The essentials
Pottery is one of the most important sources for archaeologists because it survives well and changes in style over time. Harappan pottery was mostly wheel-made red ware painted with black designs. Later cultures produced distinctive wares:
- Black and Red Ware: pots black inside and on the rim, red outside, produced by inverted firing; found in many regions over a long period.
- Painted Grey Ware (PGW): fine grey pottery with black painted designs, found in the Ganga–Yamuna plains and associated with the later Vedic period (around 1200–600 BCE).
- Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW): a glossy, very fine, mirror-like black pottery of roughly 700–200 BCE, linked with the Mahajanapadas and the Mauryan period.
- Rouletted Ware: pottery decorated with rows of fine marks made by a toothed wheel, found at sites such as Arikamedu near Puducherry and linked with Indian Ocean trade.
Potters used the wheel, kilns and various slips and paints. Terracotta (baked clay) figurines and plaques were widely made.
Glass (kacha in Sanskrit) was made in India from early historic times. Sites such as Taxila, Hastinapur, Ahichchhatra, Kopia (Uttar Pradesh) and Arikamedu have yielded glass beads, bangles and evidence of glass making. Glass was made by melting sand with an alkali (often from plant ash) and colouring it with metal oxides. Glass bangle making remains a living craft, for example at Firozabad.
Key points
- PGW – later Vedic, Ganga–Yamuna doab.
- NBPW – glossy black, Mahajanapada–Mauryan.
- Rouletted ware – Arikamedu, trade.
- Glass: sand + alkali, coloured with oxides.
Exam tips
- Remember the period and region of each ware.
Common mistakes
- Confusing PGW (grey, earlier) with NBPW (black, glossy, later).