Harappan Sites

Harappa

It was the first site to be discovered and is spread across 100-200 hectares. The mound F Harappa has the most imposing building containing sets of parallel walls laid precisely on either sides of a central road or corridor and it is believed to have been used as a granary.

Two cemeteries have also been found at Harappa, the one designated as R-37 is the largest Mature Harappan cemetery known so far.

Artefacts found in Harappa include the usual square Indus stamp seals, black on red painted pottery, Carnelian beads some of which have been etched and there has been a considerable use of baked bricks though not as much as seen in Mohenjodaro.

Mohenjodaro

The high mound to the west which was roughly 400 meters by 200 meters in size is an artificial mound. The platform was held in place and erosion checked by the stout retaining walls of baked bricks built around it. This gave it an appearance of the Citadel.

The bathing area was fashioned with precisely fitted baked bricks. The four walls of the tank were uniformly thick and covered by regular use of bitumen. There was a well on the eastern side of the Bath and a drain was found in the south-western corner inside the bath. On the eastern side of the Great Bath was a series of 7-8 bathing chambers with door off-set to one side to ensure privacy.

The Warehouse was another imposing building which was one story lower than the Great Bath and was a massive structure of which the lower brick portion remain while the upper portions of wood decayed long ago.

The Lower town was also walled with several buildings built on platforms which served as foundations. The residential buildings were mostly found here.

Kalinbangan

It is a two period site with a Sothi-Siswal and Mature Harappan phase.

Direct evidence for cultivation was found at this site in form of a preserved ploughed field about 100 meters to the south of the earlier dated settlements. The field had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other, suggesting that two different crops were grown together.

A cemetery at Kalibangan associated with the Mature Harappan phase in Kalibangan reflects three types of Burial practices at this site.

1) Typical Harappan hollowed out grave Burials in rectangular or oval pits

2) Pot Burials in circular pits without skeletons

3) Cenotaph Burial wherein the pottery and goods were found in the pit without skeleton remains

Lothal

It was a center of craftsmanship and excavations have uncovered- finished products made from materials from a wide range of natural resources like Copper, Gold Carnelian, Ivory, Shell and some semi-precious stone.

Harappan weights and triangular terracotta cakes, terracotta carts , specialized drills were also found.

The site had a well-known shell making factory and finished products were transported from sites like Lothal to urban centers such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

It was also seen as a Port town.

Dholavira

It had grown from a small settlement to a large town or city with two sets of fortifications and water storage of significant scale.

This period marks the existence of black on red pottery ware and square Harappan seals.

Dholavira is known for the magnificent attention given to water - its movement and storage in the form of reservoir.

Rakhigarhi

Signs of Early Harappan settlements were found in Rakhigarhi. Rectilinear houses and extensive use of baked bricks was found in this period

A baked brick street drain was found to which a house drain was connected. The street drain was found near to the vicinity of the floor made of brick bats with four circular pits.

The Mature Harappan phase saw construction of a substantial mud brick wall possibly a fortification in the south-eastern corner of the settlement.

Fire altars with similarities to those reported from Kalibangan can also be seen.

The finds also include: standard Harappan ceramics, several unicorn seals along with a terracotta amulet with an Elephant on the front.