Evidence of craft production in Early Historic cities comes from a wide range of artefacts recovered through excavations. These include fine pottery bowls and dishes with a glossy finish, known as Northern Black Polished Ware, probably used by rich people. Other artefacts include ornaments, tools, weapons, vessels, and figurines made of various materials such as gold, silver, copper, bronze, ivory, glass, shell, and terracotta.

By the second century BCE, votive inscriptions provide valuable evidence. These inscriptions mention the name of the donor and sometimes specify his/her occupation. They tell us about people who lived in towns: washing folk, weavers, scribes, carpenters, potters, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, officials, religious teachers, merchants, and kings.

The inscriptions also mention guilds or shrenis, which were organisations of craft producers and merchants. These guilds probably procured raw materials, regulated production, and marketed the finished product. Craftspersons likely used a range of iron tools to meet the growing demands of urban elites.

The evidence from Early Historic cities differs from Harappan cities in one significant way. It is difficult to conduct extensive excavations at most Early Historic sites because people continue to live in these areas even today, unlike Harappan cities which are abandoned sites. Additionally, the votive inscriptions from Early Historic cities provide direct textual evidence of occupations and social groups, which is absent in Harappan cities.