The Bronze‐Age Harappans: A re‐examination of the skulls in the context of the population concept

Abstract The biometric data on 72 usable adult skulls excavated at Harappa and dated ca. 2500‐1700 bc have been re‐examined in the light of the genetic concept of “population.” The original study of the material considered separately and independently the various samples from locally differentiated cultural deposits, Cemetery R37, Area G, Cemetery H, etc., and used the typologic concept of racial analysis, a traditional method now sterile. One of the major findings of the study, postulating hypothetical original races, was that a varying proportions of different racial “types” constituted each sample. The present analysis is designed, first, to identify the particular population responsible for the growth of the true Harappan culture and, secondly, to define some selected physical characters of the population. Fifteen variables provided statistical evidence that the pooled remains of Cemetery R37 and Area G can be considered as a sufficiently homogeneous Harappan population. Further, in the absence of statistically significant differences in separate measurements, the entire material may be regarded as representing the Bronze‐Age Harappans. Accordingly, some selected cranio‐facial features of the population have been described.