Harappa et Mohenjo-Daro : deux zones de production de jarres à engobe noir au Pakistan à la Période Indus

Abstract

Black slipped jars from the Indus, containers used to transport commodities of an as yet unknown nature, are important tracers of exchange with the neighboring regions of the Oman Peninsula and the Gulf during the second half of the 3rd Millennium B.C. Chemical analysis of samples of these jars recovered at several habitation sites in Pakistan and on the Oman Peninsula, has identified at least two potential zones of production in Pakistan. One of these production zones is located in the northern Indus Valley at or in the region surrounding Harappa; the other zone is located to the south at or around Mohenjo-Daro. Based on the chemical data, the jars sent to the Oman Peninsula come from the « Mohenjo-Daro » production zone, with none identified with the « Harappa » zone. The results of our analysis have begun to document the complexity of production and exchange of these jars in the heart of the Indus territory. Using archaeometric and geologic arguments, it appears that Harappan sites such as Nausharo (Baluchistan) and Miri Qalat (Makran) were not the production sites of black slipped jars. With rare exceptions, the jars from these two sites, the object of this study, came from the « Mohenjo-Daro » zone of production. The same is true for sites on the Oman Peninsula. The results of the chemical analysis indicate that other zones of production may have existed in the Indus Valley, but these zones remain to be identified.