Northern black polished ware in Indian archaeology: a study of spatial and chronological distribution

Ceramics is the most abundantly found artefact at an archaeological site and is a useful tool in seriating and co-relating cultural deposits. Furthermore it also aid in establishing relative chronologies. It acts as a prime marker for a period of occupation and the palaeontologist’s term “index fossil” was borrowed to describe a pottery type having a short vertical range, indicating a short period of manufacture. Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) is one such ceramics, which was produced in limited quantity using a specific technique and traded to far off places from its place of origin, i.e., Ganga Yamuna doab. Thus it is of immense importance in understanding the then culture contact and the societal hierarchy.