<h5 id="1-beginnings">1. BEGINNINGS</h5> <ul> <li>There were several archaeological cultures in the region before the Mature Harappan period.</li> <li>These cultures were identified by distinctive pottery, signs of agriculture and pastoralism, and some crafts.</li> <li>Settlements were typically small with almost no large buildings.</li> <li>A break between the Early Harappan and Harappan civilization is evident, indicated by large-scale burning at some sites and abandonment of certain settlements.</li> <li>The aforementioned cultures did not have large buildings, agriculture, or crafts on a large scale.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="2-subsistence-strategies">2. SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES</h5> <ul> <li>The Harappan culture, in its mature phase, developed in areas previously occupied by Early Harappan cultures and shared certain common elements, including subsistence strategies.</li> <li>The Harappans had a varied diet, consuming a wide range of plant and animal products. Their dietary practices have been reconstructed from finds of charred grains and seeds, studied by archaeo-botanists.</li> <li>Grains found at Harappan sites include wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, sesame, and millets (from sites in Gujarat). Rice is found less frequently.</li> <li>Animal bones discovered at Harappan sites belong to domesticated species such as cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, and pig, as determined by studies conducted by archaeo-zoologists or zooarchaeologists.</li> <li>Wild species like boar, deer, and gharial are also found, but it’s unclear whether the Harappans hunted them or obtained meat from other hunting communities. Bones of fish and fowl are also present.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="21-agricultural-technologies">2.1 Agricultural technologies</h5> <ul> <li>The distribution of settlements on Maps 1 and 2 is not provided in the text, hence it can’t be discussed.</li> <li>Oxen were likely used for ploughing based on representations on seals and terracottas sculpture. Terracotta models of the plough have been found at sites in Cholistan and Haryana.</li> <li>Archaeologists have found evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), associated with Early Harappan levels, suggesting that two different crops were grown together.</li> <li>The use of stone blades set in wooden handles or metal tools for harvesting is undetermined. However, copper tools (Fig. 1.4) have been found, which could have been used for various purposes.</li> <li>The reservoir at Dholavira (Gujarat) (Fig. 1.5) showcases masonry work, indicating the possibility of advanced knowledge of water storage for agricultural or other purposes.</li> <li>Archaeologists use present-day analogies, like Mackay comparing present-day querns with ancient ones, to understand the use of ancient artifacts.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="3-mohenjodaro-a-planned-urban-centre">3. MOHENJODARO A PLANNED URBAN CENTRE</h5> <ul> <li>Mohenjodaro, a Harappan urban center, is divided into two sections: the Citadel and the Lower Town.</li> <li>The Citadel, a smaller but higher area, has buildings constructed on mud brick platforms, making it physically separated from the Lower Town.</li> <li>The Lower Town, also walled, has buildings constructed on standardized platforms with foundations requiring four million person-days of labor.</li> <li>Building activity in both areas was restricted to a fixed area on the platforms, indicating urban planning.</li> <li>Standardized bricks of a specific ratio were used in all Harappan settlements, further evidence of urban planning.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="31-laying-out-drains">3.1 Laying out drains</h5> <ul> <li>Harappan cities, such as the Lower Town, had a distinctive feature of carefully planned drainage systems.</li> <li>Roads and streets were laid out in a grid pattern, intersecting at right angles.</li> <li>Drains were laid out first, and houses were built along them, requiring at least one wall of each house to be along a street for waste water disposal.</li> <li>Citadels, or the high western part of Harappan settlements, were fortified and separated by walls, with variations such as at Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat) where the entire settlement was fortified.</li> <li>The Citadel within Lothal was not walled off but built at a height.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="32-domestic-architecture">3.2 Domestic architecture</h5> <ul> <li>The residential buildings in the Lower Town at Mohenjodaro were centered on a courtyard, which was likely the center of daily activities.</li> <li>These houses showed a concern for privacy, with no windows at the ground level and the main entrance not providing a direct view of the interior.</li> <li>Each house had its own bathroom with a brick floor and a connected drain leading to the street. Some houses had staircases leading to a second story or the roof, and many had wells.</li> <li>The drainage system in Mohenjodaro was advanced, with main channels made of bricks and covered for cleaning. Drains were also found in smaller settlements.</li> <li>The architectural features of Mohenjodaro, such as the well-planned drainage system and the standardized layout of houses, indicate careful planning.</li> <li>Apart from the warehouse and the Great Bath, there is no information provided about other structures on the Citadel.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="33-the-citadel">3.3 The Citadel</h5> <ul> <li>The Citadel contains structures indicative of special public purposes.</li> <li>A warehouse, mostly of brick at the lower portion, was part of the structures.</li> <li>The Great Bath, a large rectangular tank with steps on the north and south, was made watertight by bricks and gypsum mortar.</li> <li>Three rooms accompanied the Great Bath, one containing a large well, and water flowed into a huge drain.</li> <li>A smaller building, possibly for baths, was found across a lane to the north, with eight bathrooms and drains connecting to a corridor drain.</li> <li>The unique design and context suggest a special ritual bath purpose for these structures.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="4-tracking-social-differences">4. TRACKING SOCIAL DIFFERENCES</h5> <ul> <li>Social differences can be tracked using various socioeconomic indicators.</li> <li>These indicators include income, education, and occupation, which can be used to measure social stratification and mobility.</li> <li>The Gini coefficient is often used to measure income inequality, with a score of 0 representing perfect equality and a score of 1 representing perfect inequality.</li> <li>The education system can also be used to track social differences, with differences in access to education and educational attainment reflecting broader social inequalities.</li> <li>Occupation can also be used as an indicator of social position, with different occupations carrying different levels of prestige and social status.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="41-burials">4.1 Burials</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Archaeologists study burials to understand social or economic differences among people in a culture.</p> </li> <li> <p>In Harappan sites, the dead were usually laid in pits, sometimes with bricks lining the hollowed-out spaces, which might indicate social differences.</p> </li> <li> <p>Graves may contain pottery, ornaments, and jewelry, possibly indicating belief in using these items in the afterlife; jewelry was found in burials of both men and women.</p> </li> <li> <p>An ornament made of shell rings, a jasper bead, micro beads, and a copper mirror was discovered near a male skull in a Harappan cemetery excavation.</p> </li> <li> <p>Overall, Harappans did not seem to frequently bury precious items with the dead.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="42-looking-for-luxuries">4.2 Looking for “luxuries”</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Archaeologists classify artifacts into two main categories: utilitarian and luxuries.</p> </li> <li> <p>Utilitarian artifacts are objects of daily use made from ordinary materials like stone or clay, and are distributed throughout settlements.</p> </li> <li> <p>Luxuries are considered rare, made from costly, non-local materials or with complicated technologies. An example is little pots of faience.</p> </li> <li> <p>Hoards are objects kept carefully by people, often inside containers such as pots, and can be of jewellery or metal objects saved for reuse by metalworkers.</p> </li> <li> <p>Rare objects made of valuable materials, like miniature pots of faience or gold jewelry, are generally concentrated in large settlements like Mohenjodaro and Harappa, and rarely found in smaller settlements.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="5-finding-out-about-craft-production">5. Finding OUt About CRAFT PRODUCTION</h5> <ul> <li>Chanhudaro is a small settlement dedicated to craft production, including bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making, and weight-making.</li> <li>A wide variety of materials were used for bead-making, such as stones (carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite, copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, and terracotta). Some beads were made of two or more stones or stone with gold caps.</li> <li>Techniques for making beads varied according to the material. For instance, steatite, a soft stone, was easily worked, and some beads were moulded out of a paste made with steatite powder.</li> <li>Specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal, and Dholavira, indicating the technological advancement of the time.</li> <li>Nageshwar and Balakot were specialized centers for making shell objects, while finished products from Chanhudaro and Lothal were likely taken to large urban centers like Mohenjodaro and Harappa.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="51-identifying-centres-of-production">5.1 Identifying centres of production</h5> <ul> <li>The identification of centers of craft production by archaeologists involves the search for raw materials, tools, unfinished objects, rejects, and waste material.</li> <li>Waste is a significant indicator of craft work, as it is usually discarded at the place of production.</li> <li>The presence of larger waste pieces used to make smaller objects suggests that, apart from small specialized centers, craft production was also undertaken in large cities such as Mohenjodaro and Harappa.</li> <li>Stone artifacts can be considered utilitarian objects or luxuries, with some possibly falling into both categories.</li> <li>The existence of minuscule bits left in the work area indicates that craft production was a specialized activity.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="6-strategies-for-procuring-materials">6. STRATEGIES FOR PROCURING MATERIALS</h5> <ul> <li>A variety of materials were used for craft production in the alluvial plain.</li> <li>Some materials like clay were locally available, while others such as stone, timber, and metal had to be procured from outside the region.</li> <li>Terracotta toy models of bullock carts suggest that land routes, with bullock carts being a key transport method, were used for procuring materials.</li> <li>Riverine routes along the Indus and its tributaries, as well as coastal routes, were also likely used for material procurement.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="61-materials-from-the-subcontinent-and-beyond">6.1 Materials from the subcontinent and beyond</h5> <ul> <li>The Harappans established settlements in areas with available resources, such as Nageshwar and Balakot for shell, Shortughai for lapis lazuli, Lothal for carnelian, steatite, and metal.</li> <li>They may have sent expeditions to places like the Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and south India for gold, indicating contact with local communities.</li> <li>Occasional finds of Harappan artifacts in these areas suggest such contact.</li> <li>The Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture in the Khetri area, characterized by non-Harappan pottery and an abundance of copper objects, suggests that they may have supplied copper to the Harappans.</li> <li>The Harappans used copper and bronze for vessel production, as indicated in Fig. 1.16.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="62-contact-with-distant-lands">6.2 Contact with distant lands</h5> <ul> <li>Archaeological finds suggest that copper was brought to the Harappan civilization from Oman, with chemical analyses showing traces of nickel in both Omani copper and Harappan artifacts, indicating a common origin.</li> <li>A distinct type of Harappan vessel, a large jar coated with a thick layer of black clay, has been found at Omani sites, suggesting the possibility of Harappans exchanging the contents of these vessels for Omani copper.</li> <li>Mesopotamian texts from the third millennium BCE refer to copper coming from a region called Magan, possibly Oman, and Meluhha, possibly the Harappan region, with products from Meluhha including carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and varieties of wood.</li> <li>The Harappan standard was followed in local “Dilmun” weights, and seals depicting a boat and typical Mesopotamian cylinder seals with humped bull motifs derived from the Indus region have been found in Bahrain.</li> <li>The possible routes of contact from the Harappan region to Oman, Dilmun, and Mesopotamia could have been by sea, as suggested by Mesopotamian texts referring to Meluhha as a land of seafarers and depictions of ships and boats on seals.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="7-seals-script-weights">7. SEALS, SCRIPT, WEIGHTS</h5> <ul> <li> <p>SEALS: Used for authenticating documents, seals can be categorized into three types: personal, official, and corporate. The concept of seals is rooted in the principle of impression where a design or inscription is engraved on a hard material and then pressed onto another surface to leave a mark.</p> </li> <li> <p>SCRIPT: The study of handwriting is referred to as script. It involves understanding the style, formation, and structure of letters and words in different languages and time periods. Paleography is a branch of script that focuses on the study of ancient writings.</p> </li> <li> <p>WEIGHTS: The ancient systems of measurement used for weighing goods were often based on standardized weights made from durable materials like stone, metal, or glass. These weights were used in trade and commerce to ensure a fair and consistent exchange of goods.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="71-seals-and-sealings">7.1 Seals and sealings</h5> <ul> <li>Seals and sealings were essential for long-distance communication in ancient times.</li> <li>They were used to ensure the security and authenticity of goods during transportation.</li> <li>A bag of goods had its mouth tied with a rope, and wet clay was placed on the knot, with one or more seals pressed onto it, leaving an impression.</li> <li>The seal impression served as evidence that the bag had not been tampered with during transit.</li> <li>It also revealed the identity of the sender, thus conveying information about the origin of the goods.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="72-an-enigmatic-script">7.2 An enigmatic script</h5> <ul> <li> <p>The Harappan seals often contain a line of writing, possibly with the owner’s name and title, and a motif (usually an animal) that might convey a meaning.</p> </li> <li> <p>The script is still undeciphered, containing around 375-400 signs, which suggests it was not alphabetical. Most inscriptions are short, the longest having about 26 signs.</p> </li> <li> <p>The script is written from right to left, as seen from the wider spacing on the right and cramping on the left in some seals.</p> </li> <li> <p>Writing has been found on various objects like seals, copper tools, rims of jars, copper and terracotta tablets, jewelry, bone rods, and even an ancient signboard, implying possible widespread literacy.</p> </li> <li> <p>Perishable materials might have also contained writing, which are now lost.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="73-weights">7.3 Weights</h5> <ul> <li>The weights used in exchanges were regulated by a precise system, usually made of chert and generally cubical, with no markings.</li> <li>The system of weights had two variations: a binary system for lower denominations (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, up to 12,800) and a decimal system for higher denominations.</li> <li>Smaller weights were likely used for weighing jewelry and beads.</li> <li>Metal scale-pans have been discovered, indicating the use of balances in weight measurements.</li> <li>Today, various methods are used for long-distance exchange of goods, including digital platforms, shipping services, and trade agreements, with advantages such as global reach and increased sales, but also facing problems like shipping costs and international regulations.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="8-ancient-authority">8. ANCIENT AUTHORITY</h5> <ul> <li>The Harappan society showed signs of complex decision-making, as evidenced by the uniformity of artifacts such as pottery, seals, weights, and bricks across their entire civilization.</li> <li>Notably, bricks were consistently of a uniform ratio throughout the region, despite not being produced in a single center.</li> <li>Settlements were strategically established in specific locations for various reasons, and labor was mobilized for tasks such as brick-making and constructing massive walls and platforms.</li> <li>The organization of these activities suggests a centralized authority or system.</li> <li>However, the specific identity or nature of this authority is not explicitly stated in the text.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="81-palaces-and-kings">8.1 Palaces and kings</h5> <ul> <li>The archaeological records do not provide immediate answers to finding a center of power or depictions of people in power.</li> <li>A large building at Mohenjodaro, labeled as a palace, had no spectacular finds associated with it.</li> <li>A stone statue is known as the “priest-king,” labeled due to parallels found with Mesopotamian “priest-kings” in the Indus region.</li> <li>Ritual practices of the Harappan civilization are not well understood yet, and there are no means of knowing whether those who performed them also held political power.</li> <li>Theories regarding Harappan society’s power structure include: no rulers and equal status for all, several rulers, separate rulers for Mohenjodaro and Harappa, and a single state with complex decisions made by entire communities. The last theory seems most plausible.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="9-the-end-of-the-civilisation">9. THE END OF THE CIVILISATION</h5> <ul> <li>By 1800 BCE, most Mature Harappan sites, such as those in Cholistan, had been abandoned, coinciding with an expansion of population into new settlements in Gujarat, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh.</li> <li>In the few Harappan sites that continued to be occupied after 1900 BCE, there was a transformation of material culture, marked by the disappearance of distinctive artifacts like weights, seals, special beads, writing, long-distance trade, and craft specialization.</li> <li>The collapse of the civilization is attributed to various factors, including climatic change, deforestation, excessive floods, shifting and/or drying up of rivers, and overuse of the landscape, but a unifying element, possibly the Harappan state, seems to have come to an end.</li> <li>Archaeological evidence from Mohenjodaro suggests the discovery of human remains, potentially indicating a massacre, but later interpretations question this theory due to the lack of destruction level, extensive burning, bodies of warriors, or evidence of a final defense in the citadel.</li> <li>Similarities between Maps 1, 2, and 4 could include the distribution of Harappan sites, urban centers, and settlement patterns, while differences might arise from the varying levels of detail, additional findings, or updated information in each map.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="10-discovering-the-harappan-civilisation">10. DISCOVERING THE HARAPPAN CIVILISATION</h5> <ul> <li>The Harappan civilization was forgotten over time after its decline.</li> <li>People who lived in the area later did not recognize the significance of the strange artifacts that occasionally surfaced.</li> <li>These artifacts were unearthed through natural processes such as floods, soil erosion, or plowing fields.</li> <li>Local inhabitants sometimes mistook these objects for treasure while digging.</li> <li>The Harappan civilization was eventually “discovered” by archaeologists who studied these artifacts.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="101-cunninghams-confusion">10.1 Cunningham’s confusion</h5> <ul> <li>Cunningham, the first Director-General of the ASI, focused on the archaeology of the Early Historic periods (c.sixth century BCE-fourth century CE) and later.</li> <li>He used texts and inscriptions, as well as accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, to locate early settlements and collect, document, and translate inscriptions found during his surveys.</li> <li>When excavating sites, he tended to recover artifacts that he thought had cultural value, but he missed the significance of Harappan sites and artifacts due to his belief that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga valley.</li> <li>Archaeological sites are formed through the production, use, and discarding of materials and structures, with occupational debris building up over time and alteration of the landscape occurring during brief or permanent abandonment.</li> <li>The study of layers (stratigraphy) can assign artifacts to specific cultural periods and provide the cultural sequence for a site, with the lowest layers typically being the oldest and the highest being the most recent.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="102-a-new-old-civilisation">10.2 A new old civilisation</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Seals were discovered at Harappa and Mohenjodaro in the early 20th century, leading to the discovery of a new civilization in the Indus valley.</p> </li> <li> <p>The discovery of similar seals at Mesopotamian sites suggested that this civilization was contemporaneous with Mesopotamia.</p> </li> <li> <p>John Marshall, the first professional archaeologist to work in India, announced the discovery of this new civilization in 1924.</p> </li> <li> <p>Marshall’s excavation method, which involved grouping all artefacts from the same unit together, led to the loss of valuable contextual information.</p> </li> <li> <p>Marshall’s experience in Greece and Crete, and his interest in both spectacular finds and patterns of everyday life, significantly impacted Indian archaeology.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="103-new-techniques-and-questions">10.3 New techniques and questions</h5> <ul> <li> <p>R.E.M. Wheeler, Director-General of the ASI in 1944, corrected the problem of mechanical digging in archaeology by following the stratigraphy of the mound and bringing military precision to the practice.</p> </li> <li> <p>The partition of the subcontinent and the creation of Pakistan led to Indian archaeologists trying to locate Harappan sites in India, resulting in the discovery and exploration of Kalibangan, Lothal, Rakhi Garhi, and Dholavira.</p> </li> <li> <p>Modern scientific techniques, including surface exploration, are being used to recover traces of clay, stone, metal, and plant and animal remains, and to analyze every scrap of available evidence, particularly since the 1980s.</p> </li> <li> <p>Current issues in archaeology include the desire to understand the cultural sequence and logic behind the location of specific sites, as well as the functions of various artifacts.</p> </li> <li> <p>Early archaeologists, like Wheeler, were often driven by a sense of adventure, as evidenced by Wheeler’s experience at Harappa in 1944.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="11-problems-of-piecing-together-the-past">11. PROBLEMS OF PIECING TOGETHER THE PAST</h5> <ul> <li>The Harappan script is not useful in understanding the ancient civilization.</li> <li>Material evidence, such as pottery, tools, ornaments, and household objects, aids in reconstructing Harappan life.</li> <li>Organic materials like cloth, leather, wood, and reeds usually decompose, so stone, burnt clay, and metal artifacts survive.</li> <li>Only broken or useless objects were discarded; valuable artifacts found intact were likely lost or hoarded.</li> <li>Finds of valuable, intact artifacts are accidental and not representative of typical Harappan life.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="111-classifying-finds">11.1 Classifying finds</h5> <ul> <li>Archaeologists classify their finds in two main ways: by material and by function.</li> <li>Classification by material includes categories such as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, etc.</li> <li>Classification by function is more complex, requiring archaeologists to determine if an artifact is a tool, ornament, both, or for ritual use.</li> <li>Understanding the function of an artifact often involves comparing it to present-day things and investigating the context in which it was found.</li> <li>Indirect evidence, such as depictions in sculpture, may be used to determine the function of artifacts.</li> <li>Developing frames of reference, including understanding the cultural sequence and comparisons with other finds, is crucial to classifying artifacts.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="112-problems-of-interpretation">11.2 Problems of interpretation</h5> <ul> <li>In 1875, Alexander Cunningham reported on a Harappan seal, providing one of the earliest insights into the Indus Valley Civilization.</li> <li>Excavations at Harappa began in 1921, led by M.S. Vats, and continued in 1925 with excavations at Mohenjodaro.</li> <li>R.E.M. Wheeler excavated at Harappa in 1946, and S.R. Rao began excavations at Lothal in 1955.</li> <li>B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar started excavations at Kalibangan in 1960, followed by M.R. Mughal’s explorations in Bahawalpur in 1974.</li> <li>A collaboration of German and Italian archaeologists conducted surface explorations at Mohenjodaro in 1980, and an American team began excavations at Harappa in 1986.</li> <li>R.S. Bisht’s excavations at Dholavira started in 1990, contributing significantly to the understanding of the Indus Valley Civilization.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="answer-in-100-150-words">ANSWER IN 100-150 WORDS</h5> <ol> <li> <p>The food available to people in Harappan cities included wheat, barley, rice, pulses, cotton, mustard, and sesame. Domesticated animals like cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goat were also a significant part of their diet. The food was likely provided by farmers and animal herders.</p> </li> <li> <p>Socio-economic differences in Harappan society can be traced through the analysis of artifacts, burial practices, and settlement patterns. Wealthier individuals had access to better-quality goods, like ornaments made from semi-precious stones and copper tools. Differences in burial practices, such as the presence of grave goods, also indicate social stratification.</p> </li> <li> <p>Yes, the drainage system in Harappan cities does indicate town planning. The presence of well-planned and maintained drainage systems suggests a high level of organization and centralized planning. Additionally, the uniformity in the layout of cities and the standardization of weights and measures further support this view.</p> </li> <li> <p>Beads in the Harappan civilization were made from various materials, including steatite, limestone, shell, and copper. The process of making steatite beads involved grinding the steatite into a powder, mixing it with water to form a paste, shaping it into beads, and then firing it in a kiln.</p> </li> <li> <p>Fig. 1.30 depicts a skeleton of a adult individual, possibly male, placed in a north-south orientation. Grave goods such as a pot, beads, and a shell bangle are placed near the body. The absence of any distinctly feminine artifacts suggests that the skeleton is likely male.</p> </li> </ol> <p>======</p> <h5 id="write-a-short-essay-about-500-words-on-the-following">WRITE A SHORT ESSAY (ABOUT 500 WORDS) ON THE FOLLOWING:</h5> <ul> <li> <p>Mohenjodaro, a major city of the Harappan civilization, is distinguished by its urban planning, sanitation systems, and standardized weights and measures. The city is divided into two main areas: the Citadel and the Lower City, with a grid-like street plan and an advanced drainage system.</p> </li> <li> <p>Raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilization included clay, metal, stone, and semi-precious stones. These materials were obtained through trade, mining, or collection from natural sources. For instance, clay for pottery was found in the surrounding areas, while metal and stones were likely sourced from mines.</p> </li> <li> <p>Archaeologists reconstruct the past by studying artifacts, structures, and human remains found at excavation sites. They use various techniques such as relative and absolute dating, stratigraphy, and typology to place these findings in a chronological context and understand their significance in the past societies.</p> </li> <li> <p>In Harappan society, rulers might have performed various functions, such as governing the city-states, managing resources, maintaining law and order, and leading religious ceremonies. Their authority could have been based on a combination of economic power, religious legitimacy, and control of military forces. However, the specific nature of their rule remains a subject of debate among historians and archaeologists.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="map-work">MAP WORK</h5> <ul> <li>The text pertains to the marking of certain symbols on Map 1 as part of a study or exploration.</li> <li>Sites with evidence of agriculture should be circled using a pencil.</li> <li>Sites with evidence of craft production should be marked with an ‘X’.</li> <li>Sites where raw materials were found should be marked with an ‘R’.</li> <li>No equations or formulae are provided in the text.</li> <li>No examples or their solutions are included in the text.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="project-any-one">PROJECT (ANY ONE)</h5> <ul> <li>The task requires visiting a museum in town and writing a report on ten items, including their age, origin, and reason for display.</li> <li>An alternative task involves collecting illustrations of ten modern items made of stone, metal, and clay, and comparing them with Harappan civilization artifacts to identify similarities and differences.</li> <li>No equations or specific formulae are provided in the text.</li> <li>The tasks do not include examples or their solutions.</li> <li>The summarized text focuses on educational activities related to museum visits and comparative analysis of modern and ancient artifacts.</li> </ul> <p>======</p>