Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation History - Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation

Why is the Harappan script called enigmatic? Choose the correct reason from the following options:

Which group of scholars among the following reconstructed the dietary practices of Harappa from the remains of charred grains and seeds found in the Harappan sites?

Describe the distinctive features of domestic architecture of Mohenjodaro.

“Archaeologists have no proper response for the central authority of the Harappans.” Substantiate.

Explain the exclusive features of the craft production in Chanhudaro.

‘One of the most distinctive features of the Harappan cities was the carefully planned drainage system’. Elaborate.

Describe the opinions of the archaeologists over the central authority of the Harappan civilization.

‘‘The drainage system in Harappan civilisation indicates town planning.’’ Support the statement with examples.

Describe briefly what has been found in burials at the Harappan sites.

“An understanding of the function of an artefact is often shaped by its resemblance with present day things.” Support your answer with suitable evidence.

Describe how artefacts help in identifying social differences during the Harappan period.

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.

1. What did the Rigveda mention about pur?
2. According to Wheeler what did excavations show?
3. What do you conclude about the destruction of this civilisation and why?
4. Who was R.E.M. Wheeler?

On the given map, use a pencil to circle the sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.