explain materials from the subcontinent and beyond
Answers
Part-I: Chapter 1
The Harappan Civilisation
Bricks breads and bones class 12 Notes History
Key concepts in nutshells
Period:-
Early Harappan culture – Before 2600 BCE
Mature Harappa culture – 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE
Late Harappa culture – After 1900 BCE
Extent of Harappan civilisation:-
Northern boundary- Manda Southern Boundary- Daimabad
Eastern boundary- Alamgirpur Western boundary- Sutkagendor Characteristics of the Harappan Civilisation.
Time Line 1
Major Periods in Early Indian Archaeology
2 million BP (Before Present) Lower Palaeolithic
80,000 Middle Palaeolithic
35,000 Upper Palaeolithic
12,000 Mesolithic
10,000 Neolithic (early agriculturists and pastoralists)
6,000 Chalcolithic (first use of copper)
2600 BCE Harappan civilization
1000 BCE Early iron, megalithic burials
600 BCE – 400 CE Early Historic
Subsistence strategies
The Harappans ate wide range of plants and animal products.
Animal bones found at Harappan sites include those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig.
The bones of wild species found suggest the Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat from other hunting communities. Bones of fish and fowl are also found.
Agricultural technologies:
Representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and archaeologists extrapolate from this that oxen were used for ploughing.
Terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in Cholistan and at Banawali. Evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan has also been found.
Traces of irrigation canals have been found at Shortugahi in Afghanistan.
Traces of rainwater harvesting found in Dholavira in Gujarat through water reservoirs.
MOHENJODARO: A planned urban city
Two Sections of settlement:-
The Citadel
These were constructed on mud brick platforms and were walled, which meant that it was physically separated from the Lower Town
These include the warehouse – a massive structure of which the lower brick portions remain.
The upper portions, probably of wood, was – the Great Bath. It was a large rectangular tank in courtyard surrounded by a corridor on all four sides.
The Lower Town
It had carefully planned drainage system. The roads and streets were laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern.
It provides examples of residential buildings. Many were centred on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides.
Every house had its own bathroom paved with bricks, with drains connected through the wall to the street drains.
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 special ritual bath.
Social differences
Burials: At burials in Harappan site,s the dead were generally laid in pits. Sometimes, there were differences in the way the burial pit was made. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments, perhaps indicating a belief that these could be used in the afterlife. Jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.
Looking for “luxuries”: The artefacts are classified as utilitarian and luxuries by the archaeologists. Utilitarian objects are of daily use made fairly easily out of ordinary materials such as stone or clay. Luxuries are those items if they are rare or made from costly, non-local materials or with complicated technologies. The situation becomes more complicated when we find what seem to be articles of daily use, such as spindle whorls made of rare materials such as faience.
Craft Production
Chanhudaro is a tiny settlement exclusively devoted to craft production, including bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making.
The variety of materials used to make beads is remarkable.
Techniques for making beads differed according to the material.
Nodules were chipped into rough shapes, and then finely flaked into the final form.
Specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal and more recently at Dholavira.
Nageshwar and Balakot were specialised centres for making shell objects – including bangles, ladles and inlay.
Centres of production: Archaeologists identified centres of production by looking for raw materials and tools used.
Waste is one of the best indicators of craft work. Sometimes, larger waste pieces were used up to make smaller objects.
These traces suggest that apart from small, specialised centres, craft production was also undertaken in large cities such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Strategies for procuring material
Procured from the subcontinent and beyond: The Harappans procured materials for craft production in various ways.
Another strategy for procuring raw materials may have been to send expeditions, which established communication with local communities.
Contact with distant lands: archaeological finds suggest that copper was also probably brought from Oman, on the southeastern tip of the Arabian peninsula.