Some Indus Valley Sites in India
1.Dholavira
"The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering, given the state of technology in the third millennium BCE" says R.S.Bist, Joint Director General (Rtd.), Archeological Survey of India.[1] One of the unique features[13] of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system[14] of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world[citation needed] and completely built out of stone, of which three are exposed. Dholavira had massive reservoirs.[15] They were used for storing the fresh water brought by rains[14] or to store the water diverted from two nearby rivulets.[16] This clearly came in wake of the desert climate and conditions of Kutch, where several years may pass without rainfall. A seasonal stream which runs in north-south direction of the site was dammed at several points to collect water.
2.Lothal - In Gujarati it means the City of the Dead(Same as Mohenjodaro)
Lothal's dock—the world's earliest known, connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of the Arabian Sea.It was a vital and thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa. The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in metallurgy have stood the test of time for over 4000 years.
An ancient well, and the city drainage canals
The bathroom-toilet structure of houses in Lothal
Lothal Dockyard
3.Kalibangan
"Kalibangan in Rajasthan has given the evidence of the earliest (ca. 2800 BC) ploughed agricultural field[9] ever revealed through an excavation.".[10][11] It has been found south east of the pre-Harappan settlement, outside the fort. "Kalibangan excavations in present western Rajasthan shows a ploughed field, the first site of this nature in the world.
n this phase, the settlement was fortified, using dried mud bricks, from the beginning of occupation. This fort had been built twice in different periods. Earlier, fort wall had a thickness of 1.9 meters, which was raised to 3.7-4.1 meters during reconstruction in this phase. Brick size was 20 x 20 x 10 cm in both construction-phases. The citadel mound (smaller mound) is a parallelogram about 130 meters on the east-west axis and 260 meters on the north-south. Town planning was like that of Mohenjodaro or Harappa. The direction of houses and brick sizes was markedly different from that used in the Harappan phase (KLB-II).
Within the walled area, the houses were also built of mud bricks of the same size as used in the fort wall; the use of burnt bricks is attested by a drain within the houses, remains of ovens and cylindrical pits, lined with lime plaster. Some burnt wedge shaped bricks also have been found.
4.Surkotada
Surkotada is an archeological site located in India and it is a site belonging to Indus Valley Civilisation(IVC).[1][2] It is a smaller fortified IVC site with 1.4 hectares in area.
Surkotada site contains horse remains dated to ca. 2000 BCE, which is considered a significant observation with respect to Indus Valley Civilisation. Sander BÕkÕnyi (1997), on examining the bone samples found at Surkotada, opined that at least six samples probably belonged to true horse.[4][5][6] During 1974, Archeological Survey of India undertook excavation in this site and J.P.Joshi and A.K.Sharma reported findings of horse bones at all levels (cicra 2100-1700 BCE)[7][8]
The earliest occupants of Surkotada had affiliations with an antecedent culture. They built a citadel with mud-brick and mud-lump fortification with a rubble veneer of five to eight courses over a raised platform of hard rammed yellow earth. The platform had an average height of 1.5 m (5 ft) and the average base width of the fortification wall was 7 m (23 ft). The bricks used were in the ratio 1:2:4 which conforms with mature Harappan standards. The height of this wall was 4.5 m (15 ft). The residential area was also built with a fortification wall having a thickness of 3.5 m (11 ft). The citadel had two entrances one on the southern side and one on the eastern side for accessing the residential area. In the residential area a drain, a bathroom with a small platform and a soakage jar in every house prove the well known sanitary arrangement and drainage system of the Harappans.
5.Rakhigarhi
Rakhigarhi, or Rakhi Garhi (Rakhi Shahpur + Rakhi Khas), is a village in Hisar District in the northwest Indian state of Haryana, around 150 kilometers from Delhi. In 1963 archeologists discovered that the village was the site of an extensive city, part of the Indus Valley Civilization and also part of early Harappan settlements.[1] It is situated on dry bed of river Sarasvati, which once flowed here and believed to be dried up by 2000 BC.
Since 1997 the Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken a detailed excavation of the site, revealing the size of the lost city (at least 2.2 km²) and recovering numerous artifacts, some over 5,000 years old. Rakhigarhi was occupied at Early Harappan times.[1] Evidence of paved roads, drainage system, large rainwater collection, storage system, terracotta brick, statue production, and skilled metal working (in both bronze and precious metals) has been uncovered. Jewellery, including bangles made from terracotta, conch shells, gold, and semi-precious stones, has also been found.[4]
There are five mounds in Rakhigarhi which are named RGR-1, RGR-2,RGR-3,RGR-4, and RGR-5, of which RGR-4 and RGR-5 are thickly populated by establishment of Rakhikhas and Rakhishahpur villages and only RGR-1, RGR-2 and RGR-3 are available for excavations.
The site is 224 hectares, the largest in the country.(This estimation places Rakhigarhi bigger than Mohenjadaro in size. However, some estimates put it a little less in area[1]). In size, dimensions, strategic location and unique significance of the settlement, Rakhi Garhi matches Harappa and Mohenjodaro at every level.[6] Three layers of Early, Mature and Late phases of Indus Valley civilization have been found at Rakhi Garhi. What has so far been found indicates that Rakhi Garhi settlement witnessed all the three phases. The site’s antiquities, drainage system and signs of small-scale industry are in continuity with other Indus sites. But major portion of this site is not excavacated.
6.Rupnagar
Ropar is situated on a high ancient mound overlaying the Shiwalik (also spelt Sivalik) deposition[1] on the left bank of the river Satluj where it emerges into the plains. It has yielded a sequence of six cultural periods or phases with some breaks from Harappan times to the present day. The excavations were carried out by Dr. Y.D. Sharma of the Archaeological Survey of India.
At Ropar excavations at the lowest levels yielded Harappan traits belonging to Period 1. Findings include a steatite seal with Indus script probably used for trading goods, impressions of seals on a terracotta lump of burnt clay, chert blades, copper implements, terracotta beads and bangles and typical standardised pottery of the Indus Valley civilization.
The earliest houses at Ropar were built with river pebbles available in abundance but soon they made use of cut slabs of lime with the same ratio of 4:2:1. Sun baked bricks were sometimes used in the foundations. Houses were built to suit climatic conditions. Walls were plastered with water repelling sticky clay. In the north, flat roofs were common but deep-pitched roofs were used along the west coast—Bengal and Assam—due to heavy rainfall.
The dead were buried with the head generally to the north and with funerary vessels as unearthed in cemetery R-37 at Harappa (Sindh, Pakistan).
IVC Seals
Some Indus valley seals show swastikas, which are found in other religions worldwide, especially in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The earliest evidence for elements of Hinduism are alleged to have been present before and during the early Harappan period. Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu Shiva lingam have been found in the Harappan remains.
Swastika Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the British Museum.
Many Indus valley seals show animals. One motif shows a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra.
1.Dholavira
"The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering, given the state of technology in the third millennium BCE" says R.S.Bist, Joint Director General (Rtd.), Archeological Survey of India.[1] One of the unique features[13] of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system[14] of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world[citation needed] and completely built out of stone, of which three are exposed. Dholavira had massive reservoirs.[15] They were used for storing the fresh water brought by rains[14] or to store the water diverted from two nearby rivulets.[16] This clearly came in wake of the desert climate and conditions of Kutch, where several years may pass without rainfall. A seasonal stream which runs in north-south direction of the site was dammed at several points to collect water.
2.Lothal - In Gujarati it means the City of the Dead(Same as Mohenjodaro)
Lothal's dock—the world's earliest known, connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of the Arabian Sea.It was a vital and thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa. The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in metallurgy have stood the test of time for over 4000 years.
An ancient well, and the city drainage canals
The bathroom-toilet structure of houses in Lothal
Lothal Dockyard
3.Kalibangan
"Kalibangan in Rajasthan has given the evidence of the earliest (ca. 2800 BC) ploughed agricultural field[9] ever revealed through an excavation.".[10][11] It has been found south east of the pre-Harappan settlement, outside the fort. "Kalibangan excavations in present western Rajasthan shows a ploughed field, the first site of this nature in the world.
n this phase, the settlement was fortified, using dried mud bricks, from the beginning of occupation. This fort had been built twice in different periods. Earlier, fort wall had a thickness of 1.9 meters, which was raised to 3.7-4.1 meters during reconstruction in this phase. Brick size was 20 x 20 x 10 cm in both construction-phases. The citadel mound (smaller mound) is a parallelogram about 130 meters on the east-west axis and 260 meters on the north-south. Town planning was like that of Mohenjodaro or Harappa. The direction of houses and brick sizes was markedly different from that used in the Harappan phase (KLB-II).
Within the walled area, the houses were also built of mud bricks of the same size as used in the fort wall; the use of burnt bricks is attested by a drain within the houses, remains of ovens and cylindrical pits, lined with lime plaster. Some burnt wedge shaped bricks also have been found.
4.Surkotada
Surkotada is an archeological site located in India and it is a site belonging to Indus Valley Civilisation(IVC).[1][2] It is a smaller fortified IVC site with 1.4 hectares in area.
Surkotada site contains horse remains dated to ca. 2000 BCE, which is considered a significant observation with respect to Indus Valley Civilisation. Sander BÕkÕnyi (1997), on examining the bone samples found at Surkotada, opined that at least six samples probably belonged to true horse.[4][5][6] During 1974, Archeological Survey of India undertook excavation in this site and J.P.Joshi and A.K.Sharma reported findings of horse bones at all levels (cicra 2100-1700 BCE)[7][8]
The earliest occupants of Surkotada had affiliations with an antecedent culture. They built a citadel with mud-brick and mud-lump fortification with a rubble veneer of five to eight courses over a raised platform of hard rammed yellow earth. The platform had an average height of 1.5 m (5 ft) and the average base width of the fortification wall was 7 m (23 ft). The bricks used were in the ratio 1:2:4 which conforms with mature Harappan standards. The height of this wall was 4.5 m (15 ft). The residential area was also built with a fortification wall having a thickness of 3.5 m (11 ft). The citadel had two entrances one on the southern side and one on the eastern side for accessing the residential area. In the residential area a drain, a bathroom with a small platform and a soakage jar in every house prove the well known sanitary arrangement and drainage system of the Harappans.
5.Rakhigarhi
Rakhigarhi, or Rakhi Garhi (Rakhi Shahpur + Rakhi Khas), is a village in Hisar District in the northwest Indian state of Haryana, around 150 kilometers from Delhi. In 1963 archeologists discovered that the village was the site of an extensive city, part of the Indus Valley Civilization and also part of early Harappan settlements.[1] It is situated on dry bed of river Sarasvati, which once flowed here and believed to be dried up by 2000 BC.
Since 1997 the Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken a detailed excavation of the site, revealing the size of the lost city (at least 2.2 km²) and recovering numerous artifacts, some over 5,000 years old. Rakhigarhi was occupied at Early Harappan times.[1] Evidence of paved roads, drainage system, large rainwater collection, storage system, terracotta brick, statue production, and skilled metal working (in both bronze and precious metals) has been uncovered. Jewellery, including bangles made from terracotta, conch shells, gold, and semi-precious stones, has also been found.[4]
There are five mounds in Rakhigarhi which are named RGR-1, RGR-2,RGR-3,RGR-4, and RGR-5, of which RGR-4 and RGR-5 are thickly populated by establishment of Rakhikhas and Rakhishahpur villages and only RGR-1, RGR-2 and RGR-3 are available for excavations.
The site is 224 hectares, the largest in the country.(This estimation places Rakhigarhi bigger than Mohenjadaro in size. However, some estimates put it a little less in area[1]). In size, dimensions, strategic location and unique significance of the settlement, Rakhi Garhi matches Harappa and Mohenjodaro at every level.[6] Three layers of Early, Mature and Late phases of Indus Valley civilization have been found at Rakhi Garhi. What has so far been found indicates that Rakhi Garhi settlement witnessed all the three phases. The site’s antiquities, drainage system and signs of small-scale industry are in continuity with other Indus sites. But major portion of this site is not excavacated.
6.Rupnagar
Ropar is situated on a high ancient mound overlaying the Shiwalik (also spelt Sivalik) deposition[1] on the left bank of the river Satluj where it emerges into the plains. It has yielded a sequence of six cultural periods or phases with some breaks from Harappan times to the present day. The excavations were carried out by Dr. Y.D. Sharma of the Archaeological Survey of India.
At Ropar excavations at the lowest levels yielded Harappan traits belonging to Period 1. Findings include a steatite seal with Indus script probably used for trading goods, impressions of seals on a terracotta lump of burnt clay, chert blades, copper implements, terracotta beads and bangles and typical standardised pottery of the Indus Valley civilization.
The earliest houses at Ropar were built with river pebbles available in abundance but soon they made use of cut slabs of lime with the same ratio of 4:2:1. Sun baked bricks were sometimes used in the foundations. Houses were built to suit climatic conditions. Walls were plastered with water repelling sticky clay. In the north, flat roofs were common but deep-pitched roofs were used along the west coast—Bengal and Assam—due to heavy rainfall.
The dead were buried with the head generally to the north and with funerary vessels as unearthed in cemetery R-37 at Harappa (Sindh, Pakistan).
IVC Seals
Some Indus valley seals show swastikas, which are found in other religions worldwide, especially in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The earliest evidence for elements of Hinduism are alleged to have been present before and during the early Harappan period. Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu Shiva lingam have been found in the Harappan remains.
Swastika Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the British Museum.
Many Indus valley seals show animals. One motif shows a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra.
