tab. 2). We generated for each of these cities a continuous time series from Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 3 B RICKS AND URBANISM IN THE I NDUS VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE the earliest to the latest area literature estimate. The thus calculated total urban area only includes are from those 9 cities whose temporal information is available. For example, some other large cities, like Tharowarodar, Nagoor, Nindowari, and Lakhueenjodaro have a combined area of ca. 200 ha during the Mature phase(Possehl, 2002). 3.2. Brick typology Worldwide, mud bricks were first used in preHarappan time in Mehrgarh from 7000 BC, and baked brick technology appeared first in the IVC. The baked brick work is the signature mark of Harappan Bronze Age technologies. Most of the large cities of the IVC, i.e. Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kot Diji, Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal were built from both mud and baked brick (Tab. 3, with the largest baked brick:mud brick proportion at Mohenjodaro, Possehl 2002). Mud brick usage precedes baked brick usage, and continues when baked bricks are not used any more (Datta, 2001; Chattopadhyaya, 1996) Only one large city, Dholavira, is built completely from mud bricks (Bisht, 1982; Possehl, 2000). Quite the opposite, most villages and towns in the IVC were built from stones and mud bricks (Datta, 2001; Chattopadhyaya, 1996). The few exceptions are Jalilpur, Kalibangan, and Chanhudaro, where also baked bricks were used (Mughal, 1970; Joshi et al., 1984; Flam, 1981). Chanhudaro stands out in this list, as there is no preceding mud-brick only phase for this site (Flam, 1981). 3.3. Spatiotemporal distribution of Harappan sites We used the Indus Google Earth Gazetteer (version August 2008) compiled by Law (2007) for the geolocation of artifacts relating to the Indus valley. From this database of 3348 dates from 2125 distinct find sites, we use here the cultural attribution and location of those 3102 Neolithic and Bronze Age sites and dates that are in the spatial and temporal domain of our study. For the pre-Harappan phases, the Kili Ghul Muhammad, the Burj Basked-Marked, the Togau (and Sheri Khan Tarakai), and the Hakra/Kechi Beg (including Anarta complexes), we extracted 374, 421, 706, and 1039 dates, respectively. For the Harappan Early, Mature and Late phases, we obtained 1321, 1848, and 1085 dates, respectively (Fig. 2). To our knowledge, this gazetteer is the most extensive and the most representative data set K HAN & L EMMEN of lithic and metal artifacts of the Indus valley tradition. It has been used to investigate the trade and distribution networks of the IVC by its author (Law, 2011). 4. Bricks and urbanism in IVC rise and decline 4.1. Bricks Bricks constitute a large part of the archaeological material left behind by the Indus civilization. These bricks provide information on the number and spatial distribution of settlements, on the extent and density of settlements, and on the relation between dense urban and sparse rural areas. Even more, bricks inform about structural and symbolic functions in ancient societies (Kenoyer, 2006) Brick work literally lays the foundations of the Indus Valley cultural tradition when it emerges in after 7000 BC. Its prominent role, however, is taken by baked bricks, which were manufactured only from the end of the Early to the beginning of the Late phase, a distinct and narrow 1500 year period within the almost six millennia of this tradition. Why this shift to and away from bricks? Baked bricks are a superior technology over sun-dried bricks, and while most of the building continued to be performed with mud bricks, baked bricks were extensively used where their improved strength was important (Possehl, 2002). Baked bricks are less affected by long-term water exposure; this water resistance became a key factor in the expansion of Harappan villages and cities into the Punjab flood plains. Their sustained establishment in the flooding zones of the river plains was facilitated by baked brick technology. The protective function of baked bricks is exemplified by the massive and technically refined flood protection structures around Mohenjodaro and Harappa (Kenoyer, 1998). Baked brick usage for all buildings in the flood-prone city Chanhudaro demonstrates the importance of baked-brick technology for flood protection. Not only for flood protection, but generally for urbanism baked bricks seem to have been a precondition: almost all large cities of the Mature phase (Dholavira, Chanhudaro, and Mohenjodaro being the exception) are built with a combination of sundried and baked bricks. Quite likely, their use as house foundations and for the lining of sewage systems was crucial for the sustained growth of villages Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 4 B RICKS AND URBANISM IN THE I NDUS VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE K HAN & L EMMEN Table 2: Time-resolved data of the areal extent of 9 cities and towns. City/Town Mehrgarh1 Ganweriwala1,2,3 Kalibangan1 Amri4 Lothal1,5 Dholavira6 Harappa1,6 Rakhigarhi1 Mohenjodaro1,6,7 Area (ha) in period (year BC) 30 ha 7000–5500; 16 ha 5500–4800; 9 ha 4800–3500; 9 ha 3500–3250; 18 ha 3250–3000 79 ha 2600–2250; 81.5 ha 2250–1900; 80 ha 1900–1800 10 ha 2600–2250; 12 ha 2250–1900; 5 ha 1900–1300 10 ha 4300–3800; 30 ha 3800–3300; 20 ha 3300–3200 4.2 ha 2600–2250; 25 ha 2250–1900; 25 ha 1900–1700; 10 ha 1700–1300 2 ha 2600–2250; 30 ha 2550–2200; 80 ha 2200–2000; 100 ha 2000–1900; 70 ha 1900–1800; 15 ha 1650–1450 1 ha 3800–3200; 1.5 ha 3200–2800; 32 ha 2800–2600; 100 ha 2600–2200; 150 ha 2200–1900; 100 ha 1900–1800; 8 ha 1800–1500 2 ha 3200–2600; 0 ha 2600–1800; 80 ha 1800–1300 5 ha 2900–2600; 75 ha 2600–2250; 200 ha 2250–1900; 100 ha 1900–1700; 20 ha 1700–1300 References: 1 Possehl (2002), 2 Law (2007), 3 Agrawal (1993), 4 Possehl (1990), 5 Rao (1963), 6 Kenoyer (1998), and 7 Dani (1971) Table 3: Data on Harappan location where information on brick typology and usage time is available. Dates correspond to local stratigraphic chronology (Tab. 1). 1 Location Harappa Mohenjodaro Kot Diji Mud brick 3800–1300 2900–1300 3200–1300 Baked brick 2500–1800 2600–1800 2600–1800 Banawali Ganweriwala Rakhigarhi Dholavira Lothal 3200–1000 2900–1800 3200–1300 3200–1450 2600–1300 2600–1800 2600–1900 2200–1600 Mehrgarh Kili Ghul Muhammad Sur Jangal Rana Ghundai 7000–3800 6000–1800 4300–3800 4000–1800 Damb Sadat Mundigak Amri Chanhudaro Sanghol Bhagwanpura 3200–2600 3300–1800 3200–1800 1800–500 2600–1500 Nal Samadhi Kalibangan Jalilpur Gumla Rehman Dheri 3000–(2200)1 3200–1000 3300–1500 5000–3200 2900–1800 2500–1500 2500–1700 2600–1800 2800–1800 References Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996; Possehl 2002 Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Bisht 1982; Bhan 1975; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996; Possehl 2002 Bisht 1982; Bhan 1975; Datta 2001 Mughal 1997 Nath 2001 Possehl 1979; Bisht 1982; Possehl 2002 Rao 1979; Datta 2001 Jarrige et al. 1995; Datta 2001; Possehl 2002 Fairservis 1956; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Fairservis 1959; Datta 2001 Ross 1946; Stein 1929; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996; Lamberg-Karlovsky 1972 de Cardi 1983; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Ball and Gardin 1982; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Flam 1981; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Flam 1981; Majumdar 1934; Possehl 2002 Bhan 1975; Joshi et al. 1984; Datta 2001 Bhan and Shaffer 1978; Joshi et al. 1984; Datta 2001; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Rai and Kumar 1989; Chattopadhyaya 1996 Thapar 1979; Joshi et al. 1984; Datta 2001; Possehl 2002 Mughal 1970 Dani 1971 Dani 1971 Date estimated by authors. Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 5 B RICKS AND URBANISM IN THE I NDUS VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE (a) 7000-3200 BC Neolithic (b) 3200-2600 BC Early phase (c) 2600-1900 BC Mature phase (d) 1900-1600 BC early Late phase (e) 1600-1300 BC later Late phase (f) 1300-700 BC post-Harappan K HAN & L EMMEN Figure 2: Spatial and temporal distribution of find sites of the Indus valley cultural tradition from Law (2007) with the chronology from Tab. 1. Sites with baked brick usage are highlighted with large square symbols. in to large cities. Besides for protection from water, baked bricks were used for city walls and citadels in the four largest cities Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, and several minor cities and purpose sites (Smith, 2006). The temporal distribution of the number of cotemporal sites using bricks (from Tab. 3, shown in Fig. 3a) shows four different dynamic regimes of overall brick usage: (1) a steady and slow increase characterizes the Neolithic periods, (2) a sudden doubling and steep increase of brick sites is typical for the Early Harappan phase; this (3) levels out during the Mature phase before it is (4) reversed by a strong decrease during the Late and post-Harappan phases. Only during the Mature phase, most of the sites investigated use also baked bricks; and baked bricks decline entirely during the Late phase. The baked brick technology, once invented, required skilled labor, standards, and natural resources. All these were available within the IVC during the Mature phase. There is no evidence for scarcity of natural resources for baked brick production. Fine silt (and water) abounded in the river plains of Punjab and Sindh. Irrespective of potential climatic changes, the gallery forests along the perennial rivers provided an ample and steady supply of fire wood: Meher-Homji (1973) estimated that only 200 hectares of riverine forest were required to supply baked bricks long enough to support the large city of Mohenjodaro (which was mostly built from baked bricks) for 100 years. The second requirement—standards—has been a long-standing and featured trademark of Harappan masonry. Possehl (2002) calls the typical ratio of 4:2:1 (length to width to height) of Indus Valley bricks the “Indus proportion”. The adherence to this ratio was ensured by the use of standardized molds. While this ratio was typical at Harappa for large bricks, some cities, like Kalibangan, also used different brick ratios (3:2:1) (Mcintosh, 2007). During the Late phase, brick dimensions diverged away from the Indus proportion (Datta, 2001; Mcintosh, 2007). Beyond the molds, the standards are also preserved in the craftsmen’s tradition and in social norms. The deviation from the standard in the Late phase could therefore point to a changed social norm, or to the lack of craftsmen to keep up the traditional brick manufacture. This third requirement of skilled labour refers to the craftsmanship and knowledge needed to choose the correct silts, mix the appropriate quantities of silts and water, and find the right Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 6 4.2. Urban center The contrast between rural and urban lifestyle in the IVC is best portrayed by the distribution of find sites on the one hand, and by the area of the largest cities on the other hand (Fig. 3b). Between 5000 and 1300 BC, there is a continuous occupation of between 400 and 1000 cotemporal sites recorded in the Law (2007)’s database. The increase from pre-Harappan to the Early phase is around 300 sites, and another increase by 300 sites occurs from the Early to the Mature phase. The number of sites falls slowly to 800 during the Late phase: the Indus Valley decline cannot be detected in this dataset. It is, however, not the number, but rather the spatial pattern of sites which changes through preHarappan (Lemmen and Khan, 2012) and IVC phases (Joshi et al., 1984; Gangal et al., 2010). At the end of the Mature phase, only along the Ghaggar-Hakra river sites disappear whereas new sites emerge in the upper Ganges reaches. By 1500 BC, most of the Baluchistan and Punjab sites have disappeared, while sites in Gujarat and along the Ganges are still present. The Gujarat complex disappears by 1000 BC (Gangal et al., 2010); these authors also note that during the terminal Mature phase many small sites replace large sites; they attribute this to a movement of population from urban centers into villages. In contrast to the number of (small) sites, the data on large urban centers and their area (Tab. 2) exhibits strong variations. The combined urban area of large cities was below 40 ha until 2600 BC. The few pre-Harappan and early Harappan cities (e.g., Kalibangan, Amri Nal) were small, in contrast to the many and large cities of the Mature phase, where the largest cities were Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Ganweriwala, Dholavira, and Rakigarhi, each of them 7000 6000 5000 Time (year BC) 4000 3000 early 2000 mature City planning Mud bricks Pottery Faience c) 1000 late Seals Weights Baked bricks Technologies Writing Shell ornaments 500 Urban area Artifact sites 1000 400 b) Cities & sites 800 300 600 200 400 100 200 Number of artifact sites temperature and roasting time to produce maximum strength bricks. Did craftsmen and their skills migrate? There is no direct evidence. The late appearance of bricks in the Gujarat sites, predominantly Lothal after 2200 BC (Rao, 1965), however, could be evidence for increased need of brick producers in the south of the IVC, when at the same time the size of Harappa already started to decrease. Outside of the IVC baked brick technology appears in Susa (eastern Gulf of Persia), where they are used in monumental construction from 1800 BC (Gallet et al., 2006). K HAN & L EMMEN Continued VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE Total urban area (ha) IN THE I NDUS 20 Number of brick sites B RICKS AND URBANISM 15 Mud and baked Baked fraction a) Bricks 10 5 0 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 Time (year BC) 2000 1000 Figure 3: (c, bottom) Brick typology in IVC cities, shown as the number of sites employing mud bricks, or employing both mud and baked bricks (Tab. 3). (b, middle) The rural-urban contrast, shown as the total urban area (from Tab. 2) and the number of Indus artifact find sites from Law (2007). (c, top) Introduction, presence and expiration of key Harappan technologies (Kenoyer, 1998; Possehl, 2002). Arrows show a continuation of technology in successor cultures. between 80 and 200 ha. Total urban area is 450 ha in the first half of the Mature phase, and increases by another 50% after 2300 BC. From the Early to the Mature, and within the Mature phase, the growth in urban area by far exceeds the slow dynamics of the number of settlements. This discordance points to an intensification, a population growth within or movement towards the urban centers. Mirroring this intensification, the drastic decrease from 750 in the Mature to 100 ha urban area in the Late phase is not accompanied with a decrease of the site numbers: the IVC’s population did not decrease, but rather moved from the cities Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 7 B RICKS AND URBANISM IN THE I NDUS VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE Table 4: Simplified mirroring of key Harappan technologies in social relations Technology Social relation Baked bricks ↔ skilled labour Weights ↔ trade links Seals ↔ moral authority Writing ↔ administration Shell ornaments ↔ elite status into smaller (and many) villages How is the brick dynamics reflected in the urban area? Both baked bricks and urban centers existed almost exclusively in the Mature phase, and both experienced a strong increase before and decrease afterwards, pointing to a strong correlation between these two aspects of urbanism. It is difficult—considering the temporal uncertainties and low number of sites considered—to establish a temporal sequence between the two. With the current data, the baked brick increase seems to lead the urbanization, which would confirms the role of baked bricks as a prerequisite for urban centers. The temporal uncertainty in the chronology, however, would need to be decreased for a better quantification of the phase relationship between baked bricks and urban area. 4.3. Urban mind For the Harappan urban mind, baked brick technology represents one of the most important characteristics. With the baked-brick stimulated rise of urbanism, dense population were possible which stimulated innovation (Lemmen, 2012); Mature phase technologies like writing and shell ornaments flourished (Fig. 3c). The IVC was centrally organized, an empire under common rule. Priestly elites seem to have exerted their power rather by moral authority than force; temples, palaces and evidence for warfare are absent from the archaeological record (Piggott, 1950; Ratnagar, 2000). The coherence provided by a moral authority may also be a decisive factor in ensuring the brick dimensions standard. Harappa was also a closed society: Skull features from prehistoric cemeteries indicated that urban Harappans differed from surrounding villagers; apparently, social practice discouraged mixing with people outside the city and promoted endogamy (Bartel, 1979)1 . 1 Even today, endogamy prevails in South Asian populations K HAN & L EMMEN Skills, trade, authority, and elite status are social dimensions which can be mapped to the material culture (Tab. 4). For example, the symbolism that held together Harappan society is mirrored in its seals. Elite status is expressed by shell ornaments. The Indus script has not been deciphered, the existence of a writing system, however, points to use for accounting and administration. Thus, the decline in baked brick manufacturing is not merely a loss of one specific technology, but also represents a considerable loss of symbolism (Possehl, 2002). 5. Insights for the decline Social disruptions at the beginning of the Late phase put an end to religion and trade. The changed burial pattern points to a different belief system; additional layers of glaze are used in distinctive pot burials, and glass making and bead drilling techniques were altered. Trade with the Swat region ceased and resulted in a decline of shell working. This has been interpreted as a disturbance of the elite structure (Ratnagar, 2000; Kenoyer, 2006; Nichols et al., 2008). Postcranial injuries on excavated skulls point to interpersonal violence among Harappan elites (Robbins Schug and Gray 2012, but not Mohenjodaran, Kennedy 1984), and some cities were (partly) burned, like Kotdiji, Gumla, Nausharo, or Amri (Possehl, 2002). Could the environmental changes that have been put forward be responsible for the social upheavals? Aridity and river relocation seem credible for the Ghaggar Hakra area (Staubwasser, 2003; Giosan et al., 2012); floods occurred in cities in Sindh: a total of 5 m silt, composed of up to 2 m thick individual deposits in Mohenjodaro shows the consequence of inundations from the middle of the Mature to the end of the Late phase; multiple alternating cultural and silt deposit layers indicate rebuilding and renewed floods in this city (Raikes, 1964; Pruthi, 2004). Even if one ignores the contrasting evidence, the interpretation uncertainties, and the temporal mismatches with the decline period of the suggested environmental factors, there seems to be no environmental reason that could explain the demise of urban centers and relocation of villages from Punjab and Baluchistan. Rather, social causes, like an internal political struggle, which lead to the visible change in and preserves genetically distinct tribes (Chaubey et al., 2007) Manuscript submitted to the American Journal of Archeology, February 27, 2013 Page 8 B RICKS AND URBANISM IN THE I NDUS VALLEY RISE AND DECLINE the Harappan elite system (Kenoyer, 2005) should be investigated. We propose that a changed elite structure would also explain the loss of urban coherence, the diverging brick standards, and the depopulation of cities. Moreover, a changed elite seemed to have not been able, or not to have been willing, to continue baked brick manufacturing and the maintenance of the flood protection structures in Punjab and Sindh, rendering their cities vulnerable to flooding at least from 1700 BC2 . If we take into account that elites were replaced by people originally from outside the IVC, their unfamiliarity with local environmental conditions and protection needs, or their different management priorities could have exacerbated the problem of neglected flood protection. Looking at the brick dynamics tells us about social dynamics. 6. Conclusion K HAN & L EMMEN References Agrawal, D. (1993). The Harappan legacy: break and continuity. In G. L. Possehl (Ed.), Harappan Civilization: a Recent Perspective (2 ed.)., pp. 445–454. New Delhi, India: American Institute of Indian Studies. Ball, W. and J.-C. Gardin (1982). Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan. Synthesis. 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