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SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 5, 10 SEPTEMBER 2008
588
Analysis of terracotta scale of Harappan civilization from Kalibangan
The first urbanization of the Indian sub-continent is represented by the HarappanCivilization (3000–1600
BC
), with themajor centres being Mohenjodaro,Harappa, Lothal, Dholavira and Kaliban-gan. It is now well understood that theurbanization achieved by the Harappanswas due to the economic advantage of asurplus economy. A consequence of thisurbanization was the engineering skillachieved by the Harappan Civilization,as reflected in the elaborate town-planningand architecture. In this context, it is im-portant to realize that such constructionactivities must have required the use of geometric tools for measurement (likescales, plumb-bob, etc.). The use of scalesimplies the utilization of some standardunits of measurement. It is now wellknown that the Harappan Civilizationused standard weights and measures
1
.Engineering instruments related to lengthand weight are available in some of theHarappan sites
2
.It is evident that the Harappans possesseda good idea of geometrical principles asrevealed by their intricate town-planningand use of specific units of measurement.The standardization of measurement isalso evident from the standard manner inwhich the bricks were designed
1
. Thetransmittance of Harappan techniquesand crafts virtually unchanged to the his-torical and later periods in Indian history,has been further confirmed by a detailedre-analysis of the dimensions of theDelhi Iron Pillar
3
. This analysis utilizedthe basic Harappan unit of measurementof 17.63 mm. Danino
4,5
has recentlyshown, after a detailed statistical analysisof available length measurements of sev-eral Harappan civilization settlements,that the basic unit of measurement is17.63 mm. This was taken to mean thetraditional Indian unit, the
angulam
. Fur-ther, 108
angulams
make one
dhanus
(108
angulams
= 19.04 m). Danino hasdemonstrated, through a simple procedureand with no a priori assumption, that thisvalue of
dhanus
will result in all thedimensions of the important HarappanCivilization settlement of Dholavira, ex-pressed as integral multiples of
dhanus
4,5
.It is interesting to note that the number108 is held sacred in classical Hinduism,initially because of astronomical reasons
6
.Some interesting objects related to theengineering profession were discoveredat Kalibangan
2
. Notable among them werea crude terracotta length scale, a terra-cotta hour-glass, plumb-bobs, terracottapans for balances and several weights.These objects have been described, in-cluding their detailed dimensions andweights, in the excavation report
2
. Theterracotta hour-glass appears to havebeen used for time-keeping. The plumb-bobs were of terracotta, faience and shell.The weights were of chert and agate.This correspondence analyses the ter-racotta linear scale discovered at Kali-bangan, to obtain further insights on thebasic unit of measure of the HarappanCivilization. The terracotta scale appearsto be a relatively inexpensive measuringinstrument, based on the material of itsconstruction. Scales made of ivory, metalor shell would have been relatively moreexpensive. This terracotta scale can thrownew insights on the Harappan unit of measurement.The total length of the Kalibangan ter-racotta scale is 122 mm (Figure 1). Thescale is damaged on both sides. It ap-peared to be slightly tapered in shape. The distances between the markings onthe scale have been measured and thedimensions are shown in Figure 2. Themarking on the scale can be described asfollows. The measured distance betweentwo major tick marks is 17.5 mm. Theminor tick marks on the right, four to-gether, make up 17.5 mm. Therefore,each minor tick mark on the Kalibanganscale corresponds to one-fourth of themajor tick mark.The markings in the Kalibangan scaleapproach the 17.5 mm standard that isalso noticed in the Lothal (ivory)
7
scale.Moreover, the direct connection betweenthis standard unit and the unit in the Mo-henjodaro (shell)
8
and Harappan (metal)
9
scales has been established
10
. The majortick mark is indicative of the
angulam
4,5
,which is equal to 17.63 mm. On thelower side, each
angulam
is divided intoeight
yavas
. Most minor tick mark on theKalibangan scale is equal to one-fourth
Figure 1.
Crude terracotta scale discovered at Kalibangan.
Figure 2.
Technical analysis of dimensions of the Kalibangan terracotta scale.
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