Archaeological Survey of India, Govt.

of India
Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
Department of Archaeology, MS University of Baroda

Italian Archaeological Expedition in Eastern Anatolia

Arch. Enrica Fiandra and M. Frangipane

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, UW Madison

Massimo Vidale, University of Padova
Gianni Marchesi, University of Bologna

Zhermack DentalTM for the impression material

 2005-08: Lothal, India – Clay sealings

2015: MSU Indus sites, India – Clay sealings 2016: Dholavira, India – Clay sealings
 Understanding the main function and socioeconomic significance of Indus stamp seals
 Information about the administrative and bureaucratic procedures used to manage goods stored
at a centralized level
 information about the Indus storage technology, including the types of containers, ropes and
stings in perishable materials
 Syria, ca. 6200-6000 BCE
Sealings clusters
300 clay sealings (with impressions of 67 different seals) used to control
the redistribution within the community of the result of collective
activities.
Sealings were found within collective storehouses, while seals
were found in private houses indicating the presence of storage
services for the community.
Turkey, ca. 3300-3000 BCE
Sealings clusters
6600 clay sealings found in the Palace: 1) still in place on the containers;
2) collected in specific rooms functioning as temporary archives 3)
regularly dumped in pits .
Sealings and seals were found within the same building to indicate
the presence of resident bureaucrats at the service of the central
agency.
 MS University Baroda
INAA
DHOLAVIRA
1. Nagwada
MSU Indus Sites
2. Bagasra

3. Shikarpur

Tell Sabi Abyad Arslantepe

 Clay sealings were not used mainly to protect the integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control & record the internal management of goods
stored under the responsibility of bureaucrats related to centralized institutions

Parpola A. 2007. Seal impressions on the Clay tags from Lothal: A re-analysis.
In T. Osada (ed.) Indus Civilization: Text and Context: Vol: II

Photographs by D. Frenez and P. Koch, © Lothal Revisitation Project

 Clay sealings were not used mainly to protect the integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control & record the internal management of goods
stored under the responsibility of bureaucrats related to centralized institutions

Parpola A. 2007. Seal impressions on the Clay tags from Lothal: A re-analysis.
In T. Osada (ed.) Indus Civilization: Text and Context: Vol: II

Photographs by D. Frenez and P. Koch, © Lothal Revisitation Project

J.P. Joshi & A. Parpola 1987, CISI 1 and SG.M. Shah & A. Parpola 1991 CISI 2
Multiple impressions of different seals Inscribed on the back side once removed

J. P. Joshi and A. Parpola, CISI 1

1956 1953
Festòs, Crete = 6500 within Locus 25 in the Palace Arslantepe, Turkey = 6600 within rooms & dumps in the Palace

Fiandra E. 1975 Ancora a proposito delle cretule di Festòs. M. Fragipane (ed.) Arslantepe. Alle origini del potere (2004)

Lothal, India = ca. 70 within the s.c. Warehouse Harappa, Pakistan = earliest sealing in Indus site within a hearth

S.R. Rao 1979. Lothal, a Harappan port town (1955-62) Photograph by J.M. Kenoyer, Courtesy HARP Project
 Clay sealings to control and keep record of TC tokens to provide the user with the same
the closing and opening of doors and containers rights and privileges of the original seal?

Storage ceramic containers Ceramic containers used in complex

before their firing pyrotechnological processes
 Indus square stamp seals

Indus rectangular stamp seals Geometric seals Inscribed shaped tablets

 Indus square stamp seals

Indus rectangular stamp seals Geometric seals Inscribed shaped tablets

 Indus square stamp seals

Indus rectangular stamp seals Geometric seals Inscribed shaped tablets

 Indus square stamp seals

Indus rectangular stamp seals Geometric seals Inscribed shaped tablets

 Indus square stamp seals

Indus rectangular stamp seals Geometric seals Inscribed shaped tablets

 Seals
Sealings

One unicorn seal has been used at Lothal for 15 stamps to seal
different type of containers alone or in combination with other seals
The main seal’s icon was often covered by successive impressions,
obliterated by fingerprints or simply not impressed
Presence of seal’s iconographies on the Clay sealings found at Dholavira
Presence of seal’s iconographies on the Clay sealings found at Dholavira
Limited number
Extremely small
Complex morphology including elements of different materials
Limited number
Extremely small
Complex morphology including elements of different materials
Limited number
Extremely small
Complex morphology including elements of different materials
Limited number
Extremely small
Complex morphology including elements of different materials
Limited number
Extremely small
Complex morphology including elements of different materials

Often difficult to go beyond the morphology

and propose a specific function
Pottery containers

* Clay sealing on a knot

Peg fixed in a wall or a wooden
frame for closing doors

Composite lockers

Bags (fabric or leather)

Baskets
 Kalibangan

Lothal

Cage-like structure Door frame ?

 Sealing on the doors of
King Tutankhamun’s fifth
wooden shrine

Photograph by Harry Burton, Griffith Institute, Oxford 1923

 Lothal

Mohenjo-Daro Dholavira
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society
 Same administrative sealing procedure reconstructed for the Middle East:
Clay sealings used to control and record the access to specific rooms and
containers and to the goods they contained
Clay sealings used in the internal administration of the sites and not for securing the
integrity of shipped packages
 Clay sealings were used to control main types of containers used in the Middle East
 Structures and closing devices unique of the Indus Civilization sites
 About one/third of the clay sealings have been stamped with more than one seal
(sharing of ownership, storage space or administrative duties?)
 Storage and administrative technologies and procedures were adapted to the
socioeconomic organization of the different sites or part of the sites
 Considering the lower occurrence of clay sealings at Indus sites respect to sites in
the Middle East and the use of a different storage technology I think they were not
equally used for the daily redistribution of food rations but to control goods and raw
materials of pivotal socioeconomic and ideological importance in the Indus society