Bricks, Beads and Bones
Q) When did the Harappan civilization exist?
Answer: The Harappan civilization existed for 1000 years between 3300 and 1300 BCE.
Q) Where was the Harappan civilization located?
Answer: The Harappan civilization was located in the Indus River valley, which covers what is now Pakistan and northwest India.
Q) What are some of the achievements of the Harappan civilization?
Answer: The Harappan civilization is famous for its advanced urban planning and well-designed cities. They were also skilled craftsmen and created a wide variety of goods, including pottery, tools, jewelry, and seals.
Q) What is the mystery of the Harappan civilization?
Answer: The Harappans' language and culture remain mysterious. Scholars are still trying to figure out the meaning of their script, understand their social structure, and determine the factors that caused their decline.
Answer: Saddle querns
Q) What were two types of saddle querns found?
Answer: Ones where a smaller stone was rubbed back and forth and ones where a second stone was used as a pounder.
Q) What was the likely use of each type of saddle quern?
Answer: The former type was likely used exclusively for grinding grains, while the latter type may have been used for pounding herbs and spices for curries
Q) How do we know about the Harappan civilization?
Answer: We know about the Harappan civilization from archaeological evidence, including houses, pottery, ornaments, tools, and seals.
What can we learn about the Harappan civilization from archaeological evidence?
Q) What were seals and sealings used for in the Indus Valley Civilization?
Answer: Seals and sealings were used to secure bags of goods during long-distance communication and to identify the sender.
Q) What do the motifs on Harappan seals likely represent?
Answer: The motifs on Harappan seals, often animals, are believed to convey additional meaning to those who could not read the script.
Q) What type of writing system did the Indus Valley Civilization use?
Answer: The Indus Valley Civilization used a non-alphabetic writing system with an estimated 375 to 400 signs.
Q) What direction did they write in?
Answer: The Indus Valley Civilization wrote from right to left, as evidenced by wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left on some seals.
Q) On what objects have Indus Valley inscriptions been found?
Answer: Indus Valley inscriptions have been found on a variety of objects, including seals, copper tools, jar rims, copper and terracotta tablets, jewelry, bone rods, and even an ancient signboard.
Q) How did archaeologists interpret terracotta figurines of women in the Indus Valley Civilization?
A. These figurines were interpreted as mother goddesses due to their elaborate jewelry and headwear.
Q) What is a "priest-king" in the context of the Indus Valley Civilization?
A. A "priest-king" is a term used to describe rare stone statues of men seated in a standardized posture, with one hand on the knee.
Q) What structures were considered to have ritualistic significance in the Indus Valley Civilization?
A. Structures like the Great Bath and fire altars found at Kalibangan and Lothal were considered to have ritualistic significance.
Q) How have researchers attempted to reconstruct religious beliefs and practices from Indus Valley seals?
A. Researchers have analyzed seals depicting ritual scenes, plant motifs (suggesting nature worship), and mythical creatures.
Q) What is the challenge of using later traditions to interpret Indus Valley religious practices?
A. Moving from the known to the unknown can be misleading when dealing with symbolic representations, as seen in the case of "proto-Shiva" seals.
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