Although the the indus valley civilization, also known as harappan civilization, was known for its very well planned irrigation system and town planning. Another part of its culture was found in its art. A veriaty of terracotta and metal toys have been excivated. They include animals with movable heads, wheeled birds, monkeys and a whole lot of other little toys. A large number of female figurines were made using terracotta. These figurines are beaded with heavy headgear and ornaments. Most of them had thin waists, broad hips and big breasts. The nose is pinched, the mouth is a slit and clay pellets were used to indicate eyes. In contrast is the sleek and slender limbed ‘Dancing Girl’ in bronze, just 10.5 cms high. Said a surprised John Marshall in the following quotation: When I first saw it I found it difficult to belive they were pre historic. it seemed to so completely to upset all established ideas about early art. Modelling such as this was unknown to the ancient world up to the Hellenistic age of Greece. The technique use to make this sculpture is called the ‘lost wax method’. This is a technique in whichthe desired form is modelled in clay and then this is coated in wax. This is then covered with an outer layer of clay, with one or more apertures piercing it. Molten bronze is the poured through the apertures and the wax evaporates, allowing the bronze to coat the clay core. The outer layer of clay is then broken and discarded.

The ‘Dancing Girl’ was also British archeologist Mortimer Wheeler’s favorite, in his words: She’s about fifteen years old I should think not, not more, but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on...A girl perfectly confident of herself and the world. The ‘Dancing Girl’ must have been part of a larger object since the limbs aredisproportonatly long and the left arm curves forward and has a cavity which seemes to be for a rod or some similar object. Her long and thich hair is beautifully and artistically coiled into a bun a the back of her neck. The figure is nude but as many have pointed out, is innocent rather than erotic. The ‘ Dancing Girl’ was found by the fire-place in a ruined house in the southern sector of Mohenjo-daro, whose only notable feature was carefully paved floors.

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[ 1 ]. Madgarkar Trust, The Indus Valley Civilization (Mumbai: CSMVS, 2006), 19
[ 2 ]. Ibid, 20
[ 3 ]. Shereen Ratnagar, Understanding Harappa (New Delhi: Tulika, 2001), 81
[ 4 ]. Ibid, 81-82
[ 5 ]. Robert E.M. Wheeler, The Indus Civilization(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), 164
[ 6 ]. Ibid, 164-165
[ 7 ]. Shereen Ratnagar, Understanding Harappa (New Delhi: Tulika, 2001), 82