BRICKS, BEADS AND BONES

BRICKS, BEADS AND BONES Q. Would you agree that the drainage system of the Harappan cities indicates town-planning? Give reasons for your answer. Ans. i. We completely agree with the fact that all the Harappan cities had a carefully planned drainage system. The drainage system was an integral part of the town-planning. This system was essential to keep the city neat and clean. From this point of view, the drainage system of the Harappan cities was perfect. The domestic waste water passed through gutters to flow into the street drains. ii.it seems as if the streets along with the drains were laid out first. Then the residences were made along side these roads. One wall of the house always touched the side of a street so that the waste water may easily flow into the drains of the street. iii.the main drain was made of mud and bricks. It was covered with such bricks which could be removed for the purpose of sanitation. The gutters of the houses first fell into a sump or cess-pit. iv. The solid in the water was accumulated here and the water flowed into the main drain. In this way, the dirty water flushed out of the city. According to Mackay, It is certainly the most complete ancient system as yet discovered. v. In the end we can say that every house of the Harappan society was connected to the street drains which were made of bricks set in mortar. They were covered with limestone or loose bricks which could be easily removed for cleaning. In fact, the drainage system is considered a wonder of archaeology. Q. List the material used to make beads in the Harappan Civilisation. Describe the process by which one kind of bead was made. Ans. To prepare beads was one of the most important craft of the people of Harappan Civilisation. It was mainly prevalent in Chanhudaro. Material Used : A large variety of material was used to make the beads. It included a beautiful red colour stone like carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite. Besides copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, terracota or burnt clay was also used. The Process of Making Beads : The process of making beads was remarkable. It differed according to the material..]j had the following stages 1. The beads did not have geometrical forms like the ones made out of harder stones. They had a variety of shapes. 2. The red colour of carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material. 3. Nodules were chipped into through shapes. Thus they were finely flaked into the final form. 4. The last phase of the process included grinding, polishing and drilling. The specialized drills have been found at many sites like Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira. Q. 2. Discuss a few specialties or special features of Mohenjodaro. Ans. Mohenjodaro was a unique and very important city of Harappan Civilisation. Though it was discovered after the Harappa, yet it has been very popular because of its unique features. Its special features are as follows 1. A Planned Urban Centre : Harappa was a planned urban centre. It was divided into two sections. One section of this city was small. It was built on a higher place. The second section was large. But it was at a lower place..the archaeologists designated the first section as the citadel and the second section as the lower town. The citadel owed its eight to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud brick platforms. It had walls on all its

sides. These walls separated it from the Lower Town. 2. The Lower Town: The Lower Town was also a walled town. Most of the buildings ere built on platforms. These platforms served as foundations. It has been estimated that if one worker moved about a cubic metre of earth daily, it would have needed four million person days. In other words, we can say that it required mobilisation of labour on a very large scale. All the buildings in the city were built on the platforms. Thus the settlement was first planned and then implemented as per the building plan. This planning is also evident from the bricks which were both baked and sun-dried. These bricks were of standardised ratio. Their length and width was four times and twice the height respectively. Such bricks were used in all the settlements of the Harappan Civilisation. 3. Well Planned Drainage System: The drainage system of the Harappan cities was also carefully planned. All the roads and streets were laid out on a grid pattern. They intersected at right angles. It seems that streets having drains were laid out first. Thereafter houses were built along them. Every house had at least one wall along a street so th t the domestic waste water could flow into the drain of the street. 4. Residence or Domestic Architecture : The Lower Town of Mohenjodaro had an expansion of residential buildings. All these buildings had a courtyard. The rooms were on all the sides of the courtyard. In the hot and dry weather, this courtyard was perhaps the centre of activities like cooking and weaving. While constructing residential buildings, the people had full concern for their privacy. These buildings did not have any windows in the walls along the ground level. Besides this, the main entrance does not give a direct view of the interior or the courtyard. Every house had its own bathroom. It was floored with bricks. Its gutter was connected to the street drain through the wall. Some houses had also a stair-case to reach a second storey or the roof. Many houses had wells. These wells were in a room which was easily approachable. Any body could reach it even from outside. It was perhaps because that the passers by might use them. Many scholars believe that there were about 700 such wells in Mohenjodaro. 5. The Citadel: The citadel had many buildings which were used for special public purposes. The most important were the following two structures (i) The Warehouse : It had a vast structure. The lower portion of this building was made of bricks. A part of this portion is still intact. But its upper portion was made of wood. It had decayed since long. (ii) The Great Bath : Another vast structure is the Great Bath. It was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard. It had a corridor on all its sides. It had steps on both north and south sides so that one may go into it. It was made of bricks and a mortar of gypsum. It had also rooms on its three sides. One room had a large well. There was also a provision to flush the water of the tank into a huge drain. In fact, the Great Bath was a unique structure. It had distinctive features. It was used for some kind of a special ritual bath. Q. Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society. Ans. Cities and settlements of Harappan Civilisation.vere planned. Many craft production centres were there for whom raw material was brought from far off places. Agricultural settlements were also developing. All these functions could have been performed by any ruling class because general masses could not take important collective decisions. Yet, some scholars denying the existence of any ruling class in Harappa Civilisation but it hardly seems reality. In short, the following functions could have been performed by rulers in Harappan society. (i) Making Urban Planning: Urban planning of Harappan Civilisation was of top quality. Cities were developed according to proper plan. Streets and roads were wide enough. All the roads bisect each other at right angle. People used to live in houses of baked bricks. Length, breadth and height of bricks were of a standerdised ratio. Ruler class used to live in citadel of towns and general masses used to live in lower towns. There were provisions of windows and doors in houses. Every house had a courtyard,

bathroom, kitchen and stairs to reach a second storey or the roof. There were two storey or triple storied houses. People used to make large buildings. One Great Bath have also been found at Mohenjodaro which could have been used for some kind of a special ritual bath. It was 11.88 metre in length, 7.01 metre in breadth and 2.43 metre in depth. Largest building of this town was the warehouse with the dimension of 45.71m x 15.23 m. Six warehouses have been found at Harappa. Harappan cities had the carefully planned drainage system. Drainage system was properly made which was covered with bricks. These bricks could have been removed at the time of cleaning. Domestic waste water had to flow into the street drains. Every house needed to have at least one wall along a street.. (ii) Different Crafts : Different types of crafts prevailed in Harappan Culture which could have been regulated by the state. Tin and Nickle were mixed by craftsmen to make Copper. Copper was used to make statues, Jars and different types of implements like cutter, knife etc. Evidences have been found about different crafts prevailed in Harappan towns. Existence of large buildings indicates towards the existence of craft of :house making in that age. They were very much expert in making seals and statues. 3ome people used to make jewellery of gold and silver. Harappan craftsmen were also expert in bead making. They were familiar with the art of weight making. Jars made by them were quite shiny. (iii) Settlements near Raw material : Some raw material was locally available for craftsmen. That s why craft centres were developed, by the state, near those areas where raw material was easily available. Raw material included beads, shells, metals etc. (iv) Procuring raw material from distant places: Rulers used to send expeditions far off places to procure raw material for craft production. For example expeditions have been sent to Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and South India (for gold) (v) Contacts with Distant lands : Rulers used to establish contacts with distant lands. Mainly copper was brought through these contacts. Evidences have been found.t copper was brought from Oman, on the South east tip of the, Arabian peninsula. Q. List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan ation and discuss how these might have been obtained. Ans. A number of craft production centres were there in Harappan Civilisation. For this, different types of raw materials could have been used. Some of the raw materials are given below : (i) Carnelian (of a beautiful red colour) (ii) Jasper (iii) Crystal (iv) Quartz (v) Steatite (vi) Copper (vii) Bronze (viii) Gold (ix) Shell (x) Faience (xi) Terracotta or burnt clay (xii) Different types of wood and stones (xiii) Lapis Lazuli (A blue stone)

(xiv) Nickel. Different ways of obtaining them: Soil, wood etc. were the raw materials which were locally available. But stones, fine quality wood, metals etc. were procured from distant places. For this, different methods were used to obtain them and these were (i) Establishment of Settlements : Harappan people established their settlements at those places where raw material was easily available. For example shell was easily available in Nageshwar and Balacot. Few other places were also there like Shortughai in Afghanistan. This place was situated near to the source of lapis lazuli. In the same way Lothal for carnelian, Rajasthan and Gujarat were famous for copper., (ii) Sending Expeditions :Sending expeditions was another policy of obtaining raw material. For example expedition was sent to Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and to South India for gold. Local communities were contacted through these expeditions. Availability of Harappan evidences in distant places indicates toward these contacts. Evidences found in Khetri region were given the name of Ganeshwar-Jodhpur culture by archaeologist. Huge reserves of copper products are found over here. Probably inhabitations of this area used to send copper to Harappan people. Q. Harappan people had contacts with distinct lands. Give examples. Ans. i.recent archaeological finds suggest that Harappan Civilisation had contacts with distant lands. The main reason of this contact was exchange of goods. Following examples could be given regarding Harappan contacts with distant lands: (ii Copper was brought from Oman, on the south eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Chemical analyses suggest that Omani copper and Harappan artefacts both have traces of nickel. A distinctive type of vessel, coated with a thick layer of black clay, has been found at Omani sites. Yet we don t know what was carried in these vessels but thick coatings used to prevent the percolation of liquids. May be Harappan people exchanged the contents of these vessels, for. Omani copper. (iii) Mesopotamian texts mentioned contacts with region of Dilmun (may be Bahrain) from where copper was procured. Here one thing is interesting that copper products excavated from sites of Mesopotamia have traces of Nickel. (iv) Other archaeological evidences, indicating towards distant contacts, include seals, weights, beads etc. of Harappan Culture. Here one thing is important that texts of Mesopotamia mentioned the regions named Dilmun (probably Baharain), Magan and Meluhha (probably Harappan regions). v.these texts mention the products from Meluhha like lapis lazuli, carnelian, gold; copper and varieties of wood. Probably sea contacts were there with Oman Bahrain or Mesopotamia because Mesopotamian texts refer Meluhha as a land of sea. Except this, depictions of ships and boats on seals have also been found. Q. What reasons are given regarding existence of authority and ruler class in Harappan Culture? Explain it. i.ancient Authority: There are, indications of complex decisions being taken and their implementation in Harappan society. Evidence of this could be seen from the Harappan artefacts like pottery, seals, weights and bricks. Important thing is that, probably there was no clear centre of bricks production but still bricks with same ratio were used from Jammu till. Gujarat, Except this, labour was also organised for making of bricks, construction of massive: walls and platforms. It is not possible to perform such functions without any authority. That s why we can say that there might have been any authority regulating all these activities. ii.centre of Authority and Ruler No specific information is available regarding centre of authority or ruler class in Harappan Civilisation.

(i) A large building found at Mohenjodaro was given the name of a palace by archeologists but no spectacular finds, were associated with it. ii) In the same way a stone statue was labeled as a priest-king. It was so because archaeologists had information about Mesopotamian history and their priest kings. They also found parallels in Sindhu region and statue was labeled as priest king. This king probably was associated with ritual practices. But ritual practices of Harappan have not been well understood, yet. There are no means of knowing whether those who performed ritual practices also held political power. (iii) Some archaeologists are of the view that there were no rulers in Harappan society, Infect all enjoyed equal status. Some other archaeologist feel that there was no single ruler but there were several rulers. iv.according to them Mohenjodaro and Harappa had different rulers. Some other scholars argue that there was a single state which is evident from the similarity of artefacts, the planned settlement, the standarised ratio of brick size and the establishment of settlements near sources of raw material. Conclusion:In the end we can say that the last theory looks like more suitable as it is not possible that whole of the community could have made and implemented such complex decisions. Q. While analysing discovery of Harappan Civilisation, clarify the statement that Cunningham was unable to understand the importance of Harappa, regarding start of Indian history, because of his confusion? Ans. People gradually forget all about them when Harappan cities fell into ruin. Thousands of years later, when people began living over here, they were hardly aware about the importance of strange artefacts that surfaced occasionally, exposed by soil erosion or washed by floods or digging for treasure or turned up while ploughing. Confusion of Cunningham i.cunningham was first Director-General of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He started archaeological excavations in the mid 19th century. Archaeologists of that time preferred to use the written word as a guide to investigations. ii Actually Cunningham was mainly interested in the archaeology of early historic (C Sixth centuries BCE fourth century CE) and later periods. He used accounts of Chinese pilgrims who visited India between the 4th and 7th centuries CE to locate early settlements. Cunningham also collected, documented and translated inscriptions found during his surveys. He tried to recover artefacts, during excavation, that he thought had some cultural value. iii.but a site like Harappa was completely different from the nature of research of Cunningham because it was neither a part of the itinerary of the Chinese pilgrims and nor it was a historical city. iv. So, although Harappan artefacts were found fairly and some of them reached Cunmngham but he did not realised their importance. For example once one British gave an Harappan seal to Cunningham. He noted the object, but unsuccessfully tried to place that seal in that time frame with which he was familiar. v. It was so because, like many others, he too believed that India history began with the first cities in the Ganga valley. Just because of his specific focus, he missed the importance of Harappa. Harappan age was much earlier than the age of Indian history imagined by him. Q.8. How Harappan Civilisation came upto lime light? Which archaeologists contributed in this work. Mention specifically the contribution of Sir John Marshall.

Or Describe the contribution of John Marshall, Director-General of the A.S.I. to Indian archaeology. Ans.i. Archaeologist Dayaram Sahni found some seals of Harappa in the early decades of 20th century. These seals were definitely much older than early historic levels. Now their significance began to be realised. ii. Another archaeologist Rakhal Das Banerji found / same seals at Mohenjodaro as were found at Harappa. It led to assumption that the both archaeological sites were the parts of single archaeological culture. Based on these findings, in 1924, the then Director General of ASI John Marshall declared in front of the world about the discovery of new civilisation in Indus Valley. iii.s. N. Roy wrote in the Story of Indian Archaeology that, Marshall left India three thousand years older than he had found here. Similar seals were also found in the excavation of archaeological sites of Mesopotamia. In this, not only new civilization came in lime light but we also came to know that this civilisation was contemporary to Mesopotamia. iv.sir John Marshall s term as the Director-General of ASI was actually a term of major changes in Indian Archaeology. He was the first professional Archaeologist who worked in India. He brought with himself his experience of Greece and Crete. Like Cunningham, he was also interested in spectacular findings. But he was equally interested in looking for patterns of daily life. v.marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured unit formally throughout the mound, ignoring the stratigraphy of the site and this was the biggest drawback in his excavation process. It means all the artefacts, found from the same unit, were grouped together. As a result, valuable information about the context of these finds was irretrievably lost., Q. Briefly describe the stage of classification of discoveries in reconstructing the past. Or Describe how did the archaeologists classify their finds Ans. The earliest stage of reconstruction of the past is the discovery of archaeological artefacts. After this, archaeologists classify their findings. Classifying finds : The general theory of classification is in terms of material like clay, stone, bone, metal, ivory etc. Second and more complex classification is based on the utility of artefacts. For example, archaeologists have to decide whether an artefact is a tool or any ornament. This artefact could also be useful in both forms. Understanding Function of Artefact: (i) Function of any artefact could be understood by its resemblance with present day things like querns, beads, pots, stone blades etc. (ii) Archaeologists try to understand function of any artefact in that context in which it is found. For example, what was found in house, in grave or in a kiln. Indirect Evidences : Many a times archaeologists have to take help of indirect evidences. For example pieces of cotton have been found at some Harappan sites, even then we have to take help of indirect evidences, like pictures or statues, to know about the clothing. Assumptions have been made, regarding clothing by using indirect evidences. To develop frames of References : Many a times archaeologists have to develop frames of reference. For example the first Harappan seal could not be understood till archaeologists had a context in which it was found and in terms of a comparison with finds in Mesopotamia.

Q. What are the problems of archaeological interpretation in reconstruction of the past? Ans. There are certain problems in archaeological interpretation. Possibly most problems come in the reconstruction of religious practices. Early archaeologists feel that few unusual and unfamiliar objects are probably of religious importance. It includes terracotta figurines of women, which were heavily jewelled and some with elaborate head dresses. They were named as mother goddesses. Raw stone statues of men with an almost standerdised posture, seated with one hand on the knee also included in this. Except this, statue of priest king is also a statue of this type. In other instances, structures have been assigned ritual importance. They include the Great Bath and fire alters found at Lothal and Kalibangan. Some important examples in this regard are given below (i) Some seals depict ritual scenes. Efforts have been made to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining seals. (ii) Some other seals depicting pictures of plants, indicate toward worship of nature. But some animals made on seals like animal with a home, seems imaginary and composite creatures. (iii) In some seals, a figure shown seated cross-legged in a yogic posture, sometimes, surrounded by animals. It has been regarded as a depiction of Proto-Shiva, who is one of the major deities of Hinduism. (iv) Except this conical stone objects have been classified as ` Lingas Many reconstructions of religion of Harappan Civilisation have been made on the assumption that similarities exist in the earlier and later religious traditions. It is so because archaeologists generally move from known to unknown means from present to past. This policy could be plausible in case of stone querns but not in case of religious beliefs. For example seals of Proto-Shiva. There is a mention of a deity, called Rudra in the most ancient religious text Rigveda (c1500-1500 Bc s). Later on this name was used for SHIVA in the later Puranic traditions. But on contrary to SHIVA, Rudra is not mentioned as a Pashupati and a Yogi in Rigveda. In other words, this depiction hardly match the mention of Rudra in Rigveda. Q. Describe the main features of Harappan Culture. Or What do you know about the Civilisation of people of Indus Valley? Ans. Indus Valley Civilisation was discovered in 1924. In the first phase of discovery, artefacts of this civilisation found only at the sites of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Harappa was the first, site to be discovered. That s why this civilisation is often called as the Harappan Civilisation. But later on, some more excavations took place which concluded that this civilisation was spread in a much larger area. Sir John Marshall was of the view that this civilisation made a huge progress 5000 years ago. Some of the main features of this civilisation are given below 1. Urban Planning : Indus Valley Civilisation was an urban civilisation. Remains of two main cities, Harappa and Mohenjodaro, were found in excavations. One can imagine by looking at these urban centres that people of Indus Valley used to develop their cities according to proper planning. There was one citadel in each city where probably ruler class used to live. Houses of common masses were situated in lower town at the near by land of citadel. Baked bricks wçre used to make houses. There

were one kitchen, one court yard, doors, windows and a bathroom in each house. Wide roads and streets were there in each city. Some large buildings have also been found on citadel during excavation. The great bath and warehouse were the important buildings of Harappan culture. There was proper arrangement for street drains. They were covered with bricks which could be removed at the time of cleaning the drains. Street drains used to meet the large drain out of the city. In this way waste water had to flow into the main drain. 2. Social Life : Wheat, rice, milk, vegetables and fruits were part of the diet of people of Indus Valley. They used to wear both cotton and woolen clothes. People were very fond of wearing ornaments. Ornaments were made up of gold, silver and other things. There were toys as well for children to play. 3. Economic Life Main occupation of people was agriculture. People used to grow wheat, mullets, cotton, peas etc. There was a good arrangement of irrigation. Other occupation of people was trade. They had trade relations with several countries of western Asia. Small ships and boats were used for doing trade with distant lands. Few people of Indus Valley were also engaged in metal work and they were expert in their work. 4. Religious Life : People of Indus Valley were religious minded. One statue of a deity with three eyes and three faces have been found in excavation. Scholars are of the opinion that this is the statue of SHIVA and people used to worship the SHIVA. They also used to worship mother-goddess. Except this they also used to worship few plants, trees and animals. People also believed in animism. 5. Script : Script of Indus Valley is still undeciphered but they used pictures in place of alphabets. 6. Art and Craft: They made huge progress in the field of art and craft. Seals and jars with attractive painting have been found. They were very much expert in drawing and making statues and ornaments. Q. Describe in detail the town planning of Indus Valley Civilisation. Ans: The quality of the Indus Valley Civilisation which impressed the archaeologists the most was its urban planning. There were many kinds of houses which were made of bricks. Along with the residences, there were buildings which were used for public purposes. The greatest merit of these towns was that they were developed keeping in mind the rules concerning the health and sanitation. The description of this unique and remarkable town-planning is as follows: 1. Well-Planned Roads and Streets :All the roads and streets of the Indus Valley were developed under a plan. All the roads were straight and intersected at right angles. All modern settlements were established on this pattern. All the roads either led from north to south side or from east to west side. It was done keeping in mind the direction of the winds, Whenever the wind blew, it took with it the rubbish scattered on the roads. 2. Width of the Roads and Streets : All the roads of the Indus Valley were quite wide. It is said that one road was 36 feet wide. Another road was 18 feet wide. There were also a few narrow roads. There was a road which was even more wide than 36 feet. The streets were 4 to 7 feet in width. 3. Corners of the Towns : The corners of the houses, where the roads turned, had a round shape. It was done for the comfort of the animals and bullock-carts. Special round bricks were used to make the corner of the house round. One thing needs a special mention here. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization used many kinds of bricks in the construction of their houses. These bricks were flat, round

and of big size. 4. Planned Houses The houses of the Indus Valley Civilization were built with planning. Each house had a bathroom, narrow stair-case and courtyard. There were rooms on all the sides of the courtyard. The size of the small houses was 30 X 27 feet. There was a gap of one feet between the two houses. It was probably done to escape from mutual disputes. The walls were very wide. No part of the house had any projection towards the roads or streets. The scholars estimate that perhaps the houses were built after the approval of their maps. The main purpose of this planning was to keep the cities beautiful. 5. Construction, Doors and Windows : The people of the Indus Valley had houses made of pucca bricks. These bricks were fixed with mud and mortar. They also, used lime for this purpose. In the construction of walls, they used the mud to fix bricks because in this way, the bricks can be reused if there is the need for doing so. All the doors and windows of the houses opened towards the roads and streets. They were so fixed to enable the inflow of the fresh air in the house. They were 3 to 4 feet wide and six feet in height. In fact, the size of the doors depended on the size of the house. Some doors have been found which were 18 feet wide. It is certain that in such houses the vehicles could go inside the house. Some doors had bolts of iron. 6. Roofs of the Houses :The roofs of the houses were built with strips of wood. A carpet was laid on all these wooden strips. This carpet was made of grass or small twigs. They were plastered with mud. There were drains to enable the outlet of rain water. A brick was fixed at the end of this drains. It was done to throw the water away from the houses. 7. Drains :There was a well-planned system of drainage in the Indus Valley Civilisation. Every house had drains. The gutters of the houses fell in the street drains. These drains were one feet deep and nine inches wide. Some drains were even bigger than these. They were made of solid bricks, mud and, lime. The bricks were also used to cover these drains. At the time of cleaning the drains, these bricks could be easily removed. The water of these drains further fell in a bigger drain which carried the whole water out of the city. 8. Vast Buildings : Many vast buildings have been found in the Indus Valley Civilisation which are praiseworthy. Their description is as follows : (i) Vast Warehouse. A massive warehouse has been found in the Indus Valley Civilisation. It is 168 feet in length and 144 feet in width. (ii) Temple. A massive building has been found in the excavation. It is rectangular. It has twenty pillars. All these pillars are also rectangular. Sir John Marshall has compared this building to a Buddha Temple. (iii) The Great Bath.i. A Great Bath has also been found in the excavation. It is 180 feet in length and 108 feet in width. In its middle, there is a tank made of solid bricks. This tank is 39 /2 feet long, 23 /2 feet wide and eight feet deep. It also has stairs. ii. There are eight bathrooms on its south-west side. They had a provision of hot water. Nearby there is a well. It shows that the tank was filled with the water of this well. When needed, this water was flushed out through a big drain.

iii. The historians believe that the tank was used for bathing on religious ceremonies. Its walls are wide and strong. iv. About this well, Majumdar has written, The truth is that the people of the Indus Valley had a wellplanned urban system. The houses were of many kinds. They were made of solid bricks. There was a provision of well, bath room and furniture in the houses. v. Besides this, the system of drainage was the symbol of their excellent town-planning. Their homes, roads and streets all indicate that no ancient civilisation has reached near the well-planned townships of the Indus Valley. Thus we see that the Great Bath had a unique structure. It had also many distinctive buildings. It seems as if it was meant for some kind of a special ritual bath. That is why, some scholars consider the Great Bath a ritual structure. SOURCES How artefacts are identified Processing of food required grinding equipment as well as vessels for mixing, blending and cooking. These were made of stone, metal and terracotta. This is an excerpt from one of the earliest reports on excavations at Mohenjodaro, the best-known Harappan site : Saddle querns... are found in considerable numbers... and they seem to have been the only means in use for grinding cereals. As a rule, they were roughly made of hard, gritty, igneous rock or sandstone and mostly show signs of hard usage. As their bases are usually convex,they must have been set in the earth or in mud to prevent their rocking. Two main types have been found : those on which another smaller stone was pushed or rolled to and fro, and others with which a second stone was used as a pounder, eventually making a large cavity in the nether stone. Querns of the former type were probably used solely for grain; the second type possibly only for pounding herbs and spices for making curries. In fact, stones of which latter type are dubbed curry stones by our workmen and our cook asked for the loan of one from the museum for use in the kitchen. (i) What are the two types of querns? (ii) What materials were these querns made of? (iii) Why are they described as curry stones? (iv) Explain any two ways in which the archaeologists classify finds and way they determine the function.

The most ancient system yet discovered About the drains, Mackay noted: It is certainly the most complete ancient system as yet discovered. Every house was connected to the street drains. The main channels were made of bricks set in mortar and were covered with loose bricks that could be removed for cleaning. In some cases, limestone was used for the covers. House drains first emptied into a sump or cesspit into which solid matter settled while waste water flowed out into the street drains. Very long drainage channels were provided at intervals with sumps for cleaning. It is a wonder of archaeology that little heaps of material, mostly sand, have frequently been found lying alongside drainage channels, which shows that the debris was not always carted away when the drain was cleared. 1.Which historian described the drainage system of the Harappan culture? Name the book. 2. Describe the drainage system of the Harappan culture. 3. What evidence has been found by archeologists to reconstruct the dietary practice of the Harappan people? Evidence of an invasion Deadman Lane is a narrow alley, varying from 3 to 6 feet in width At the point where the lane turns westward, part of a skull and the bones of the thorax and upper arm of an adult were discovered, all in very friable condition, at a depth of 4 ft 2 in. The body lay on its back diagonally across the lane. Fifteen inches to the west were a few fragments of a tiny skull. It is to these remains that the lane owes its name. FROM JOHN MARSHALL, Mohenjodaro and the Indus Civilisation, 1931. Sixteen skeletons of people with the ornaments that they were wearing when they died were found from the same part of Mohenjodaro in 1925. Much later, in 1947, R.E.M. Wheeler, then Director-General of the ASI, tried to correlate this archaeological evidence with that of the Rigveda, the earliest known text in the subcontinent. He wrote: The Rigveda mentions pur, meaning rampart, fort or stronghold. Indra, the Aryan war-god is called puramdara, the fort-destroyer. Where are or were these citadels? It has in the past been supposed that they were mythical The recent excavation of Harappa may be thought to have changed the picture. Here we have a highly evolved civilisation of essentially non- Aryan type, now known to have employed massive fortifications What destroyed this firmly settled civilisation? Climatic, economic or political deterioration may have weakened it, but its ultimate extinction is more likely to have been completed by deliberate and large-scale destruction.

It may be no mere chance that at a late period of Mohenjodaro men, women, and children, appear to have been massacred there. On circumstantial evidence, Indra stands accused. FROM R.E.M. WHEELER, Harappa 1946, Ancient India, 1947. In the 1960s, the evidence of a massacre in Mohenjodaro was questioned by an archaeologist named George Dales. He demonstrated that the skeletons found at the site did not belong to the same period: Whereas a couple of them definitely seem to indicate a slaughter, the bulk of the bones were found in contexts suggesting burials of the sloppiest and most irreverent nature. There is no destruction level covering the latest period of the city, no sign of extensive burning, no bodies of warriors clad in armour and surrounded by the weapons of war. The citadel, the only fortified part of the city, yielded no evidence of a final defence. FROM G.F. DALES, The Mythical Massacre at Mohenjodaro, Expediton, 1964. As you can see, a careful re-examination of the data can sometimes lead to a reversal of earlier interpretations. 1.Name the archeologist who presented this evidence and write the name of the book. 2. Which theory of decline of Harappan Civilization does it point to? 3. Who tried to correlate this evidence with that of the Rigveda? 4.Who provided a different interpretation of the above evidence? 5.Can a careful reexamination of data lead to reversal of earlier interpretation? Give two reasons..