From different levels of the Ravi phase come these terracotta beads (center string) and hard stone beads made from carnelian, amazonite, and lapis lazuli.
Ravi phase microbeads of lapis lazuli (top row), amazonite, and carnelian (bottom row) indicate the size and nature of the drills used for perforation. The largest of the illustrated beads is less than one centimeter in diameter.
The bead factories, situated where the 8th street of the commercial area and the 5th street of the residential area meet, comprised the main industry of the Harappans.
After marking, the entire excavation team is called in to map and eventually collect the bead manufacturing debris and all of the sediment from each layer of Ravi phase floors.
A banded agate bead (at left), a long terra cotta bead (center) and a cylindrical steatite bead (at right) were all found in the deposits of a room in Trench 54.