Bricks Beads And Bones

Chapter - 1 ( INDIAN HISTORY )

The Harappan Civilisation

1.BEGINNING
There were several archaeological cultures in the region prior to the
Mature Harappan.
Settlements were generally small and there were virtually no large
buildings.
There was a break between the early harappan and the harappan
civilisation.
Evident from large-scale burning at some sites as well as the
abandonment of certain settlements.
Important sites of
Harappan
Civilisation.
2.SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES
Q.How have historians provided new insight into the subsistence strategies of the Harappan
Civilisation?
The Harappan’s ate a wide range of plant and animal products
including fish :
Archaeologists have been able to reconstruct dietary practices from
finds of charred grains and seeds.
These are studied by archeo-botanists,who are specialists in ancient
plants.
Grains found at Harappan sites : wheat,barley,lentil,chickpeas
and sesame.
Millets are found from sites in Gujarat.
Find of rice are relatively rare.
Studies done by archaeo-
zoologists or zoo-
archaeologists indicate that
these animals were
domesticated.
Animal bones found at
Harappan Sites :
cattle,sheep,goat,buffalo
and pig.
Bones of wild species such as
boar,deer and gharial are also
and find.
Bones of fish and fowl are also
found.
2.1 AGRICULTURAL
TECHNOLOGIES
Bull was known (representations on
seals and terracotta sculptures).
Terracotta Terracotta
Oxen possibly were used for bull models of
ploughing. ploughed
Terracotta models of ploughed have
been found at sites in Cholistan and
at Banawali (Haryana).
MOHENJODARO :A PLANNED
URBAN CENTRE
Q.Describe the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro?

Mohenjodaro is the most well-known site , the

first site to be discovered was Harappa.
The settlement is divided into two sections , one
smaller but higher and the other much larger but
lower.
The Citadel owes it’s height to the fact that
buildings were constructed on mud bricks
platforms but it was walled.
The lower town was walled . Several buildings
were built on platforms , which served as
foundations .
The settlement was first planned and then
implemented accordingly.
Other signs of planning
include bricks , which
whether sun-dried or
baked , were of a
standardised ratio ,
where the length and
breath were four times
and twice the height
respectively.
Such bricks were used at
all Harappan
Settlements.
3.1LAYING OUT DRAINS A drain in
Q.Harappan cities had planned drainage mohenjodaro
system , elaborate ?
One of the most distinctive features of
Harappan cities was the carefully planned
drainage system .
The lower town roads and streets were
laid out along an approximately “grid
pattern”, intersecting at Right Pattern.
It seems that streets with drain were laid
out first and then houses built along
them.
If domestic waste water had to flow into
the streets drains , every house needed
to have at least one wall along a street.
 This is an isometric
3.2 DOMESTIC drawing of a large
ARCHITECTURE
Q.Explain the distinctive features of the residential house in Mohenjodaro.
buildings ?

The lower town at mohenjodaro

provides examples of residential
buildings.
Many were centred on a courtyard ,
with rooms on all sides .
The courtyard , was probably the
centre of activities such as COOKING
and Weaving .
This is an isometric drawing of a
large house in Mohenjodaro.
Q.What is also interesting is an apparent concern for privacy?
There are no windows in the walls along the ground level.
The main entrance does not give a direct view of the interior or the
courtyard.
Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks , with drains
connected through the wall to the street drains.
Some houses remains of staircases to reach a second storey or the
roof.
Many houses had wells , often in a room that could be reached from
the outside and perhaps used by passers-by.
The total number of wells in Mohenjodaro was about 700.
 3.3 THE CITADEL
The citadel that we find evidence of structures that were probably
used for special public purpose.
These include the WAREHOUSE - a massive structure of which the
lower bricks portions remain , while the upper portion , probably of
wood , decayed long ago - and THE GREAT BATH .
THE GREAT BATH :
The great bath was a large RECTANGULAR TANK in a courtyard
surrounded by a corridor on all four sides.
There were two flights of steps on the north and south leading into
the tank which was made watertight by settings bricks on edge and
using a mortar of gypsum .
There were rooms on three sides , in
one of which was a large well . Water
from tank flowed into a huge drain .
Across a lane to the north lay a smaller
buildings with eight bathrooms , four on
each side of a corridor .
The uniqueness of the structure , as
well as the context in which it was
found (the citadel , with several
distinctive buildings) , has led scholars
to suggest that it was meant for some
kind of a speacial ritual bath .
Some graves contain pottery and COPPER MIRROR
ornaments , perhaps indicating a
belief that these could be used in the
afterlife .
Jewellery has been found in burials of
both men and women .
In some instances the dead were
buried with COPPER MIRROR .
But on the whole , it appears that the
Harappans did not believe in burying
precious things with the dead .
4.TRACKING SOCIAL DIFFERENCES
Q.Explain the strategies used by archeologists to understand socio-economics
differences among Harappan’s ?
4.1 BURIALS

One of the strategies to find out whether there were social and
economic differences amongst people living within a particular
culture including studying BURIALS .
At burials in Harappan sites the dead were generally laid in pits .
Sometimes , there were difference’s in the way the burial pit was
made - in some instances the hollowed - out spaces were lined with
bricks .
Q.Could these variations be an indicating of social differences ? We
are not sure .
4.2 LOOKING FOR
“LUXURIES”
Another strategy to identify social differences is to study artefacts ,
which archaeologists broadly classify as utilitarian and luxuries .
UTILITARIAN :
Include objects of daily use made fairly easily out of ordinary
materials such as stone or clay . These includes querns , pottery ,
needles , flesh - rubbers (body scrubbers) , etc… and are usually
found distributed throughout settlements .
LUXURIES :
Archaeologists assume objects were
luxuries if they are rare or made from
costly , non - local materials or with
complicated technologies.
Thus , little pots of faience (a
materials made of ground sand or
silica mixed with colour and a gum
and then fired) were probably
considered precious because they
were difficult to make .
FOR EXAMPLE : Miniature pots of
faience , perhaps used as perfume
bottles are found mostly in
Mohenjodaro and Harappa .
5.FINDING OUT ABOUT CRAFT PRODUCTION
Q. Explain the exclusive features of the craft production in Chanhundro ?

Chanhundro is a tiny settlement (less than 7 hectares) as compared

to Mohenjodaro (125 Hectares) , almost exclusively devoted to craft
production , including bead - making , shell - cutting , metal -
working ,seal and weight - making .
The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable :
Stones like Carnelian , Quartz and Steatite ;
Metals like Copper , Bronze and Gold ;
Shells , faience and Teracotta or Burnt clay ;
Some beads were made of two or more stones , cemented together ,
some of stones with gold cap .
The shapes were numerous - disc - shaped , cylindrical , spherical ,
barrel - shaped .
Some were decorated by incising or painting and some had designs
etched onto them .
TECHNIQUES OF MAKING BEADS DIFFERED ACCORDINGLY TO
THE MATERIALS :
Steatite a very soft stone was easily worked .
Nodules were chipped into rough shapes , and then finely flaked into
the final form .
Grinding , polishing , and drilling completed the process .
Specialised drills have been found at
Chanhundro , Lothal and more recently at
Dholavira .
Nageshwar and balakot both settlements
are near the coast .
These were specialised centres for making
shell objects - including bangles , ladles
and inlays - which were taken to other
settlements .
It is likely that finished products (such as
beads) from Chanhundro and Lothal were
taken to the large urban centres such as
Mohenjodaro and Harappa .
5.1 IDENTIFYING CENTRES OF
PRODUCTION
Q.DESCRIBE the basis on which archeologists identified the centres of craft
production in Harappan Civilisation ?

In order to. Identify centres of craft production , archaeologists

usually look for :
1. RAW MATERIAL - such as stone nodules , whole shells , copper ore
, tools , unfinished objects ; rejects and waste materials .
2.WASTE is one of the best indicators of craft work .
3.Craft production was also undertaken in large cities such as
Mohenjodaro and Harrappa .
6.STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING MATERIALS
Q.Explain how the strategies for producing materials by Harappa for craft production ?

Terracotta toy models of bullock carts suggested that this was one
important means of transporting goods and people across land
routes .
Riverine routes along the indus and its tributaries , as well as coastal
routes were also probably used .
6.1 MATERIALS FROM THE SUBCONTINENT AND
BEYOND
The Harappan's procured materials for craft production in various
ways .
1.they established settlements such as NAGESHWAR and BALAKOT
in areas where shells was available .
2.Other such sites wee SHORTUGHAI , in far of Afghanistan , near the
best source of lapis lazuli - a blue stone that was apparently very
high valued , and LOTHAL which was near sources of CARNELIAN ,
STEATITE and METALS .
3.Another strategy for procuring raw materials may have been to
send expedition to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for
copper) and South India (for gold) .
6.2CONTACT WITH DISTANT LANDS
Recent archaeological finds suggest that copper was also probably
brought from OMAN on the south - eastern tip of the Arabian
Peninsular .
Chemical analyses have shown that both the Omani copper and
Harappan artefacts have traces of nickel , suggesting a common
origin .
There are other traces of contract as well . A distinctive type of
vessel , a large Harappan jar coated with a thick layer of back clay
has been found at Omani sites .
Mesopotamian texts datable to the third millennium BCE refer to
copper coming from a region called Magan , perhaps a name for
Oman and interestingly enough copper found at Mesopotamia sites
also contain traces of Nickel .
Other archaeological finds suggestive of long
distance contacts include Harappan seals ,
weights , dice and beads .
A HARAPPAN
In this context , it is worth nothing that JAR FOUND IN
Mesopotamian texts mention contact with OMAN
region named Dilmun , MAGAN and Meluhha .
It is likely that communication with Oman ,
Bahrain or Mesopotamian was by sea .
Mesopotamian texts refers to Meluhha as a
land of seafarers .
Besides , we find depictions of ships and boats
on seals .
7.SEALS , SCRIPT , WEIGHTS
7.1 Seals and Sealing
Seals and Sealing were used to facilitate long distance
communication .
7.2 An Enigmatic Script
Q.Harappan script is considered as an enigmatic script .”justify the
statement” ?
Harappan seals usually have a line of writing . Probably containing the
name and title of the owner .
Scholars have also suggested that the motif conveyed a meaning to
those who could not read .
Most inscriptions are short , the longest containing about 26 signs .
Although the script remains undeciphered to date , it was
evidently not alphabetical as it has just too many signs -
somewhere between 375 and 400 .
It is apparent that the script was Written from right to left
as some seals show a wider spacing on the right and
cramping on the left , as if the engraver began working
from the right and then ran out of space .
7.3 WEIGHTS
Exchange were regulated by a precise system of weights ,
usually made of a stone called chert and generally cubical
with no making .
The lower denominations of weights were binary
(1,2,4,8,16,32,————-12800) , while the higher
denominations followed the decimal system .
The smaller weights were probably used for weighing
jewellery and beads .
Metal scale - pans have also been found .
8.ANCIENT AUTHORITY
Q.Describe the different arguments given by the archeologists over the central authority of Harappa ?

There ae indications of complex decisions being aken and

implemented in Harappan society .
The extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in
pottery , seals , weights , and bricks .
Bricks a uniform ratio throughout the region .
Settlements were strategically set up in specific locations for various
reasons .
Labour was mobilised for making bricks and for the construction of
massive walls and platform .
8.1 PALACES AND KINGS
A large building found at Mohenjodaro was labelled as a palace by
archaeologists .
A stone statue was labelled and continuous to be known as the
“Priest - Kings”.
This is because archeologists were familiar with Mesopotamian
history and its “Priest - King” and have found parallels in the Indus
region .
Archaeologists on the ruler of the civilisation -
1.Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had
no rulers and that everybody equal status .
2.Other feel there was no single ruler but several
that Mohenjodaro had a separate ruler Harappa
another and so forth .
3.Yet others argue that there was a single state
given the similarity in artefacts the evidence for
planned settlements the standardised ratio of
brick size and the establishment of settlements
near sources or raw materials .

THE PREIST KING ———————————————>

9.THE END OF CIVILISATION
Late harappan culture -
By century 1800 BCE most of the mature harappan sites in regions such as
Cholistan had been abandoned .
Simultaneously there was an expansion of population into new settlement in
Gujarat , Haryana ans western Uttar Pradesh .
In the few Harappan sites that continued to be occupied after 1900 BCE .
1.The disappearance of the distinctive artefacts of the civilisation - weights ,
seals , special beads .
2.Writing long - distance trade , and craft specialisation also disappeared .
3.Far few materials were used to make far fewer things .
4.House construction techniques deteriorated and large public structure were no
longer produced .
Overall , artefacts and settlements indicate a rural way of life in what
are called “Late Harappa” and ”Successor Cultures” .
Q.What brought about these changes ?
1.Several explanations have been put forward .
Reason - These range from climatic change, deforestation, excessive
floods, the shifting and/or drying up of rivers, to overuse of the
landscape. Some of these “causes” may hold for certain settlements,
but they do not explain the collapse of the entire civilisation.
2.It appears that a strong unifying element perhaps the Harappan state
came to an end .
3.This is evidenced by the disappearance of seals , the script ,
distinctive beads and pottery , the shift from a standardised weight
system to the use of local weights ; and the decline and abandonment
of cities .
10.DISCOVERING THE HARAPPAN CIVILISATION

10.1 CUNNINGHAM’S CONFUSION

Q.Describe the contribution of john marshall as a director
general of A.S.I . What were the problem in the excavation work
of john marshall ?
Cunningham - the first director general of A.S.I .
When Cunningham began archeological excavations in the mid -
nineteenth century , archaeological preferred to use the written
word (text and inscriptions) as a guide to investigations .
In fact , Cunningham main interest was in the archeological of
the early historic (1600 BCE - 1400 CE) and later periods .
1.He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had
visited the sub - continent between the fourth and seventh centuries
CE to locate early settlements .
2.Cunningham also collected , documented and translated
inscriptions found during his survey .
3.When he excavated sites he tended to recover artefacts that he
thought had cultural value .
A site like Harappa , which was not part of the itinerary of the
Chinese pilgrims and was not known as an Early Historic city , did
not fit very neatly within his framework of investigations .
1.So , although Harappan artefacts were found fairly often during
the nineteenth century and some of these reached Cunningham , he
did not realise how old these were .
2. He thought that Indians history began with the first cities in the
Ganga Valley .
3. He missed the significance of Harappa .
10.2 A NEW OLD CIVILISATION
Q.Describe the contributions of John Marshall as the director general of
ASI . What were the problems in the excavation work of John Marshall ?
Seals Were discovered at Harappa by archaeologists such as Daya
Ram Sahani in the early decades of the twentieth century .
Rakhal Das Banerji found similar seals at Mohenjodaro , leading to the
conjecture that these sites were part of a single archaeological
culture .
Based on these finds , in 1924 John Marshal , director - general of the
ASI , announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus Valley
to the world .
1. As S.N.Roy noted in The Story Of Indian Archaeology , “Marshal
left India three thousand years older than he had found her” .
2. This was because similar , till - then - unidentified seals were
found at excavations at Mesopotamian sites .
3. It was then that the world knew not only of a new civilisations ,
but also of one contemporaneous with Mesopotamia .
JOHN MARSHALL :
1. First professional archeologist to work in India .
2. Brought his experience of working in Greece and Crete .
3. Other than spectacular finds , he was equally keen to look for
patterns of everyday life .
Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units , measured
uniformly throughout the mound , ignoring the Stratigraphy of the
site .
This meant that all the artefacts recovered from the same unit were
grouped together , even if they were found at different stratigraphy
layers .
As a result , valuable information about the context of these finds was
irretrievably .
10.3 NEW TECHNIQUES AND QUESTIONS
It was R.E.M. Wheeler, after he took over as Director-General of the
ASI in 1944 ,who rectified this problem .
1. Wheeler recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy
of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal
lines .
2. As an ex - army brigadier , he brought with him a military
precision to the practice of archaeology .
The major sites are now in Pakistani territory .
An extensive survey in Kutch has revealed a number of Harappan
settlements and explorations in Punjab and Haryana have added to
the list of Harappan sites in India .
While Kalibangan , Lothal , Rakhi Garhu and most recently Dholavira
have been discovered , explored and excavated as part of these
efforts , fresh explorations continues .
11.PROBLEMS OF PIECING TOGETHER THE PAST
It is material evidence that allows archaeologists to better
reconstruct Harappan life .
1. This materials could be potter , tools , ornaments , households
objects etc.. Organic materials such as cloth , leather , wood and
reeds generally decompose , especially in tropical regions .
2. What survive are stones , burnt clay (or teracotta) , metals etc .