In sub period iia the pottery is impeccably harappan

stages of the Indus Civilization. In Sub-period IIA, the pottery is impeccably Harappan
and also includes the micaceous red ware and the black-and-red ware of Lothal affiliation;
in Sub-period IIB the fabric of the pottery becomes coarser, and forms like beakers and
goblets, already scarce in the preceding sub-period, were almost discarded. In Sub-period
IIC new forms and fabrics were introduced. The last cultural period at the site is marked
by the dominant use of the lustrous red ware which in fact began to be made in Sub-period
IIC itself. The ware was often painted in black with less ambitious designs and animals
like bulls, running deer, rows of birds, etc. Among the noteworthy finds was a terracotta
figurine of a horse. Faience and steatite were almost unknown in the period.
Prabhas Patan is situated on the south-western coast of Saurashatra at the mouth of
the Haranya river near the port town of Vereval.
70
The excavation revealed a fivefold
sequence of cultures of which the earlier three are Chalcolithic. These were marked by
the use of what is termed Prabhas ware – a mossy grey-coloured pottery, painted in purple
or dark brown with a design ornament usually set in panels or registers. The most predom-
inant shape is a sub-spherical bowl which occurs in all sizes. Among the Harappan forms
were the dish-on-stand and the stud-handled bowl. Late Harappan pottery of Rangpur Sub-
period IIB was also in use, but there were no beakers, goblets or terracotta cakes. In the
later phases, the lustrous red ware also came to be used. They used blades of chalcedony
and even imported a few of obsidian. Besides they also used cubical chert weights and
segmented faience beads. A unique seal amulet of steatite, obtained from levels ascribable
to the later half of the second millennium b . c . and engraved on one side with seven stylized
deer and on the other with five, deserves special mention.
70 Pandya, 1957 .
302
© UNESCO 1996

ISBN 978-92-3-102719-2 Lothal and other southern sites
Rojdi is situated on the left bank of the Bhadar river about 55 km south of Rajkot.
71
The
ancient site is thought to have been girt with a fortification wall built with large boulders.
The excavations provided a sequence of two phases, of which the earlier was Harappan and
the latter showed links with Prabhas, Rangpur IIB and IIC. An important evidence of the
Harappan connection was the discovery of a convex-sided bowl inscribed with four Indus
characters.
Desalpur is located on the northern bank of the one depredatory stream Bamu-chels in
Kutch.
72
The excavation revealed a 3-m-deep cultural deposit, of which the upper 75 cm
belonged to the early historic period and the remaining 2.25 m to the Chalcolithic, further
divided into Sub-period IA as mature Harappan and Sub-period IB as late Harappan. The
Harappan settlement, measuring 130 × 100 m, was contained by a fortification wall built
of partially dressed stones and reinforced with rectangular salients. A partially exposed
structure in the central part of the settlement may have served as a partition wall separating
the citadel part from the residential area. In Sub-period IA, besides the typical Harappan
pottery and other finds, sherds of the so-called reserved slip ware were also found. In