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Important Indus Valley Sites -Excavations, discoveries about life of people.

Q: What does the harappan towns excavated in India reveal about the life of people of indus valley civilization. Discuss.  | 250 words- 15 marks

Question from master 2021- Date AUGUST 3 2021.

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Harappan civilization was the epitome of indian civilizational tradition which was one of the largest in its own  leagues. This civilization had cultural traits which reflected its uniqueness and temperamental superiority. Recently  Dholvira granted with world heritage site status brought it back to lime light.

Indus valley civilization-Life of people

Harappan towns and their excavation findings

  1. LOTHAL (Gujarath)

Excavations Life of people
Sea port with artificially build naval dockyard Trade happened with Mesopotamia & other areas.
Persian gulf seals founded Reflecting that it was center of trade and commerce.
Fire altars
  • Reflects a certain religious cult.
  •  Practiced burial of cremated remains.
Ploughed fields with rice Shows cultivation of developed level
Big jar with beautiful paintings Depicting some stories directly.
Modern day chess People involved in intellectual & strategic activities.

2.Rakhigarhi (Haryana)

Excavations Life of people
Cattle Bones found Harappans had domesticated animals and used for various purposes.
Wild varieties of grains like millets, rice..etc Showing agricultural knowledge and research.
Paved roads, drainage system and rain water harvesting Shows their urban culture and knowledge about drainage and irrigation system.
Ornaments of gold and other stones Fashion sense was prevalent.
Granary Storage of food grains with planning for future.

  1. Dholvira (Gujarat)

Excavations Life of people
Developed in circular style Showcasing geometrical knowledge of harappans.
Water conservation projects (Giant water reservoir, water harnessing system, dams) Harappans fad for conserving water and have knowledge in irrigation system ..
Earliest stadium has been found Shows interest in sports activities.

  1. Kalibangan (Rajasthan)

Beyond Fire altars and Camel skeletons showing religious cult and animal domestication , there were following.

Excavations Life of people
Biggest cultivation sites Shows modern agricultural practices.
Bangle factory and toy factory Love for ornaments and playful activities.
Citadel and lower town Followed hierarchical structure in society.

5.Ropar (Punjab)

Excavations Life of people
Dog buried with human oval pits burials

 

 Apart from domesticating animals and used for purpose, they had attachment to them.

 
Buildings made up of stone and soil

 

 Modern building technologies and planning.

 
One inscribed steatite seal with typical Indus pictographs.

 

 Mining and metal sculptures showing advanced society.

Challenges in fully decoding Indus valley civilization

  1. Pictorial scripts yet to be deciphered.
  2. There is no consensus on how to read them, although dozens of speculative decipherments have been proposed over the past century.
  3. Unavailable evidences like rotten , biodegraded due to long history
  4. Lack of information about its collapse like climate change, saraswathi river dried..etc.
  5. The Indus Valley script is still difficult to understand because it is completely unrelated to any writing system used today.

Hence, IVC can be called as cauldron of diverse cultures where each area reflected certain specific trials while overall similarity remained intact.

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