Indus Valley Civilization - Chronology

Chronology

The mature phase of the Harappan civilization lasted from c. 2600 to 1900 BCE. With the inclusion of the predecessor and successor cultures—Early Harappan and Late Harappan, respectively—the entire Indus Valley Civilization may be taken to have lasted from the 33rd to the 14th centuries BCE. Two terms are employed for the periodization of the IVC: Phases and Eras. The Early Harappan, Mature Harappan, and Late Harappan phases are also called the Regionalisation, Integration, and Localisation eras, respectively, with the Regionalization era reaching back to the Neolithic Mehrgarh II period. "Discoveries at Mehrgarh changed the entire concept of the Indus civilization", according to Ahmad Hasan Dani, professor emeritus at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. "There we have the whole sequence, right from the beginning of settled village life."

Date range
Phase
Era
7000 - 5500 BCE
Mehrgarh I (aceramic Neolithic)
Early Food Producing Era
5500-3300
Mehrgarh II-VI (ceramic Neolithic)
Regionalisation Era
5500-2600
3300-2600 Early Harappan
3300-2800
Harappan 1 (Ravi Phase)
2800-2600
Harappan 2 (Kot Diji Phase, Nausharo I, Mehrgarh VII)
2600-1900 Mature Harappan (Indus Valley Civilization) Integration Era
2600-2450
Harappan 3A (Nausharo II)
2450-2200
Harappan 3B
2200-1900
Harappan 3C
1900-1300 Late Harappan (Cemetery H); Ochre Coloured Pottery Localisation Era
1900-1700
Harappan 4
1700-1300
Harappan 5
1300-300
Painted Gray Ware, Northern Black Polished Ware (Iron Age)
Indo-Gangetic Tradition

Read more about this topic:  Indus Valley Civilization