Stone Age

What to learn about Stone Age?

 Time Frame
 Geographical setting
 Food
 Clothing
 Shelter
 Occupation
 Tools
 Arts & Craft
 Uniqueness of Stone age
 What next?
 Time Frame
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
Old Middle New
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Beginning of Inter-glacial Sedentary life, food

period production & pottery

What do the three have in common?

Extensive use of Stone tools
 Geographical Setting
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Hill slopes Hill slopes & Valleys Mostly Hill & River
Valleys
 Food
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Raw/cooked meat from hunted Mostly cooked meat, from Meat, food grains, fruits vegetables,
Birds, deers, insects, and fish. hunted/domesticated animals, & fish. tubers. Cooked.
Gathered fruits, roots, grasses Gathered fruits, roots and wild Mostly from domesticated plants and
and other edible plants. foodgrains. animals, and also fish.
 Clothing
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

No clothes or clothing made out Clothing gets sophisticated and Clothing is done from plant
of animal skin and tree barks to are still made out of animal fibers (Cotton), and attain
protect from cold. skin. fashion status.
 Shelter
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Caves, rock shelters Small dwellings made out Huts made of thatched
of animal skin and sticks roof, mud walls or walls
made out of wood & sticks
 Occupation
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Nomadic, Hunters & Gatherers Hunter, Fishers, Gatherers & begun Food production, Sedentary life.
domestication of animals (Earliest farming community)
Produced ragi, and horsegram (Kulathi)
Extensive domestication of animals
 Tools
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
2 mya- 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Crude stone tools:

Chipped stone tools, Hand-axes, Microliths, Polished stone tools (axes)
cleavers, choppers. & pottery
Specialised stone tools & Microliths
 Arts & Craft
Paleolithic/Mesolithic Neolithic
Cave paintings (Bhimbetka, MP) Pottery

Pottery was
practiced for the first
time as it was
needed for storing
food grains

Types of Pottery:
• Black Burnished-ware
• Grey ware
• Mat-Impressed ware
Arts & Craft
 The first discovery of rock paintings was
made in India in 1867–68 by an
archaeologist, Archibold Carlleyle, 12 years
before the discovery of Altamira in Spain.
 We do not really know if Lower
Palaeolithic people ever produced any
art objects.
 But by the Upper Palaeolithic times we
see a proliferation of artistic activities.
 The subjects of their drawings were
human figures, human activities,
geometric designs and symbols.
Arts & Craft
 Remnants of rock paintings have been found
on the walls of the caves in Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Bihar.
 Examples:
 The rock shelters on banks of the River
Suyal at Lakhudiyar (Uttarakhand)
 Kupgallu, Piklihal and Tekkalkota
 The paintings here can be divided into three
categories: man, animal and geometric
patterns.
 The richest paintings are reported from the
Vindhya ranges of Madhya Pradesh.
Pre-Historic Paintings
 The pre-historic paintings
were generally executed
on rocks and these rock
engravings were called
Petroglyphs
There are three major phases
of pre-historic paintings:
1. Upper Paleolithic Period
(40000–10000 BC)
2. Mesolithic Period
(10000–4000 BC)
3. Chalcolithic Period (2800
– 700 BCE)
Pre-Historic Paintings
Upper Paleolithic Period
 Bhimbetaka caves in Madhya
Pradesh
 They have been called the
‘Zoo Rock Shelter’ because it
depicts various animals
 The walls of the rock shelter
caves were made of
quartzite and so they used
minerals for pigments.
 One of the most common
mineral was ochre or geru
mixed with lime and water.
Upper Paleolithic Period

Red was used for hunters

Upper Paleolithic Period

Green was
used mostly
for dancers.
Pre-Historic Paintings
Mesolithic Period
 Yet again, Bhimbetaka
caves in Madhya
Pradesh
 This period mainly saw
the use of red colour.
 The size of the paintings
also became smaller
during this period
 The most common
scenes depicted in these
paintings is of group
hunting
Significance of Bhimbetka Paintings
 The oldest paintings are
around 30,000 years old.
 The paintings generally
portray every-day life of pre-
historic society
 Various animals are depicted.
 The paintings also show
hunting scenes and war
scenes with men carrying
weapons
 Social life is well-depicted
with presence of children
playing, women making food,
community dancing, etc.
 Paleolithic Age Trivia

Purunas speak about people who

Paleolithic sites are absent in the lived on roots & fruits residing in
alluvial plains of Ganga & Indus caves in the hills.
Neolithic Age Trivia
• Mehrgarh:
• People lived in mud-brick houses
• Produced Wheat and Cotton
• Burzahom
• Has dwelling pits, ceramics and
bone tools.
• Practiced Coarse grey pottery
• Domesticated dogs were buried
with their masters.
• Chirand
• Bone tools, made of deer antlers
were found.
Neolithic Age Trivia
 Evidence of surgery
(trepanation) at
Burzahom (Kashmir)

 Some skulls show healed

holes indicating that
patients even survived
sometimes
Neolithic Age Trivia
• South of Godavari:
• Fire-baked earthen figurines of
cattle were found
• Stone querns were found -> they
knew cereal making
• Allahabad:
• Pople produced rice in 6000 BCE
• Piklihal:
• People were cattle herders -
>Cattle, Sheep and goats
 Stone Age Sites
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
1. Chotanagpur plateau, 1. Bhimbetka, MP 1. Burzahom, Kashmir
2. Kurnool District of Andhra 2. Belan valley, UP 2. Mehrgarh, Baluchistan
3. Didwana in Rajasthan, 3. Bagor in Rajasthan, 3. Gufkral, Kashmir
4. Chittorgarh and Kota, Rajasthan 4. Adamgarh in MP 4. Bhimbetka, MP
5. Bhimbetka, MP (The last 2 sites also provide 5. Belan valley, UP
6. Near rivers such as Narmada evidence of domestication of 6. Chirand, Bihar
and Sohan (in Pakistan) animals) 7. South of Godavari
7. Attirampakkam in Tamilnadu 8. Garo Hills of Assam
9. Mirzapur, UP
Animal remains sites: 10. Allahabad, UP
8. Belan valley, UP 11. Maski, Bramhagiri, Hallur,
Kodekal,Sanganakallu, T. Narsipur,
Piklihal & Takkalakota in Karnataka
12. Paiyampalli, TN
13. Utnur, AP
Uniqueness of Stone Age
 They depended entirely on stone
tools
 They did not move far away from
the hilly areas
 They could produce foodgrains
only for their own needs.
 What next?

People were on the

threshold of
Civilization
 Chronology So far…
Stone Age
Paleolithic: 2 mya- 10,000 BCE
Mesolithic: 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE
Neolithic: 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Chalcolithic Age
What to learn about Chalcolithic Age?
 Time Frame
 Geographical setting
 Food
 Clothing
 Shelter
 Occupation
 Tools
 Arts & Crafts
 Belief System
 What’s news in this era?
 What next?
 Time Frame
2800 BCE – 700 BCE

Stone Age Bronze Age

Chalcolithic Age
Geographical Setting
 They lived on the plains
 They stayed near places
where they can source copper
and stones.
 The culture intruded into the
Neolithic sites in the south
 Different cultures of the era:
Jorwe culture, Malwa
culture, Ahar Culture
Geographical Setting
 Food

Rice Pulses Fish (eastern India) Goat

And they also

hunted…….

Bajra Wheat Cattle (cows/buffaloes)

 Clothing

People knew spinning and weaving and well acquainted

with cloth-making | Cotton clothes
Shelter
 Stone built houses
(Ahar)
 Pit houses & Mud
houses with ovens
(Inamgaon)
 In most cases they
did not use burnt
bricks and lived in
thatched houses.
Location of homes

They were primarily

living in a rural set up
(Except Daimabad & Inamgaon)
Occupation
 Subsistence agriculture
(Wheat, Rice, Bajra,
Pulses), cattle raising,
hunting, fishing.
 Increased number of
cereals than Neolithic
cultures.
 Domesticated animals
(Cows, sheep, goats, pigs
and buffaloes and hunted
deers)
Occupation
 They knew the art of
copper smelting and
metallurgy
 However, they still
used stone
implements along
with copper.
 Tools

People used Stone and Copper tools

 Arts & Crafts
 Manufactured
semi-precious
stones such as
Steatite,
Carnelian and
Carnelian
Quartz crystal
Steatite
 They also made
ceramics
Malwa Ceramics
(Malwa)
Quartz
Arts & Crafts
Chalcolithic Period
 This period saw the increase in
the number of paintings using
the green and yellow colour.
 Most of the paintings
concentrate on depicting
battle scenes.
 Paintings of men riding
horses and elephants
carrying bow and arrow which
might indicate preparedness
for
Arts and Crafts

 People knew spinning

and weaving and well
acquainted with cloth-
making
Arts and Crafts
 They were the first to use painted
pottery
 Wheel-turned Black and Red Ware
pottery was practiced

 Ochre coloured Pottery (a.k.a red-

slipped ware) was practiced at
Ganeshwar
 Arts and Crafts

Dishes On Stand Channel Spouted pots Bowls On Stand

People from Maharashtra, Bihar and MP produced Channel

Spouted pots, dishes on stand, bowls on stand.
Belief System
 Worshipped Mother goddess
(terracotta figurines of women were
found)

 In Malwa, Bull was worshipped

(terracotta figurines of bulls were
found)
Belief System
 People buried their dead in
Urns under the floor of
their house in North-South
Direction (in Maharashtra),
East-West in South India
 They did not have separate
cemeteries
 Pots and copper objects
were buried along with the
dead.
Belief System
 Fractional burial
prevailed in eastern
India
 Complete burial
was practiced in
western India
Backwardness of Chalcolithic people
 Domesticated animals were not milked. They were simply slaughtered -> They didn’t make full use of
animals

 They did not practice agriculture in the black cotton soil area.

 Chalcolithic social & economic pattern did not promote life expectancy as many children’s burials
were found.

 People did not know bronze making.

 They did not know to read/write (absence of a script) and lived in rural settlements

 While they contributed to the advanced Harappan settlements, they did not receive any technological
benefits from them.

 The people were not aware of horses

What’s new in this era?
Settlement hierarchy was found
 There was a larger settlement (dominant) close to a smaller
settlement (subservient) implies beginnings of Social
inequalities
 Some were buried with copper ornaments, some were
buried only with pots

Chiefs dominated over others

 A house with 5 rectangular rooms & a circular room at the
centre, located in the middle of the settlement (Inamgaon),
probably belonged to the chief.
 A granary was located close to the house
 Chiefs of both settlements lived in rectangular houses
dominated the others in the settlements who lived in
circular houses.

Social Distance
 Craftsmen were located at a distance from the chief’s home
Chalcolithic Age Trivia
Ahar Culture
 People of Ahar practiced smelting and metallurgy from
the very beginning.
 Tambavati is the old name for Ahar. It means a place for
copper processing.
 Gilund is considered a regional center of Ahar
 Ahar did not use microlithic tools. Stone axes and
blades were absent

Ganeshwar
 Located near the Khetri Copper belt of Rajasthan
 Copper objects found: Arrow heads, spearheads, fish
hooks, colts, bangles, chisels
 Microliths were found

Other
 Navdatoli is the only place where all the foodgrains of
chalcolithic cultures: wheat, rice, bajra, pulses, ber and
linseed were found.
 Inamgaon was fortified and surrounded by a moat (So
was Kayatha and Eran)
Chalcolithic Age Trivia
Relation to Indus Valley
Civilization
 Most sites rose after the end of
Harappan Civilization.
 Malwa and Jorwe is considered non-
Harappan in nature
 Ganeshwar culture is a pre-Harappan
chalcolithic culture, which
contributed to the Mature Harappan
culture
 Daimabad held large number of
bronze articles -> highly influenced
by Harappan civilization.
 What next?
 In the east, Chalcolithic cultures led to Iron
Age
 In the south Chalcolithic cultures evolved
into Megalithic cultures with the help of
Iron.
 Chronology So far…
Stone Age
Paleolithic: 2 mya- 10,000 BCE
Mesolithic: 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE
Neolithic: 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Chalcolithic Age (2800 BCE – 700 BCE)
Indus Valley
Civilization
 What to learn?
 Discovery
 Time Frame
 Geographical setting
 Uniqueness of IVC
 Transformation of Society
 Food
 Clothing
 Shelter/Town planning
 Administration
 Occupation
 Belief System
 Science & Technology
 Harappan Script
 Origin & Decline
What was originally thought?
Scholars thought that
Indian civilization had
begun in the Ganges
valley as Aryan
immigrants from Persia
and central Asia
populated the region
around 1250 BCE
 Discovery of Harappa

In the mid 19th Century, a Burnt bricks from a nearby

railway live was built ‘ruined city’ provided the
between Karachi & Lahore Ballast for the rails.
 Discovery of Harappa
40 Years

1872 – The 1st

Harappan Seal
was Published.
By 1912, many more Harappan seals
were discovered in much older
historic layers
 Discovery of Harappa
1924 – John Marshall, Director of ASI, announced the discovery of a new
civilization to the world.
History gets older
The discovery of
ancient Harappan
cities unsettled the
original conception
of Indian History
and moved the
timeline back
another 1500 years
 Time Frame

Indus Valley Civilization is divided into 3 phases

 Early Harappan Phase from 3300 to 2600 BCE (Integration Era)
 Mature Harappan Phase from 2600 to 1900 BCE (Localisation Era)
 Late Harappan Phase from 1900 to 1300 BCE (Regionalisation Era)
Comparative Time Frame
Geographical Extent
Geographical Extent

 Eastern most – Alamgirpur

 Western most – Sutkagan Dor
 Northern most – Manda
 Southern most – Daimabad
Comparative Geography
 IVC is the largest
among the
contemporaries
(12,00,000 sq. km)
 1500 sites have
been excavated so far
 What makes IVC stand out?
 A multi racial, modern society which was urban (unlike others which
came before, after or even existed contemporarily)
 1st literate society in the subcontinent
 1st planned civilization in the world (better planned than the
Mesopotamians)
 Had the world’s 1st closed drainage/sanitation system
 Had a standard system of weights and measures.
 A secular and peace loving society
 Excellent traders with exceptional customs system.
 Transformation of Society
High Agricultural Produce Increased Population

Increased Secondary
Urbanisation Economic Activity
Why is it called culture?
 Archeologists use the term
‘Culture’ for a group of objects,
distinctive in style, belonging
to a particular area.
 Distinctive features for IVC:
 Burnt Bricks
 Seals
 Beads
 Bronze-Making
 Food
Other Food items as in
the Chalcolithic culture:

Rice
Pulses
Vegetables
Fruits
Barley Domesticated Cattle,
goats, sheep.

Wheat
 Clothing

Used Cotton clothes

Shelter/Town Planning
 They had a Citadel (Smaller but
higher) and a Lower Town (bigger)
 Citadels were built on mud/brick
platforms on the western side.
Lower town was on the eastern side
 Houses were arranged in grid
system
 Roads cut across each other in right
angles.
 Rich structures implies that the
ruling class was capable of
mobilising labour and collecting
taxes
Shelter/Town Planning
The Great Bath  A tank situated in the citadel
mound. (11.88 m X 7.01 X 2.43 m)
 A flight of steps at either end
 Rooms at the sides for changing
clothes
 Floor of the bath was made of
burnt bricks
 Water was drawn from a nearby
well
 Great Bath served as a place for
ritual bathing
 Entire structure was made water-
tight by sealing with Bitumen.
Shelter/Town Planning
Granaries  They constituted an important
part of IVC cities
 Largest structure ever: Granary
in Mohenjodaro - great granary
- 45.71 m X 15.23 m
 Granary in Harappa – 6 small
structures – 6.09 m X 15.23 m
(also had two rooms for
labourers)
 Granary in Kalibagan
 They were used for threshing
(Wheat and Barley have been
found in the crevices of the
floor
 Shelter/Town Planning
Drainage
Mohenjodaro’s drainage system is very remarkable
 Every house had its own courtyard & Bathroom
 Water flowed from each house to the drainage line on
the streets which are collected outside the city and
disposed (Banawali)
 Drains were closed with bricks or stone slabs
 Man-holes were present for inspection and de-
clogging

No other bronze age civilization gave importance to

Sanitation and cleanliness as Indus Valley Civilization
Drainage System did.
Shelter/Town Planning
 In Kalibangan, each
house had its own
well.
 Lothal had a dockyard
 Water Harvesting was
done in Dholavira
Shelter/Town Planning

Burnt bricks we used (Egyptians used dried bricks,

Mesopotamians used baked bricks)
 Administration
All IVC sites used the same town planning, Same seals, same
terracotta works, same tools, weapons and housing.
=> Cultural homogeneity

Cultural homogeneity
=> Central Authority

They lasted for several centuries

=> The Political Administration was very stable
Administration
 The Central Authority
was obviously more
focused on commerce
than religion or
conquests.
 This implies that
Harappans were
probably ruled by a
Merchant class.
Occupation - Agriculture
Conditions in IVC in 2500 BCE
 It received high rainfall, had rich vegetation which provided
with timber for fuel.
 Indus carried large quantities of silt (more than Nile)
 Annual inundation of Indus -> increased the fertility of the
soil (Walls made of burnt bricks along the riverside shows that
floods took place annually)

Conditions Today
 Indus valley at present is not very fertile (receives only
around 10-12 cm rain annually)
 Destruction of natural vegetation by extension of
agriculture, large scale grazing and cutting of trees for fuel
destroyed the soil fertility.
Occupation - Agriculture
Ploughing
 Furrows were found in sites in Rajasthan
(Kalibangan).
 Field had 2 sets of furrows cutting each
other at right angles -> 2 different crops
were grown together
 They probably used wooden ploughshare
 Terracotta figures of ploughs have been
found in Banawali and Cholistan
Sowing
 People sowed wheat and barley seeds in
November and Harvested in April.
Occupation - Agriculture
Irrigation
 They lived in semi-arid
conditions -> They needed
irrigation: Traces of canals have
been found (Shortughai,
Afghanistan)
 Gabarbands or Nalas enclosed
by dams for storing water (In
Baluchistan and Afghanistan
areas)
Occupation - Agriculture
Harvesting
 Stone sickles/blades were used
 In general, they produced wheat, barley
(Banawali), Peas, mustard, Sesamum, rice
(in 1800 BCE @ Lothal).
 They produced surplus, good enough to
trade and expand their economy
 Grains were stored in granaries
 Stored grains were used for the payment of
wages as well as during emergencies. They
were also received as taxes
 They were the earliest in the world to
produce cotton -> Greeks called cotton
Sindon (derived from Sindh)because of this.
Occupation – Domestication of Animals
 Oxen, Buffaloes,
goats, sheep, pigs,
humped bulls (highly
favoured)
 Asses & camels
(beasts of burden)
 Dogs & cats were
pets
 Cow’s images were
absent
Occupation – Comparison with Mesopotamia

 They produced the same

food grains and
domesticated the same
animals as IVC people.
 But.. Unlike the
Mesopotamians, the IVC
people of Gujarat
produced rice &
domesticated elephants.
Occupation – Bead making
Bead-Making
 Beads were made of
Carnelian, Steatite, Quartz,
and Jasper
 Metals were also used: gold,
bronze, silver
 Beads made out of shells,
faience and terracotta were
found
 Beads were shaped in
varied designs
Occupation – Pottery
Pottery
 Pottery (Using potter’s wheel) –
made shiny and glossy pots
 Painted pots with intricate
designs
 Decorated with trees and
circles.
 Images of men also appear
Occupation – Seal Making
Seal-Making
 Used for long distance
Communication.
 It conveyed the source of goods
and its integrity.
 Greatest artistic creations of
IVC
 2000 seals have been identified
so far
 Prominent Animals in seals:
One horned bull, Buffalo, Tiger,
Rhinoceros, Goat and Elephant
Occupation – Luxury Goods
Luxury goods:
 Faience Pots (difficult to make ->
luxury good). They were
probably used to store perfume
 Vanity box was found with
Copper mirror and lipstick ->
sense of fashion
 Gold was very rare to find

Jewels:
 Bangles, Necklaces and Rings
Occupation – Statue Making
Statues
 Bronze Making - Made
great images in bronze –
Dancing girl statue
 Steatite statue of a priest
wearing an ornamental
robe with his hair woven
at the back of his head.
 IVC is poor in the artistry
of stone
Occupation – Terracotta figurines
Terracotta Figurines
 Figurines made of fire-baked earthen
clay
 Figurines were either used as toys or
for worship
 Birds, dogs, sheep, cattle, monkeys and
also humans (mostly women) were
represented
 Unlike the seals and statues, terracotta
figurines are unsophisticated
 The lack of sophistication implies the
gap between the social classes that
used them
Occupation - Trade
They traded with Central Asia &
Mesopotamia
 Seals were found in IVC (Lothal) and in
Mesopotamia
 Mesopotamians called Indus Valley as
Meluha -> from where they received
Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, copper and gold
through trade
 They also refer to IVC people as seafarers
 IVC traded a lot in Lapis Lazuli
(Considered as prestigious by the ruling
class)
 The Balance of trade was beneficial to IVC
Occupation – Other crafts
 Cotton Weaving
 Spindle whorls were used
 Brick-laying
 Boat Making
 Basket-making
 Goldsmiths - Jewellery made of
silver, gold and precious stones
(Obtained from Afghanistan and
South India)
Sourcing of Raw materials
 Shells: Nageshwar and Balakot
 Lapis Lazuli (very highly
valued): Shortughai
 Carnelian: Lothal
 Steatite and copper: Rajasthan
 Copper: From Khetri in
Rajasthan (Chalcolithic site)
Copper was also sourced from
Oman (Chemical analysis
shows Omani copper)
Belief System
 No religious structure has been
found in IVC.
 The only exception is The
Great Bath in Mohenjo-Daro
 This implies Priests did not
rule IVC (like in Mesopotamia)
 Worship was personal.
 Gods were not placed in
temples (As in Egypt and
Mesopotamia)
Belief System
Mother goddess:
 Terracotta figurines of women were
found
 A plant was shown growing out the
embryo of women -> representation of
Goddess Earth
 Mother Goddess was worshipped as
goddess of fertility
Fire Cult
 Practice of Fire Cult in Lothal &
Kalibangan have been identified
 Fire alters were found in houses
Belief System
Pashupati Mahadeva
 Represented on a seal
 Has 3-horned head
 Represented in a sitting (lotus) posture of a
Yogi
 Surrounded by animals: Elephants, Tiger,
Rhinoceros, Buffalo
 Regarded as the Master of Animals
Phallic gods
 Symbols of Phallus and Yoni have been found
(Harappa)
 Rig Veda speaks about non-Aryan people
worshipping phallic symbols
Belief System
Tree & Animal Worship
 Peepal tree was worshipped
 One horned unicorn was the most
important animal which was worshipped
 Secondly, Humped bull was worshipped

Amulets
 Amulets have been found in large
numbers => They believed in ghosts and
evil spirits
 Atharva Veda (associated with non-Aryan
tradition talks about using amulets to
ward off diseases and evil forces
Belief System
Had ceremonial burial practices and the
dead were buried outside the city

Many types of Body disposal:

 Cremation, Partial Burial, Pot Burial,
Double Burial (Lothal), Coffin Burial
(Mohenjo-Daro), Complete Burial
 Sometimes the hollowed out spaces were
lined with bricks -> Maybe this indicates
social differences
 Graves containing pots, semi-precious
ornaments and sometimes copper mirrors
-> belief in afterlife
Science & Technology
 Experts at Bronze making.
 Medicine: Skull with stitch-marks were
found
 They also practiced some form of
dentistry
 They used burnt bricks
 They knew mathematics: Used binary
system
 They used solid wheels (some kind of
modern Ekka) for carts, but not spoked
wheels
Harappan Script
 They invented the art of writing (like
Mesopotamians)
 They wrote on stone seals and other objects
like pots and bronze artifacts.
 Their inscriptions are not long and contain
only a few words (longest had 26 signs on
them)
 Still undeciphered => we cannot judge the
Harappan contribution to literature, ideas and
beliefs
 Links have been suggested for the script to be
proto-Dravidian and Sanskrit but there is no
clear, empirical evidence to suggest either way.
Harappan Script
What we know
 They are not related to
Mesopotamian or Egyptian
scripts at all.
 There are totally around 400
pictographs (it is not
alphabetical).
 The script is written from
right to left
 Origin & Decline
Origin
 It is very difficult to explain the origin and the decline of IVC
 We do no know if some of the pre-Harappan sites (in Baluchistan, in
Kalibangan) contributed to the Harappan culture
 We do no know if Outside influence (Mesopotamians) Contributed.
 But this is very doubtful as the culture is very distinct

Decline
 1900 BCE – Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro vanishes (Mesopotamia
continues to exist even afterwards)
 By 1900 BCE the urban phase of the IVC seems to have declined steadily.
 IVC culture in other places faded away gradually
 Origin & Decline
Reasons for decline
 Decline of Trade
 Decline in rainfall
 Decreasing fertility
 Expansion of the neighbouring desert and increased salinity of soil
 Sudden subsidence or uplift of land, causing unprecedented floods
(Mohenjo-Daro was inundated several times)
 Change in the course of Indus resulting from an earthquake (Evidences seen
in Kalibangan)
 Over population (sudden disappearance of town planning. Houses were
being built on the middle of the roads)
 Origin & Decline
Reasons for decline
War, Destruction by Aryans:
 Bodies were found on the streets
 Ash layers -> widespread burning down of towns
 Fractured skulls
 Sanskrit Literature clearly records the Aryan invasion. Indra, chief of the Aryan gods, is
repeatedly referred to as "destroyer of cities" and exterminator of dasyus
 Indra is called as Purandar -> Destroyer of forts
 Origin & Decline
Consequences of Decline
 Urban phase vanished after 1900 BCE
 Migration of merchants, craftsman
 The Late Harappan culture were primarily chalcolithic,
 Discontinuity of Indus Valley culture
 Dissemination of the Harappan way of life
 There were no terracotta figurines and painted designs
 Trade completely stopped with Mesopotamia, Central Asia
 Origin & Decline
What happened to the Harappans in the end?
 Hoards of ornaments were buried in the late Harappan culture
 Skulls were huddled together
 New types of axes, knives with Midribs, daggers appear
(probably of foreign origin)
 New kinds of people appeared,
 New types of pottery were practiced
 But so far, there is no empirical evidence to confirm that Aryans
and Harappans entered into conflict.
 Chronology So far…
Stone Age
Paleolithic: 2 mya- 10,000 BCE
Mesolithic: 10,000 BCE – 4000 BCE
Neolithic: 6000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Chalcolithic Age (2800 BCE – 700 BCE)
Indus Valley Civilization (2600 BCE – 1900 BCE)