Excavation of Harappan Sites

We often wonder what were the things found during the excavation of the Harappan Sites. What was the use of those things and how those things were helpful in learning about the Sindhu Civilization and also how advanced they were in use. There are many questions related to the discoveries of those items which need to be answered but I know that we don't get the answers easily and that even does not satisfy us. When I first read about the Harappa and Mohenjodaro a series of questions sparked inside my mind which weren't answered by anyone and thus it took me a really long time to find the answers of my questions and I want to share all the information related to the items found there at the Harappan sites. So, Let's start;

Seals -

The seals are the most interesting items excavated from the various Harappan sites and were found in large numbers. These seals were all different from each other and were made of steatite or faience. The primary use of these seals were to show the authority of ownership and all of them ad some engraved symbols and pictures of animals like rhino, tiger, bull, etc. Almost around 2000 seals were found at various locations during the excavation. The Harappan Seals were not only found at in the Indus Valley but many were also found the Mesopotamian towns which shows that the seals played an important role in the Trades. They were might used for stamping the objects and many historians thinks that they were also used as amulets.

Harappan Pottery -

Many pieces of pottery were also found during the excavation and in fact these pottery pieces were the first thing found related to the Harappan Civilization. These pottery pieces gives us the idea of the artisan skills of the harappan people as well as their skills. The pots were found from the size of the thumb to size of the container burials. The pots were basically red in colour and had black coloured decorations on them, and had the designs of trees and circles while they also had pictures depicting stories from Panchatantra and figures of men and dancing women.

Terracotta Models -

Toy models of clay which were baked to harden were also very popular during the Harappan time and are commonly known as terracotta models. There is a wide range of these models found during the excavation like the model of carts, ploughs, birds, dogs, men, women, etc. which were used as the toys or might be the objects of worship. There is the huge difference in the design of these terracotta models as some of them are very unsophisticatedly designed while some are well finished which suggests that they were used by two different classes of the society. Also, these models represents the interest of the society towards tools and animals as they were the two central ideas of the entire Indus Valley Civilization.

Bricks -

Bricks are the most important item found at the whole civilization as they had very unique ratio and were baked in the fire to give them extra strength which was not done in any other civilizations of that time and even later civilizations. The bricks had an identical ratio of1:2:4 in terms of the thickness:width:length across all the sites of the harappan culture. Also the size of the bricks were fixed for the particular use like for  making houses the average size of the brick was 7*14*28 cm cube while for making city walls the brick of 10*20*40 cm cube was used. This idea of burnt definite size bricks was not there in any of the contemporary civilization which makes the harappan culture much ahead of the time and shows the innovative minds of the harappan people.

Statues -

The harappan people were not only made very skilled pottery and seals but also created some really awesome metal and stone statues with great precision and accuracy. The metal portrait of the women dancer is among the very interesting item to be discovered during the excavation of the harappan sites. The specimen of the woman was naked but it wore one necklace. Many statues made up of the stone were also found out of which the statue of the priest wearing some jewellery and a shawl is very popular statue. These statues provide the great information about the lifestyle of the people and also describe that there was some kind of difference between the two societies of the culture.

Measuring Units -

Harapans not only had special kind of instruments for measurement but also had a definite measuring system. . Harappan Culture showed a highly accurate and standardised system of weights and measures. A binary system in lower denominations of 1,2,8,16,32and 64 had been followed in weights with decimals like 160, 320, 640, 1600, 3200, and so on. For measuring lengths foot and a cubit were standardised unites. People also created square weighing units with limestone and steatite which were used as standard measuring units for trading, also a measuring shell scale was discovered at Mohenjodaro and an angle measuring shell scale was discovered at Lothal which was probably used for the navigation of ships.

These were some interesting items excavated during the Harappan Sites and their details. And hope you guys liked it and let me know your views about my articles in the comment section. Also, do read my article on decline of the Harappan Civilization at this link.

These articles are mainly based on the preparation of UPSC CSE Mains and various other competitive exams. Also you can refer to these articles for increasing your knowledge as well as for preparing for various boards examinations.