In distinction to the Punjab Survey, the Beas Landscape and Settlement Survey would include a mapping and sampling program and geoarchaeological component designed to assess the relationship between the rural settlements and the large Indus center at Harappa and the environmental conditions at the onset, duration and abandonment of settlements. While the Beas River was active in ancient times, the settlements currently are positioned within its dry bed where they provide fertile land for cultivation. Our research indicates that these settlements are part of a large regional sustaining network in which the city of Harappa developed and prospered. Central to the success of the project is the development of a landscape chronology that integrates site locations, occupational chronologies, and the geomorphic history of the Beas sites with the center at Harappa. This link was an important aspect of the survey design, since the ongoing, long-term excavations at Harappa enabled us to reconstruct a chronological sequence by comparing ceramic and small finds from our surface collections with identical objects found in stratigraphic contexts at Harappa. Our research included a robust program of collection of organic sediments and carbon for C14 radiocarbon dating for use in cultural analyses and in reconstruction of the floodplain history, which predated and supported the Harappan occupations. The Harappa chronology and settlement patterns and phases are as follows:

Table 1 – Chronological Sequence based on Artifact Categories and Radiocarbon Dates at Harappa

Period 1	Ravi (aspect of the Hakra) Phase	ca. 3700 BC – ca. 2800 BC
Period 2	Kot Diji (Early Harappa) Phase	ca. 2800 BC – ca. 2600 BC
Period 3A	Harappa Phase A	ca. 2600 BC – ca. 2450 BC
Period 3B	Harappa Phase B	ca. 2450 BC – ca. 2200 BC
Period 3C	Harappa Phase C	ca. 2200 BC – ca. 1900 BC
Period 4	Harappa/Late Harappa Transitional	ca. 1900 BC – ca. 1800 BC(?)
Period 5	Late Harappa Phase	ca. 1800 BC(?) – <1300 BC