Harappan Civilisation and Archaeology

What is the primary material used to make the Harappan seal?

What is the significance of the scripts found on the Harappan seals?

What is the primary source of information about the Harappan civilisation?

What is the characteristic of the settlements before the emergence of the Mature Harappan culture?

What is the significance of the large-scale burning at some sites and the abandonment of certain settlements?

What can be inferred from the development of the Mature Harappan culture in areas occupied by the Early Harappan cultures?

What was the primary source of evidence for reconstructing dietary practices of the Harappans?

What was the significance of the discovery of a ploughed field at Kalibangan?

What was unique about the bricks used at all Harappan settlements?

What was the purpose of the platforms on which buildings were constructed in the Citadel?

What can be inferred from the discovery of terracotta models of the plough?

What was the significance of the walled Citadel and Lower Town?

What can be inferred from the layout of roads and streets in the Lower Town?

What is the significance of the finds of fish and fowl bones at Harappan sites?

What was the likely use of water reservoirs found in Dholavira?

What is the significance of the discovery of canals at the Harappan site of Shortughai?

Why were little pots of faience considered precious?

What is unique about the distribution of rare objects made of valuable materials?

What is characteristic of the beads found at Chanhudaro?

How were steatite beads made?

What is the significance of waste material in identifying centres of craft production?

What was the likely purpose of the miniature pots of faience?

What is unique about the settlement of Chanhudaro?

What was the process of making beads from harder stones?

What was the significance of Nageshwar and Balakot?

What were the larger waste pieces of material sometimes used for?

Why did every house need to have at least one wall along a street in Mohenjodaro?

What was the likely purpose of the courtyard in the houses of Mohenjodaro?

What was unique about the windows in the houses of Mohenjodaro?

What feature did many houses in Mohenjodaro have that was accessible from the outside?

What was the purpose of the Great Bath in the Citadel of Mohenjodaro?

How did archaeologists use burials to identify social differences in the Harappan civilization?

What type of objects did archaeologists classify as 'luxuries' in the Harappan civilization?

What was the significance of the courtyard in the Great Bath of Mohenjodaro?

What feature did the houses of Mohenjodaro have that suggests a concern for privacy?

What was the estimated number of wells in Mohenjodaro?

What can be inferred about the script of the Harappan civilization?

What is the significance of the spacing on the Harappan seals?

What can be inferred about the literacy rate in the Harappan society?

What is the characteristic of the weights used in the Harappan system of exchange?

What is the significance of the uniformity of Harappan artefacts?

What can be inferred about the organisation of the Harappan society?

What is the significance of the 'priest-king' statue?

What is the characteristic of the Harappan settlements after 1900 BCE?

What brought about the changes in the Harappan society around 1800 BCE?

What is the characteristic of the 'Late Harappan' or 'successor cultures'?

What was the primary reason for the collapse of the entire Harappan civilization?

What was likely the purpose of the thick coating on the Harappan jars found in Oman?

What was Cunningham's main area of interest?

What was the probable source of copper for the Harappans?

What was the significance of the discovery of similar seals at Mohenjo-Daro?

What was the significance of John Marshall's announcement in 1924?

What do the Mesopotamian texts suggest about the region of Meluhha?

Why did Cunningham not realize the significance of the Harappan seal?

What was the likely purpose of the settlements established by the Harappans in areas such as Nageshwar and Balakot?

What do the finds of Harappan artefacts such as steatite micro beads in areas like south India suggest?

What was the result of Cunningham's excavation of sites?

What was the significance of the discovery of Harappan artefacts during the nineteenth century?

What do the depictions of ships and boats on seals suggest?

What was the result of the excavation of sites at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro?

What was the probable purpose of the sealing on the bags of goods?

What is the name given to the culture with distinctive non-Harappan pottery and an unusual wealth of copper objects?

What was the significance of the discovery of similar seals at Mesopotamian sites?

What is the probable material that was exchanged for Omani copper?

What marked a major change in Indian archaeology?

What do the Mesopotamian texts refer to as the products from Meluhha?

What was a limitation of John Marshall's excavation technique?

What was a significant contribution of R.E.M. Wheeler to archaeology?

Why have Indian archaeologists been spurred to search for new Harappan sites in India?

What has been a focus of archaeologists studying the Harappan civilization in recent decades?

What has been a feature of Harappan archaeology since the 1980s?

What is the benefit of the joint international collaborations in Harappan archaeology?

What type of materials generally decompose, especially in tropical regions?

Why are valuable artefacts that are found intact often accidental discoveries?

According to archaeologists, how do you classify artefacts in terms of function?

Why do archaeologists think that only broken or useless objects would have been thrown away?

What is one principle of classification for artefacts?

Why do archaeologists classify artefacts?

What is the primary method archaeologists use to identify the function of an artefact?

What is the name of the god mentioned in the Rigveda that is similar to Shiva?

What is the limitation of using later traditions to reconstruct earlier religious practices?

What is the significance of finding a bilingual inscription?

What is the current understanding of the Harappan economy?

What is the significance of the depictions of plants on some Harappan seals?

What is the significance of the terracotta figurines of women?

What is the current understanding of the social differences in the Harappan civilization?

What is the significance of the fire altars found at Kalibangan and Lothal?

What is the significance of the conical stone objects found at some Harappan sites?

What is the term used by archaeologists for a group of objects, distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and period of time?

What is the name of the site where the unique culture of the Indus Valley Civilisation was first discovered?

What is the term used to describe the period from 2600 to 1900 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilisation?

What is the significance of the 'Persian Gulf' seal found in Bahrain?

What was the probable material used to make the Harappan seal?

What is the term used to describe the hoarding of objects, often made of metal, by people for reuse?

What is the significance of the citadel in the Harappan settlements?

What was the probable reason for the destruction of Harappa?

What is the significance of the discovery of similar seals at Mesopotamian sites?

What is the term used to describe the dating system used in the book?

What is the primary method used to detect occupations in archaeological sites?

What is the term used to describe the study of layers in archaeological sites?

What is the purpose of a shaman in ancient societies?

What type of stones were used to make saddle querns in ancient Harappan sites?

What is the significance of the 'sterile layers' in archaeological sites?

What was the primary function of the sumps in the long drainage channels?

What is the primary reason archaeologists use present-day analogies to understand ancient artifacts?

What was the significance of the 'little heaps of material' found alongside the drainage channels?

What is the characteristic of the drains discovered in the ancient Harappan site of Mohenjodaro?

What was the material used to construct the drains at Lothal?

What is the significance of the 'curry stones' discovered in the ancient Harappan site of Mohenjodaro?

What is the primary purpose of a saddle quern in ancient Harappan societies?

What was the condition of the human remains found in Deadman Lane?

What is the significance of the stratigraphy of an archaeological site?

What was R.E.M. Wheeler's theory about the destruction of the Indus Valley Civilization?

What was George Dales' conclusion about the skeletons found at Mohenjodaro?

What was the purpose of the citadel in Mohenjodaro?

What was the significance of the Rigveda in the context of the Indus Valley Civilization?

What was the archaeologist's mistake in interpreting the skeletons found at Mohenjodaro?

What was the result of the re-examination of the data by archaeologists?