Some kind of centralized state, and certainly fairly extensive town planning, is suggested by the layout of the great cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. The same kind of burnt brick appears to have been used in the construction of buildings in cities that were several hundred miles apart. The weights and measures also show a very considerable regularity, suggesting that these disparate cities spread out across a vast desert shared a common culture. The Indus Valley people domesticated animals, and harvested various crops, such as cotton, sesame, peas, barley, and cotton. Indus Valley seals have been excavated in far away cities such as Sumer, suggesting that a wealthy merchant class existed, engaged in extensive trading throughout the subcontinent and the Near East.

Considering the size of this civilization, it is puzzling that no monumental art remains, glorifying the names of the powerful rulers or wealthy merchants who could have afforded to construct such memorials. Instead, we find an emphasis on small, elegant art and sophisticated craft technology. Three-dimensional representations of living beings in the Harappan world are confined to, with a few exceptions, small terracotta figurings. Ranging in size from a few inches to a foot in height, the anthropomorphic and animal terracotta figurines from Harappa and other Indus Civilization sites offer a rich reflection of Harappan life in the Bronze Age. Traditionally, the terracotta figurines have been described as toys. Other objects such as carts, wheels, and cots discovered alongside the figurines has only reinforced this notion. However, whether these figures were idols meant to be worshipped or merely charming representations of daily life meant to entertain children remains debatable.

Other than the archaeological ruins of Harappa and Mohenjodaro, these seals provide the most detailed clues about the character of the Indus Valley people. Bulls and elephants appear on these seals, but the horned bull, most scholars agree, should not be taken to be congruent with Nandi, for the horned bull appears in numerous Central Asian figures as well. The women portrayed on the seals are shown with elaborate coiffures, sporting heavy jewelry, suggesting that the Indus Valley people were an urbane people with cultivated tastes and a refined aesthetic sensibility. A few thousand seals have been discovered in Indus Valley cities, showing some 400 pictographs: too few in number for the language to have been ideographic, and too many for the language to have been phonetic.