704 mm the smallest division ever recorded on a scale

scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1.704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the
Bronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes,
including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights.
These chert weights were in a ratio of 5:2:1 with weights of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and
500 units, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English Imperial ounce or Greek
uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0.871. However, as in other cultures,
actual weights were not uniform throughout the area. The weights and measures later used in Kautilya's
Arthashastra (4th century BCE) are the same as those used in Lothal. Harappans evolved some new techniques
in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was
remarkable, especially in building docks.
In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, made the discovery that the
people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of proto-dentistry.
Later, in April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first early Neolithic)
evidence for the drilling of human teeth in vivo (i.e., in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. Eleven drilled
molar crowns from nine adults were discovered in a Neolithic graveyard in Mehrgarh that dates from 7,500-
9,000 years ago. According to the authors, their discoveries point to a tradition of proto-dentistry in the early
farming cultures of that region.
A touchstone bearing gold streaks was found in Banawali, which was probably used for testing the purity of
gold (such a technique is still used in some parts of India).
Trade and Transportation
The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by
major advances in transport technology. The IVC may have been the first civilization to use wheeled transport.
These advances may have included bullock carts that are identical to those seen throughout South Asia today, as
well as boats. Most of these boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail, similar to

those one can see on the Indus River today; however, there is secondary evidence of seagoing craft.
Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and what they regard as a docking facility at the
coastal city of Lothal in western India (Gujarat state). An extensive canal network, used for irrigation, has
however also been discovered by H.-P. Francfort.
During 4300Ð3200 BCE of the chalcolithic period (copper age), the Indus Valley Civilization area shows
ceramic similarities with southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran which suggest considerable mobility and
trade. During the Early Harappan period (about 3200Ð2600 BCE), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines,
ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade with Central Asia and the Iranian plateau.