The Harappans developed a very compact glassy faience that was produced in a variety of colors, ranging from white, to blue green, deep blue and even red-brown.

The earliest beads were made from natural marine shells,bone and antler, and possibly ostrich egg shell. These date from the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, from eight thousand to more than eleven thousand years ago. Stone beads are documented extensively throughout the subcontinent beginning' in the Neolithic period (around 7000 B.C.E.) and continuing through later periods up to the present.