Abstract
Dholavira cultural sequences undefined. Decline ca. 2000 BCE of civilization sites yet to be explained. Meluhha hieroglyphs on seals of Jhukar and Pirak (not far from the Sheffield of the Ancient Near East, Chanhu-daro) provide evidence for the continuum of bronze-age work with alloys. A new alloy is defined with the 'spine' hieroglyph: bharata 'a factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi)
Additional notes by Sanjay A Deshpande:
Stage I & II are Pre-Harappan
Stage III A 7 B are Pre-Harappan but with elements of the later Harappan appearing as well in Stage III B.
Stage 4 is Mature Harappan
Stage 5 is Mature Harappan
Stage 6 is Late Harappan
Stage 7 is also Late Harappan
A large earthquake / destruction event separates Stage III A & B. The site has a break in occupation between Stages 5 & 6 as well as Stages 6 & 7. The gap between Stages 6 & 7 appears longer than break between 5 & 6.
"A abandonment about 2000 BCE, followed by a reoccupation within an estimated 100-150 years (Jhukar Type pottery with rectangular seals (script/symbols only no animal motif)) followed by another abandonment and then a later occupation after a longer period of abandonment." Opinion expressed on a yahoogroup.by an archaeologist who participated with RS Bisht on the excavations between 1992-1999.
Comment by another archaeologist: " I excavated at the type site of Jhukar in Sindh in 1974...I am afraid that the pot does not seem to fit the definition of any category of Late Harappan Jhukar ceramics in the lower Indus Valley (Sindh) as known from the “upper” levels of Mohenjo-daro, Amri III-C and D, Jhukar levels of Chanhu-daro and the site of Jhukar itself."
What is Jhukar culture?
Jhukar shows a seal with just the elephant glyph as an epigraph (without any signs). Another seal with Meluhha hieroglyphs. So does a seal from Pirak show an epigraph in Meluhha hieroglyphs.
ID Text and symbol/sign refereences are to http://caddy.bv.tu-berlin.de/indus/welcome.htm
Seal of an iron merchant, Jhukar:
jhukar1 Iron ibha‘elephant’ (Sanskrit); ib ‘iron’ (Santali) ibbo'merchant' (Gujarati)Seal of a turner guild, Jhukar:
Seal Jhukar describes a kancu'bronze'sal 'workshop' (with) ayas 'metal', 'ore stone', kolmo'smithy/forge', scribe account. The pictorial motif of one-horned young bull + standard device read 'turner guild': kõdā sã̄gāḍī Rebus words denote: ‘metals turner-joiner (forge); worker on a lathe’ – associates (guild)'.
Jhukar seal ID 3731 Bronze-metal workshop, forge (smithy), mine-ore-stone/nodule, scribe kanac ‘corner’ (Santali); Rebus: kancu‘bronze’ (Te.) sal stake, spike, splinter, thorn, difficulty (H.); Rebus: sal‘workshop’ (Santali) ayo‘fish’ (Mu.); Rebus: ayas ‘metal’; kanka‘rim of jar’ (Santali); khaḍā‘circumscribe’ (M.); Rebus: khaḍā ‘nodule (ore), stone’ (M.) kolmo‘paddy plant’ (Santali); Rebus: kolimi‘smithy, forge’ (Te.) Rebus: karṇaka‘scribe’ (Skt.) Alternative: khanaka‘mineworker’ (Sanskrit)Seal of a turner guild, Pirak:
The pictorial motif of one-horned young bull + standard device read 'turner guild': kõdā sã̄gāḍī Rebus words denote: ‘metals turner-joiner (forge); worker on a lathe’ – associates (guild)'. Pirak seal Bull ID 3760 Smithy community, smelter, metal caster, mine-worker, scribe. The six hieroglyphs complementing the pictorial motif (turner guild) are:1. pasra'smithy' Hieroglyph: pajhaṛ 'sprout'
2. akhāḍā'comunity' Hieroglyph: ankaḍā'crook, hook'
3. kuṭhi 'smelter' Hieroglyph: kuṭi 'slice' + kaṇḍa kanka
4. kaṇḍa kanka 'stone, furnace acccount scribe' Hieroglyph: rim of jar + infixed slice
5. bharata 'a factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin' (Marathi)baraḍo 'spine'
6. kaṇḍa kanka 'furnace account scribe'. khanaka ‘mineworker’
pajhaṛ= to sprout from a root (Santali) Rebus: pasra ‘smithy’ (Santali)
अंकडा [aṅkaḍā] m (अंक S) Also अकडा m A hook or crook, a curved end gen. (M.) Rebus: अखाडा [ akhāḍā ] m ( H) A community, or the common place of residence or of assembly, of persons engaged in study or some particular pursuit; a college, a disputation-hall, a gymnasium, circus, arena. Hence, A club or clubroom; a stand of idlers, loungers, newsmongers, gossips, scamps. 2 An order of men. Ex. गोसाव्यांचे अठरा अखाडे आहेत.(M.)
kuṭi= a slice, a bit, a small piece (Santali.lex.Bodding) Rebus: kuṭhi‘iron smelter furnace’ (Santali) kuṭhī factory (A.)(CDIAL 3546) kaṇḍa kanka‘rim of jar’ (Santali) kaṇḍa‘furnace, fire-altar’ (Santali) kaṇḍa kanka'stone, furnace acccount scribe' See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/03/interpretation-of-mayas-dream-in.html
A खांडा khāṇḍā ‘jag’ infixed inside kanka ‘rim of jar’ glyph is read as the phrase: kaṇḍa kanka, ‘furnace account, scribe’. The rim-of-jar is the most frequently occurring hieroglyph in the corpora of Meluhha hieroglyphs (aka Indus writing). This hieroglyph is read rebus: Glyph: kaṇḍa kanka, 'rim of jar' Rebus: furnace account, scribe. cf. kul -- karṇī m. ʻvillage accountantʼ (Marathi); karṇikan id. (Tamil) கணக்கு kaṇakku, n. cf. gaṇaka. [M. kaṇakku] 1. Number, account, reckoning, calculation, computation (Tamil) kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar’ (Santali) kaṇḍa, furnace (fire-altar, consecrated pit). khondu id. (Kashmiri)
A खांडा khāṇḍā ‘jag’ infixed inside kanka ‘rim of jar’ glyph is read as the phrase: kaṇḍa kanka, ‘furnace account, scribe’. The rim-of-jar is the most frequently occurring hieroglyph in the corpora of Meluhha hieroglyphs (aka Indus writing). This hieroglyph is read rebus: Glyph: kaṇḍa kanka, 'rim of jar' Rebus: furnace account, scribe. cf. kul -- karṇī m. ʻvillage accountantʼ (Marathi); karṇikan id. (Tamil) கணக்கு kaṇakku, n. cf. gaṇaka. [M. kaṇakku] 1. Number, account, reckoning, calculation, computation (Tamil) kaṇḍ ‘fire-altar’ (Santali) kaṇḍa, furnace (fire-altar, consecrated pit). khondu id. (Kashmiri)
baraḍo = spine; backbone; the back; baraḍo thābaḍavo = lit. to strike on the backbone or back; hence, to encourage; baraḍo bhāre thato = lit. to have a painful backbone, i.e. to do something which will call for a severe beating (G.lex.) baraḍ, baraḍu = barren, childless; baraṇṭu = leanness (Tu.lex.) maṇuk.o a single vertebra of the back (G.) Rebus:bharatiyo = a caster of metals; a brazier; bharatar, bharatal, bharataḷ = moulded; an article made in a mould; bharata = casting metals in moulds; bharavum = to fill in; to put in; to pour into (G.lex.) bhart = a mixed metal of copper and lead; bhart-īyā = a barzier, worker in metal; bhat., bhrāṣṭra = oven, furnace (Skt.) bharata = a factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin (Marathi)
karṇaka 'rim of jar' (Sanskrit) Rebus: khanaka‘mineworker’; karṇaka ‘scribe’ (Sanskrit)
See also:
1. http://www.harappa.com/indus3/print.html
2. Mughal, M. Rafique, 1992, Jhukar and the Late Harappan cultural mosaic of the greater Indus valley. In Jarrige, C. (ed.) South Asian Archaeology 1989. Madison. Wisconsin. The Prehistory Press: 213-221. http://goo.gl/8d1J1w (Embedded)
"The evidence from Jhukar clearly shows that the appearance of some new pottery forms and a new decorative style is indicative of change in Harappan material culture rather than a break or cultural discontinuity. At Jhukar, the new evidence comes from one trench only, but when it is seen together with that from Chanhu-daro and Amri, the changes in ceramics coincide with a quantitve decrease or virtual absence of associated Harappa artifacts...For example, instead of the generally square seals of the Mature Harappan Period, circular stamp seals with different motifs emerged resembling the shape of 'Persian Gulf' seals that cannot be dated much earlier than about 2000 BCE. The use of Indus script decreased in the Late Harappan period, and the limited number of examples so far reported are mostly incised in pottery...However, the production of faience bangles and beads and of stone beads increased...The lowering of sea level due to tectonics could have had adverse effects on th coastal settlements, but their economic and social implications remain to be fully explained...The Late Harappan sites in Gujarat so far known number 231." (ibid., pp.215, 217)
Jhukar Phase (Jhukar and Pirak) The Jhukar Phase refers to Mohenjo-daro and sites in Sindh.
"Post-Harappan period...The Post-Urban Period in northwestern India...In Pakistan’s Sind province the Post-Urban phase is recognizable in the Jhukar culture at Chanhu-daro and other sites. There certain copper or bronze weapons and tools appear to be of “foreign” type and may be compared to examples from farther west (Iran and Central Asia); a different but parallel change is seen at Pirak, not far from Mehrgarh." (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Mature Harappan Period. (Map after Mughal, M. Rafique, 1992, opcit., Fig. 25.4)