ABSTRACT

The double-spiral-headed pins found on the Indian subcontinent have been seen by scholars as an imported trinket whose primary significance is as a chronological marker signifying interaction with areas to the west and north beyond the Indus Valley. The metal spiral ornaments illustrate a winding series of interconnections between different contemporary cultures in widely spaced geographic areas and remind of the complexity of intersocietal interaction. The copper pins from Gufkral and Burzahom were uncovered in late Neolithic contexts. The interaction represented by the double-spiral pins and related spirals is best viewed through the lens of what Schortman and Urban refer to as intersocietal interaction. The Harappan Civilization dating to this time period on the Indus-Hakra Plains has risen to the foreground of recent research. For example, during the mid-3rd to early 2nd millennia BC in Rajasthan, a system of sealing was in use that controlled the flow of goods at Ahar-Banas culture sites.