Map

Cemetery H Culture

Pirak

The "Quetta Hoard"

Gandhara Grave Culture

Copper Hoard Culture

Painted Grey Ware Culture

From around 2000 B.C. onwards, new regional cultures gradually emerged. Among these were the Cemetery H Culture of the Punjab, which was strongly influenced by the preceding Indus Civilization, and the cultures represented by Pirak in Sind, the "Quetta Hoard" and the Gandhara Grave Culture. All exhibit some Central Asian influence. Further eastward in what is now northern India, the Copper Hoard Culture and the Painted Grey Ware Culture, which are both believed to have been associated with the Indo-Aryan speakers, developed. Evidence of new traditions such as urns containing cremated bones and ashes appear, especially in the Cemetery H and the Gandhara Grave cultures. Domesticated horses and camels were also fully utilized for the first time in South Asia during this period.

Continuing traditions

The use of baked bricks in architecture that began even before the Indus Civilization continues as the most common type of construction in South Asia today. Traditions involving the worship of nature and possibly even the "Mother Goddess" were integrated into the traditions of the Indo-Aryan speakers in the form of a reverence for cows, pipal trees, rivers and water. The traditions and beliefs of the Indus Civilization contributed to the rise of Hindu religion and laid the foundation for all subsequent civilizations in South Asia. Thus, many of the traditions of South Asia have survived for millennia and continue to this day.