Bricks are ubiquitous at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. Bricks were important in the Indus Valley settlements. The ancient Chinese society left us many objects and much writing; the ancient Egyptians left us an entire academic discipline; the Indus Valley people mostly left us bricks.
Very few artefacts- most famously the bronze statuette of the young woman dancer and the 'Priest/King' stone bust; but very many bricks- good quality fired bricks in enormous numbers. Can we study the Indus Valley people more closely via their bricks? Can we mobilize brick specialists to tell us more?- via a study of bricks.
We propose that these were loess bricks. Loess is known as excellent brickearth; the positioning of the loess deposits may have influenced the location of the brick built cities. Great brick buildings extend beyond Hampton Court Palace and St.Pancras station, they include the city structures at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. The loess deposits in Kent & Essex supplied the bricks for Victorian London; the Indus Valley loess supplied the bricks for Mohenjo Daro.
The bricks at Harappa were discovered before the city (can we say that?). When the Lahore -Karachi railway was being constructed in 1856 the constructors discovered large deposits of hard, strong bricks which they used to construct the trackbed foundations for many miles of track (about 100 miles). These four thousand year old bricks provided excellent ballast material. The old Harappans made amazingly good bricks- possibly because they had the best available brickearth. Perhaps the brickmakers were important people in Indus Valley societies; perhaps the priest/king is really a brickmaker.
Figures from:
J.M.Kenoyer 1991. The Indus Valley traditions of Pakistan and western India. Journal of World Prehistory 5 (4) 331-385
Very few artefacts- most famously the bronze statuette of the young woman dancer and the 'Priest/King' stone bust; but very many bricks- good quality fired bricks in enormous numbers. Can we study the Indus Valley people more closely via their bricks? Can we mobilize brick specialists to tell us more?- via a study of bricks.
We propose that these were loess bricks. Loess is known as excellent brickearth; the positioning of the loess deposits may have influenced the location of the brick built cities. Great brick buildings extend beyond Hampton Court Palace and St.Pancras station, they include the city structures at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. The loess deposits in Kent & Essex supplied the bricks for Victorian London; the Indus Valley loess supplied the bricks for Mohenjo Daro.
The bricks at Harappa were discovered before the city (can we say that?). When the Lahore -Karachi railway was being constructed in 1856 the constructors discovered large deposits of hard, strong bricks which they used to construct the trackbed foundations for many miles of track (about 100 miles). These four thousand year old bricks provided excellent ballast material. The old Harappans made amazingly good bricks- possibly because they had the best available brickearth. Perhaps the brickmakers were important people in Indus Valley societies; perhaps the priest/king is really a brickmaker.
J.M.Kenoyer 1991. The Indus Valley traditions of Pakistan and western India. Journal of World Prehistory 5 (4) 331-385
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