List of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilization

This list of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilisation lists the technological and civilisational achievements of the Indus Valley Civilisation, an ancient civilisation which flourished in the Bronze Age around the general region of the Indus River and Ghaggar-Hakra River in what is today Pakistan, and parts of India.

Inventions

* Button, ornamental: Buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley Civilisation for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.Hesse, Rayner W. & Hesse (Jr.), Rayner W. (2007). ''Jewelry making Through History: An Encyclopedia''. Greenwood Publishing Group. 35. . Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could be attached to clothing by using a thread. Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."
* Shipyard: The world's oldest shipyard has been found in Lothal. It is situated 80 km south of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
* Cockfighting: Cockfighting was a pastime in the Indus Valley Civilisation in what today is Pakistan by 2000 BCESherman, David M. (2002). ''Tending Animals in the Global Village''. Blackwell Publishing. 46. . and one of the uses of the fighting cock. The Encyclopædia Britannica (2008)—on the origins of cockfighting—holds: "The game fowl is probably the nearest to the Indian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), from which all domestic chickens are believed to be descended...The sport was popular in ancient times in the Indian subcontinent, China, the Persian Empire, and other Eastern countries and was introduced into Greece in the time of Themistocles (c. 524–460 BCE). The sport spread throughout Asia Minor and Sicily. For a long time the Romans affected to despise this "Greek diversion," but they ended up adopting it so enthusiastically that the agricultural writer Columella (1st century CE) complained that its devotees often spent their whole patrimony in betting at the side of the pit."
* Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilisation's archaeological site at Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan and Dholavira, India.Livingston & Beach, 20 The three features of stepwells in the subcontinent are evident from one particular site, abandoned by 2500 BCE, which combines a bathing pool, steps leading down to water, and figures of some religious importance into one structure. The early centuries immediately before the common era saw the Buddhists and the Jains of India adapt the stepwells into their architecture. Both the wells and the form of ritual bathing reached other parts of the world with Buddhism. Rock-cut step wells in the subcontinent date from 200-400 CE. Subsequently, the wells at Dhank (550-625 CE) and stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850-950 CE) were constructed.Livingston & Beach, page xxiii
* Circular saw: Excavated in Lothal.
* Bow Drill: Bow drills were used in Mehrgarh between the 4th and 5th millennium BC. This bow drill—used to drill holes into lapis lazuli and carnelian—was made of green jasper.Kulke, Hermann & Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). ''A History of India''. Routledge. 22. . Similar drills were found in other parts of the Indus Valley Civilisation and Iran one millennium later.
*Public Baths: The earliest public baths are found in the ruins in of the Indus Valley Civilisation. According to John Keay, the "Great Bath" of Mohenjo Daro in present-day Pakistan was the size of 'a modest municipal swimming pool', complete with stairs leading down to the water at each one of its ends.Keay, John (2001), ''India: A History'', 13–14, Grove Press, .
* Grid Plan: Rehman Dheri contains the earliest evidence of a grid-planned city in south Asia dated c. 3300 BCE. By 2600 BC, Mohenjo-daro