INDUS INDUS INDUS INDUS VALLEY VALLEY VALLEY VALLEY

Clothing and Clothing and Clothing and Clothing and Adornment Adornment Adornment Adornment
Artifacts have been found, but relativel fe! "roviding clear images of the Indus Valle
"eo"le and ho! the dressed# $he images come from cla seals and terracotta figures#
Archeologists have found large numbers of small figurines of !omen# $hese statues
differ from those found in other earl sites in the level of detail given to hairstles and
%e!elr# &omen !ore %e!elr including gold and "recious stone# $he also had li"stic'# A
statue sho!s a !oman !earing a bracelet similar in design to those !orn in modern India#
Clothing is some!hat more difficult to de"ict in detail# $he im"ression is that men and
!omen dressed in robes or dra"ed cloth# Ancient Indians are believed to have !orn
brightl colored clothes# Clothes !ere made from cotton# Cotton is native to India and is
'no!n to have been gro!n in India as earl as (,))) *C, but !as almost certainl gro!n
much earlier#
$e+tiles are rarel "reserved and ,ara""a figurines are usuall unclothed, so there is not
much evidence of ,ara""a clothing# Small fragments of cloth "reserved in the corrosion
"roducts of metal ob%ects sho! that the ,ara""as !ove a range of grades of cotton
cloth# -la+ !as gro!n and ma have been used for fibers .alternativel it !as gro!n for its
oilseed/# Native Indian s"ecies of sil'!orm ma have been utili0ed for sil' .inferior to
Chinese sil'/, as the !ere a little later in South Asia# It is not 'no!n !hether the
,ara""as raised !ooll shee", but their trade !ith 1eso"otamia "robabl brought them
abundant su""lies of 1eso"otamian !oolen te+tiles# $he ,ara""ans also "robabl
continued the earlier tradition of ma'ing clothing from leather# Deing facilities indicate
that cotton cloth !as "robabl ded a range of colors, although there is onl one surviving
fragment of colored cloth, ded red !ith madder2 it is li'el that indigo and turmeric !ere
also used as des#
$he limited de"ictions of clothing sho! that men !ore a cloth around the !aist,
resembling a modern dhoti and li'e it, often "assed bet!een the legs and tuc'ed u"
behind# $he so3called 45riest3'ing4 and other stone figures also !ore a long robe over the
left shoulder, leaving bare the right shoulder and chest# Some male figurines are sho!n
!earing a turban# &oman6s clothing seems to have been a 'nee3length s'irt# -igurines and
finds in graves sho! that ,ara""ans of both se+es !ore %e!eler7 hair fillets, bead
nec'laces and bangles for men2 bangles, earrings, rings, an'lets, belts made of strings of
beads, "endants, cho'ers and numerous nec'laces for !omen, as !ell as elaborate
hairstles and headdresses#
$he onl evidence !e have is from iconogra"h and figurines as far as dress stles are
concerned, and it is not sure that these even re"resent !hat !as !orn b everda
"eo"le# 8uite "ossibl dress ma have been based on lengths of cloth that !ere folded
and dra"ed in different !as# Such cloth could have been made of linen, cotton, or
!ool9animal hair# S'ins also ma have been used for cold !eather and to ma'e items li'e
belts, :uivers, etc# ;eeds9stra! ma have been !oven for foot !ear, although ho! often
foot !ear ma have been used is not 'no!n# Evidence comes not so much from "reserved
te+tiles but from "seudomor"hs "reserved because of "ro+imit to co""er and from
im"ressions made into cla# An earl form of sil' !as used to string tin beads and !ound
co""er nec'laces#
<e!eller in the Indus Valle Civili0ation <e!eller in the Indus Valle Civili0ation <e!eller in the Indus Valle Civili0ation <e!eller in the Indus Valle Civili0ation
*oth !omen and men of the Indus valle Civili0ation used to decorate themselves !ith
%e!eller li'e nec'laces, armlet, fillets and finger3rings# $he !omen during this time made a
lot of use of shell bracelets and cla over their !rists# &omen during that "eriod !ore
earrings, girdles and an'lets# $he common metals being used in the "re"aration of
ornaments for the "eo"le of Indus valle Civili0ation !ere gold, co""er, silver, ivor, and
various other "recious stones, shells, bones, etc# =ther %e!eller !orn more fre:uentl b
!omen included thin bands made of gold !orn over the forehead, "rimitive brooches,
earrings, gold rings and cho'ers# In this "eriod, even green stone and gem stone use !as
started#