Vedic

Aryan, Late Indus, Localization Era, Post-Harappan, Regionalization Era of the Indo-Gangetic Tradition

Bara, Black and Red Ware (BRW), Cemetery H, Copper Hoard, Gandhara Grave Culture, Iron Age Black and Red Ware Culture, Jhukar phase, Late Harappan, Ochre Colored Pottery Culture, Painted Gray Ware, Posturban (Post-urban)

Alamgirpur, Atranjikhera, Banawali, Bargaon, Bet Dwarka, Bhagwanpura (Bhagpura), Chanhudaro, Dholavira, Hulas, Kudwala, Lothal, Pirak, Rakhigarhi, Rangpur, Ropar (Rupnagar), Rojdi, Sanauli, Sanghol, Surkotada

3900–2500 BP

Follows the Mature Indus Tradition and precedes the early historic period and second urbanization on the Ganges Plain.

The text of the Rigveda, which lends its name to the Vedic Tradition, is mainly set within the Punjab, Pakistan and a swath of adjacent states in northern India (Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers). Archaeologically, the Vedic Tradition also includes southeastern Afghanistan, most of Pakistan, and the Indian states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The Vedic tradition lasted 1400 years, spanned an area more than 1500 km across, and was comprised of multiple regional and temporal subtraditions. Diagnostic ceramics include: red ware pottery in the Harappan style (commonly known as Ochre Colored Pottery) that changes to Painted Gray Ware (fine paste and black geometric designs) that, in turn, is replaced by Black and Red Ware. Copper tools present early in the period are gradually displaced by iron tools. Copper hoards containing weapons, tools, and ingots are peculiar to the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. Great millet (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are introduced sometime after 4000 BP.

The Vedic Tradition is defined by the presumed period of the composition of the Vedas, priestly books and the earliest literature of India: the Rigveda (the earliest text), the Samaveda, the Yajurveda, and the Atharvaveda. The hymns are thought to have been verbally composed and compiled (though not yet written down) between 3500-2800 BP. Diagnostic material traits in the archeological record cover a somewhat broader time period.

The climate of the extensive tradition area ranges from arid to subtropical, and varies between extreme heat and cold with annual temperatures from -3° to 46° C. Annual rainfall varies from over 1100 mm in Islamabad in the foothills of the Himalayas to 110 mm near Jacobabad. The area currently experiences summer monsoons and winter westerly rains. The monsoons bring heavy rains from mid-June through September as far north as the slopes of the Himalayas and northern Punjab; the Indus Plain is at the arid edge of the monsoonal belt. The variability of monsoons can result in anything from a half meter of rain in a day to severe drought. Winter westerly rains originate in the Mediterranean; they can bring moderate to heavy showers, and potentially heavy snowfall in the north of Pakistan.

There are indications that rainfall decreased in the western area of the tradition, although the timing is debated. Generally, it appears that monsoons weakened in intensity after 4000 BP, with a brief rise in precipitation circa 3500 BP followed by continuing decrease. Winter rains also diminished during the time period, leading to greater aridity of monsoon-dependent rivers such as the Ghaggar-Hakra River system. Monsoon rains remained reliable in the Ganges basin, however.

From west to east the river systems can be further sub-divided into: the tributary rivers to the west of the Indus (Kabul, Gomal, and Swat); the eastern tributary rivers in the Punjab (meaning land of five rivers: Jehlum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej); the Ghaggar-Hakra; and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab (a doab is a track of land between two rivers). There are multiple rivers draining into the Ganges from the Himalayas to the north and into the Yamuna from the Vindhya Range to the south, and there are monsoonal rivers originating within the Ganges-Yamuna Doab.

The Rigveda mentions seven rivers, including the Indus (Sindhu), Sutlej (Sutudri), Beas (Vipas), Ravi (Parushni), Chenab (Asikni), Jhelum (Vitasta), and Ghaggar-Hakra (Sarasvati). The Ghaggar-Hakra or Sarasvati River is mentioned most frequently. It was thought to be the "mightiest of rivers" and was the only one considered a goddess.

The three major river systems are the Indus, the Yamuna, and the Ganges. They start from glaciers in the Himalayas, bringing snow melt and flood waters to cover the land with fertile alluvium. The Yamuna and Ganges also are seasonally affected by the monsoon rains. The area between the Indus and Ganges basins contains monsoon-fed rivers such as the Ghaggar-Hakra. As the monsoon weakened in the western tradition area, monsoonal rivers gradually dried up or became seasonal, affecting habitability along their courses. The alluvial plains of the western Indo-Gangetic Plain currently lie in an arid zone due to low rainfall. Nevertheless, seasonal floods combined with annual rainfall allowed for a variety of subsistence strategies, including summer and winter flood or rain fed agriculture, herding, hunting-gathering, and fishing.

To the north are the Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountain ranges; to the west are various ranges in western Pakistan; to the south are the hills of central India, especially the Aravalli and Vindhya ranges. The Aravalli range ends with the Delhi Ridge that divides the Indo-Gangetic plain. West of the ridge is the Punjab plain; to the east is the Ganges-Brahmaputra drainage. Between the Indus River Valley and the Aravalli range lays the Thar Desert with its sand dunes and saltwater lakes. South and east of the Indus delta is the Rann of Kutch. During the summer it becomes a salt marsh making the Kutch Peninsula an island; in the winter the area dries to salt flats. At the start of the tradition the peninsula would have been an island year-round, surrounded by open water with inland islands. Siltation from various rivers and falling sea level changed the inland side of the Kutch Peninsula into a navigable lake with no open access to the sea. To the south is the Saurashtra Peninsula. Siltation there would have moved the head of the Gulf of Khambat to the south. Various port sites lost access to the sea during this time period and were abandoned between 3700-3600 BP.

The eastern edges of the Indus valley are bordered by shifting sands of the Thar Desert which terminate in the low Aravalli range with its iron and copper ore as well as a wide variety of sedimentary and some metamorphic rocks. To the west of the Indus are the ranges of Balochistan with rocky rivers containing boulders and pebbles of quartzite, granite, and sandstone used for making grinding stones. Some rivers also have chert nodules used to make specialized stone tools and drills. The Himalayas would have been a source of various minerals and metals, including bitumen, salt, steatite, gem stones (e.g. lapis lazuli), gold, silver, lead, and copper. Iron ore is found in the Aravalli and Vindhya ranges.

The Indo-Gangetic plain is an extensive alluvial plain with a few major rock outcrops in the center of the Indus Valley at Rohri, near the Indus delta, and along the southern margin of the Ganges plain. These outcrops have important chert or flint deposits in nodule form. Other lithic resources are found in the mountain ranges ringing the plain. Agricultural land in the western piedmont and highlands is limited to narrow strips along rivers or near springs. The entire area is prone to earthquakes.

Wild animals in the habitat-rich tradition area include Indian elephant, rhinoceros, Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard, wolf, fox, wild boar, crocodile, gharial, sambhar (elk), chital (spotted deer), barasingha (swamp deer), gazelle, blackbuck, nilgai (an antelope), Indian wild ass, primates like rhesus monkeys and langurs, and smaller mammals such as bats and rodents. There is a wide variety of migrant and resident birds such as the great Indian bustard, Indian peafowl or peacock, pheasants, wild ducks, partridges, quail, eagles, and flamingoes. Reptiles include snakes like cobras and pythons. Fish include freshwater catfish, carp and mahseer (mostly Tor spp.), not to mention marine shellfish and fish. Commercially valuable insects are bees, and the lac insect (Laccifer lacca) used for shellac and a red dye.

Like today, the Indus plain would have been scrub forest with Acacia, Capparis (caper shrubs), Prosopis, Salvadora, Tamarix, and Zyziphus (jujube or Indian date), and other fruit trees such as date palms (Phoenix sylvestris); in addition there would have been various grasses. Ox-bow lakes and riparian forests would have featured willows, reeds, and other freshwater marsh vegetation. On the coasts of Gujarat there would have been mangrove forests, and salt marshes in the Rann of Kutch. In the Thar Desert scattered thorn scrub forest is found surrounded by areas with almost no vegetation due to shifting sand dunes. The vegetation in parts of Gujarat and the Aravalli range would have varied from thorny dry deciduous forest to dense dry deciduous forest with sisau or Indian rosewood (Dalbergia sissoo)), dhau (Anogeissus pendula), dhak or flame–of-the-forest (Butea monosperma), kair (Capparis decidua), and religiously important trees like Ficus racemosa and the pipal or Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa); also, near streams, mulberry, teak and various Acacia such as Acacia nilotica. The Ganges-Yamuna Doab would have been densely covered with moist broadleaf forest or moist deciduous forest—dominated by sal (Shorea robusta), Ficus racemosa and mango (Mangifera spp.—that may not have been settled by agriculturalists until iron tools became common. The Himalayan foothills would have been covered with Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forest containing oak (Quercus spp.), Indian chestnut (Aesculus indica), walnut, maple, alder, laurel (Lauraceae), Indian olive (Olea europaea) and conifers, transitioning into the Himalayan subtropical pine forest characterized by chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) with a ground cover of grasses.

There is some evidence of environmental deterioration in the Late Harappan, as in Gujarat where the most common fuel shifted to acacia (a thorny scrub tree) and dung. In the Ganges-Yamuna Doab charcoal in strata pertaining to the Vedic period indicates land was cleared for farming by burning, though pollen shows that much forest remained and/or regrew between settlements and shifting cultivation.

The multi-tiered settlement hierarchy of the preceding Mature Indus disappeared during the Vedic, with most sites not exceeding six hectares; a two-tiered hierarchy with larger towns didn’t reappear until after 3000 BP. The collapse of the settlement hierarchy occurred more gradually along the lower Ghaggar-Hakra River, where sites persisted until about 2600 BP and Kudwala, at 38 hectares, was surrounded by a cluster of sites ranging from12 to 20 hectares. Additionally, there were industrial sites without habitation, having only kilns or areas where ceramics were fired. Other specialist sites began to disappear, such as Chanhudaro where carnelian beads were manufactured. During the early part of the Vedic Tradition settlement shifted away from the drying-up lower Ghaggar-Hakra River and toward the northeast, to near the Himalayan foothills between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers, and into the Ganges-Yamuna Doab toward Allahabad as people migrated east. Sites continued to be located on the interfluves where floodplain agriculture was possible.

Copper Hoard sites contain copper weapons, tools, ingots, rings, and anthropomorphic figures. Unusual, seemingly impractical weapons include antenna-hilted swords, swords with a hooked tang and a midrib, flat celts, shouldered celts, and barbed or tanged harpoons. It therefore is presumed the items were cult objects and that the hoards were votive deposits. Hoards of jewelry and metal items are found in other cities, presumably as a reaction to the breakdown of urban government.

Most of the large urban centers of the preceding Mature Indus were either abandoned or became smaller in size. Harappa was one of the few to endure, perhaps until 3400 BP, although it became smaller and density increased in some neighborhoods. As at other sites, a breakdown of urban planning and lack of maintenance indicate relatively ineffectual municipal governance. The number of rural settlements surrounding Harappa decreased from eighteen to four. In lower Sindh this period (4100-3700 BP) is known as the Jhukar phase, with changes in the ceramics and new forms of artifacts; the small urban centers of Chanhudaro, Jhukar, and Amri were abandoned by the end of the period, and by 3000 BP there don’t appear to be any settlements in the lower Sindh. Settlement in the hills of Baluchistan, such as at Pirak, continued to 2800 BP.

Settlement thrived and expanded in Gujarat and Rajasthan, shifting east during the Posturban phase so that more sites are found on the interfluves near the mouths of rivers emptying into the Little Rann of Kutch. Subsequently (3200-2800 BP), Posturban settlements were abandoned, so only temporary, seasonal camps are found.

There were a few urban centers at the beginning of the time period, some persisting from the Mature Indus, but sites in general tended to be smaller and some small sites show evidence of community planning. Most would have been agricultural villages. Pastoralist camp sites also are found. Nevertheless, some sites like Pirak in Baluchistan continued to have what appears to be a central storeroom and administrative center; others, such as Banawali, Dholavira and Harappa, continued to have multiple mounds or internal divisions, as well as walls for defense or for protection from floods. Wells, now often unlined, are still found in many settlements. During the Painted Grey Ware period more sites have enclosing walls that may have been for defense.

The brick houses of the preceding Mature Indus were replaced by houses made of wattle-and-daub with a wooden frame or stone foundations, walls of mud or pressed earth, and, usually, a thatched roof; drains and bathrooms were no longer included as settlements became more rural. At Dholavira, circular houses appeared when the city was reoccupied during the Posturban period. The late Harappan agricultural town of Rojdi in Gujarat had small rectilinear houses of one to three rooms with stone foundations and mud walls, adjoining yards, animal barns or circular grain stores, and paved threshing floors. By the late Painted Gray Ware period structures again became more sophisticated, indicating greater wealth. From the Posturban through Painted Gray Ware periods at the small settlement of Bhagwanpura in Haryana, structures changed from simple round houses with light timber frames to larger houses of mud brick and, finally, to ones of brick with a return to rectilinear form; a house from the late period had thirteen rooms and a courtyard.

At the start of the tradition, previously urban areas lost population and new, smaller settlements appeared in Gujarat and areas to the east of the Indus Valley, in Haryana and Punjab. In most areas—Sindh, Cholistan, Baluchistan, and Gujarat—the total hectares covered by settlement fell dramatically from the preceding Mature Indus tradition (Possehl 2002). In the eastern portion of the tradition (Punjab and Haryana), there was a large expansion in the number of settlements, and even though the sites were smaller, the total area covered by settlement increased. Such trends can be interpreted as a drop in population throughout the first half of the Vedic tradition, when the majority of sites were villages, campsites, and a few small towns. This was followed by gradual population growth during the Painted Grey Ware period when the number of settlements increased and spread to the southeast.

Likely diseases include tuberculosis, cholera, malaria, and leprosy. The Atharvaveda refers to a type of thistle, kushtha (Saussurea costus), as a treatment for both leprosy and tuberculosis. Incidence of leprosy in the Harappan cemetery sample fell slightly from the preceding Mature Indus; cranial injuries indicative of violent trauma rose significantly from 3900-3700 BP and then gradually declined. Women show a higher rate of cranial trauma than men. There is evidence of scurvy in children from the 3900-3700 BP Area G ossuary, and its presence in infants indicates pregnant and nursing women were malnourished. This pattern may indicate social inequality, since traumatic injuries and disease occur together in the same population.

The few cemeteries excavated show the people of the Vedic tradition continued to be a heterogeneous group of people with no evidence for biological discontinuity or major migrations.

Subsistence patterns generally resemble those of present-day rural India, including regional variations. Domestic animals include humped or zebu (Bos indicus) and non-humped cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goat, chicken, pig, dog, camel, and horse. The horse and Bactrian camel appear at Pirak around 3800 BP in the form of terracotta models, and would have been well established by the early Iron Age. Pastoralism contributed a significant portion of the diet in some areas, and at most sites cattle bones dominate faunal remains. Hunting formed a minor part of the diet and fishing slightly more, depending on the region.

The majority of the diet was supplied by most of the same crops found during the Mature Indus, and featured a mix of crops or multicropping. Rabi crops—ones that rely on winter rains—included wheat, barley, lentils, peas, sesame, chickpeas, linseed, and mustard, and fruits included melon, date, jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), lemon, and grape. Kharif crops—ones that rely on summer monsoons—included rice and various millets like Setaria, Panicum, and Eleusine coracana (finger millet or ragi). Great millet or jowari (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet or bajri (Pennisetum glaucum) were added sometime after 4000 BP, along with cotton (Gossypium arboretum) which is a source of oil as well as fiber. Later arrivals include green gram (Vigna radiata), black gram (Vigna mungo), and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan). Rice was cultivated in the upper Ganges Basin by 4500 BP. The introduction of millets expanded the range of food crops in the drier regions. A rise in the importance of kharif crops indicates that the plow became more important during the period.

Sites dating from 4000-3000 BP have produced evidence of a wide variety of crops. Botanical remains at Hulas in Uttar Pradesh include rice, two species of wheat (Triticum sphaerococcum and Triticum aestivum), barley, oats, two kinds of millet (jawar [Sorghum bicolor] and ragi [Eleusine coracana]), lentils, horse and green grams, field peas, chickpeas, cotton, and ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis). By 4000-3700 BP crops introduced from Africa—sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet—are found at Rojdi in Gujarat.

With the collapse of the cities and other large industrial centers there was a decline or discontinuation of the more complex Mature Indus technologies such as seal production, glazed steatite, stone weights, and stoneware bangles. Craft specialization likely disappeared in the first half of the Vedic tradition and most industries depended on largely local materials. Products became more utilitarian, likely destined for a more local market. Luxury goods were few. Some technologies improved such as faience for bead ornaments, and a kiln with a barrel vault and internal flues. Skilled, non-alloyed copper work continued throughout the period, while iron tools and weapons became more common starting around 3000 BP. Painted Grey Ware, a fine ware ceramic, and an increase in iron tools are signs that craft specialization was revived in the second half of the tradition. All the less complex industries of flint knapping, ceramics, and work in bone, ivory, shell, and wood continued, providing everything from tools used in daily life to game pieces.

The pottery in the north during the first half of the time period can be assigned to several different wares, including Cemetery H, Ochre Colored Pottery (OCP), and Bara. In the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan and southeast into India, Cemetery H pottery developed out of Mature Indus ceramics, showing design influences from the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) in northern Afghanistan and northern Iran. Cemetery H is a red ware, with a red slip, often plain; decoration, when present, forms a band. Older, Mature Indus design motifs of peacocks, animals, and pipal leaves continue, with the addition of stars, dotted rings, wavy or zigzag lines, a horn-like curve topped with an arrowhead, and people with long, streaming, wavy locks of hair. The designs can be painted or incised. Vessel shapes include jars, flasks, bowls, pots, basins, and large burial urns. Other terracotta objects include bangles, beads, human and animal figurines, and toy carts pulled by bulls. Female figurines with "violin-shaped" bodies may have represented mother goddesses, and are similar to ones found in the Gandhara Grave Culture. Bara Ware vessels are frequently decorated with incised or painted designs on the shoulder. Vessel forms include a dish-on-stand (or pedestal plate, with a shorter, wider-columned pedestal than those of the preceding tradition), collared-rim jars, and jars with bulbous bodies, long necks and flaring rims. Ochre Colored Pottery, found in the upper Ganges valley, is a thick, usually poorly-fired (and consequently poorly preserved) red ware with an ocher wash, occasionally with painted decoration. It is associated with the Copper Hoard subtradition.

Iron tools found during the second half of the period include weapons such as arrows, spear heads, and socketed tangs, and tools such as chisels, axes, knives, hoes, sickles, tongs, nails, and pins. Copper gradually becomes less common although artifacts include various kinds of axes, battle axes, bar celts, various other weapons, chisels, rings, anthropomorphic figures, kohl sticks, nail-trimers, pins, bangles, fishhooks, and dishes. Arrowheads were also made of bone, horn, or ivory.

Cemetery H pottery is gradually augmented with Painted Grey Ware (PGW), a wheel-thrown or turntable-built fine ware featuring a variety of black painted patterns. The main shapes are bowls and dishes; larger forms are absent. Decoration includes floral patterns, variations on circles (e.g. concentric circles and chains of spirals), swastikas, and other geometric designs.

In Gujarat, ceramics were never fully integrated into the Mature Indus sphere, as seen in the continuation of Prabhas Ware out of the Early Indus, changing to Lustrous Red Ware (a bright red ceramic that is also seen in the Deccan) which continues into the Vedic. Stone stools are made from local agate, chalcedony, and jasper. Some fine copper work continues, with the raw copper probably coming from the east, though some may have come from Oman. Stone weights continue to be used in Gujarat, but are now shaped like truncated spheres; similar weights also were cut from potsherds. The use of seals likewise persists for a few centuries, changing from square to rectangular, with carved inscriptions but no figures.

Ornaments include beads, microbeads, bangles, and pendants of terracotta, bone, ivory, copper, semi-precious stones, or, rarely, gold. Faience beads, requiring high kiln temperatures, become more common. Most materials would have been locally available. Two crowns have been found: one made of gold and the other made of two thin, leaf-shaped strips of copper with a carnelian and a faience bead. Large terracotta beads are believed to have been used to adorn cattle.

As industrial centers and specialist sites disappeared trade became more local. Gujarat is the main exception, where sea trade with Oman and Dilmun (parts of Bahrain and Qatar) in the Persian Gulf appears to have continued to around 3500 BP, as seen in the establishment of the port of Bet Dwarka. Towns in Gujarat were also trading with sites belonging to the Central Indian Neolithic Tradition, from which forms of ceramics were adopted and, later, iron and iron working.

The alluvial plains of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab are mineral-poor. During the Painted Grey Ware period it appears that sites begin to be located in areas where they could facilitate trade. Kausambi, near Allahabad, is located on relatively poor soils but it is close to Vindhya Range iron ores and semi-precious stones needed to supply small, local craft workshops.

In the beginning of the Posturban period at Harappa social inequality and unequal access to resources is indicated by evidence for increased violent injuries to women, increased infections and disease for the segment of the population seen in the Area G ossuary, and malnourished infants and children. Other indications of status are few. The settlement hierarchy shows few towns, and there are few houses that are larger or more elaborate than any others. There are few luxury goods other than personal ornaments until Painted Grey Ware appears. Copper hoards would have required an individual, family, or perhaps a community to amass the costly objects.

Four varnas or social strata are mentioned in the Rigveda: at the top are Brahmins as priests; next are the Kshatriyas as rulers and warriors; then come Vaishyas, the most numerous and productive (as herders, farmers, traders, etc.); lastly come the Shudras as laborers, perhaps originally captives taken in battle. People could rise in the ranks through knowledge and performance of rituals, and through intermarriage. The only varna evident archaeologically are part-time smiths, first of copper and, in the later part of the tradition, of iron.

At the start of the tradition some larger cities and towns remain, probably with a city-state level of political organization. Urban areas disappear over the first half of the period, leaving rural villages. Combined with the disappearance of standardized weights, seals, and writing, this suggests dissolution of the social and political control that had existed during the preceding Mature Indus Tradition. By the Painted Grey Ware period there is again a two-tiered settlement hierarchy in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, indicating a chiefdom level of organization. Copper hoards may also be an indication of leaders vying for power through display and by sacrificing the costly items through burial. The Vedas hint at political power shared by members of a ruling clan, with major decisions approved by assemblies of the entire (probably male) population, and a chief whose leadership depended on commanding in battle and being generous with the spoils. Other officials mentioned in the Vedas include royal priest, military leader, court poet (keeper of the oral tradition of the Vedas), tax collector, village headman, and manager of the chief’s household. The Rigveda documents a transition to hereditary leadership, with a chief’s genealogy listed as proof of his legitimacy.

Numerous weapons have been found, and some human remains show evidence of violence, if not organized warfare. Although weapons from copper hoards appear unused, they probably represent forms of actual weapons, including various kinds of axes such as battle axes and bar celts. Swords, commonly of copper, have been found throughout the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, and antenna swords from burials at Sanauli resemble those from copper hoards. Later, iron weapons include arrows, socketed and tanged spear heads, and battle axes. Arrowheads were also made of bone, horn or ivory.

The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, are thought to have started as orally transmitted hymns. They were composed from the point of view of the priests, and developed over long stretches of time by multiple, mostly anonymous, authors. The texts instruct priests in sacrificial rites, offer explanations of their performance, and provide liturgical songs. The word "Rigveda" means "Knowledge [consisting] of Hymns of Praise." The Atharvaveda is comprised of spells and magic. Traditionally, the Vedas are said to have come from Lord Krishna.

The Indus script disappeared by 3700-3500 BP. However, some researchers interpret bone rods as styli or writing implements. Graffiti continues to be found on pots, but the scripts are local. The Vedas began to be written down in northern India around 2300 BP (some scholars believe earlier) but the script is completely different from the inscriptions that had been used on Mature Indus and early Late Harappan seals.

Surviving visual arts are found incised or painted on pottery, in various ornaments, and in the anthropomorphic figures in copper hoards. Terracotta figurines continue to be made, along with toy carts pulled by one or more draft animals, frequently bulls.

Only a few cemeteries have been found and excavated. It is likely that a small, distinct minority employed burial. The majority of corpses were disposed of in other ways, the most common probably being in a river. Otherwise, the most common method leaving archaeological traces was cremation, followed by burial after exposure, with direct burial the least common. Direct burials were usually primary but multiple burials have also been found, as well as cenotaphs. Cremation is associated with the Rigveda and may have been considered a kind of sacrifice to the gods. In one hymn (RV 10.16) Agni, the god of fire, is asked not to completely burn the body but to send the deceased to the "Fathers" after the deceased has been "matured" by Agni.

Cemeteries were located away from areas of habitation. Graves usually contain few or no goods; most personal possessions were probably passed down to descendants. Burial goods may consist of ceramics, usually vessels, and ornaments. At Sanauli, a Mature to Late Harappan cemetery in Uttar Pradesh, antenna swords like those in Copper Hoards were found. Cemetery H burials at Harappa dating from 3900-3700 BP were in extended position, with only ceramic offerings. Burials from 3700-3300 BP were cremated, with the remains placed in painted funerary jars. Similar jars have been found throughout the settlement. Faunal remains in some graves could be sacrifices or remains of a funerary feast.

This tradition summary was written by Sarah Berry in 2016. We thank Peter N. Peregrine for bibliographic suggestions.

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