Using Art as Evidence

By using art as evidence we can learn a lot about the Indus Valley civilization. With the art that the Indus Valley people left for us to discover, we can see that the seals that were discovered belonged to different clans, high officials, a certain business, or a prominent individual. The image of a unicorn was the most common seal thst was found most likely used in trade. Archeologists believe that the bull symbolizes leaders because bulls are strong and it protects, however they alsp believe it could be for a sacrifice. These seals and pottery have been seen in the Indus Valley amd Mesopotamia hinting that the two civilizations probably were involved with trade with each other. There are also more women statues and figurines versus ones of men. This suggests that women were important in their society. Women were buried near their female relatives where men weren't. There is a lot of variety in clothing, hairstyles, and decorations on these figurines representing the different classes of the society.

Our level of understanding of this civilization differs from Egypt and Mesopotamia where there are many written records because there was a considerable lesser amount of art left as a whole compared to the written records of the Egyptians. Written records really helped us learn more about the civilizations because we dod not have to guess about what the art was used for.