TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE INDUS VALLEY - NEW INSIGHTS FROM HARAPPA,PAKISTAN

This paper presents selected results of current research on specialize d crafts at the early urban center of Harappa, Pakistan. Many crafts s uch as shell working, ceramics, and agate and glazed steatite bead mak ing are represented from the earliest levels of the site (c. 3300 BC) and continue up until the final phase of prehistoric occupation (c. 17 00 BC). Materials analysis and sourcing, microscopic studies of manufa cturing waste and finished objects, experimental replication, and ethn oarchaeological studies have been used to investigate the trade of raw materials and finished objects, as well as the development of technol ogical innovations. Some of these crafts are still practiced in the su bcontinent today, and by using more precise methods of analysis and do cumentation it will be possible to follow the continuities and change of some crafts for over 5,000 years.