Ch 1: Bricks, Beads and Bones

Highly critical for agricultural tech and dietary patterns. UPSC frequently tests domesticates and irrigation. Note specific locations: canals at Shortughai (Afghanistan) but not in Punjab/Sindh; water reservoirs at Dholavira (Gujarat); ploughed fields at Kalibangan (Rajasthan). Be careful with crop types: millets are found in Gujarat, while rice remains are exceptionally rare. Archaeo-zoological finds include cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, pig, boar, deer, and gharial.

Core of Harappan town-planning. Key details to master include the distinct layout of the Citadel (raised on mud-brick platforms, walled) and the Lower Town (also walled). Focus on drainage networks where streets and drains were laid out first in a grid pattern. Domestic architecture highlights include the central courtyard, absence of ground-level windows (privacy feature), and the presence of about 700 wells in Mohenjodaro. Beware of statements suggesting all buildings had street-facing windows.

Focuses on archaeological methods. Study burial practices: Harappans generally buried the dead in pits with pottery and ornaments, but without massive wealth (unlike Egyptians). Note the distinction between utilitarian items and luxury goods (such as rare faience pots). Craft centers are vital: Chanhudaro was a tiny 7-hectare settlement specialized exclusively in bead-making, shell-cutting, and seal-making. Master the materials used: carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, and steatite (a very soft stone).

Crucial for mapping trade routes and external contacts. Harappans established settlements near resource sources: Nageshwar and Balakot for shell; Shortughai for lapis lazuli; Carnelian from Bharuch; Steatite from Rajasthan. Note the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture in Rajasthan which supplied copper. Distance trade with Oman (copper matches chemically) and Mesopotamia (texts refer to Meluhha as land of seafarers, Magan as Oman, and Dilmun as Bahrain) is highly testable.

UPSC frequently targets the nature of the Harappan script and weights. The script is logosyllabic (undeciphered), written from right to left, and contains 375 to 400 signs. Weights were made of chert, cubical in shape, with no markings. Lower denominations of weights were binary (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.) up to 12,800, while higher denominations followed the decimal system. The uniformity in bricks (1:2:4 ratio) points to a highly centralized administrative authority.

Covers historiography and decline theories. Skip complex details of individual archaeologists' disputes, but remember key methodological shifts: Cunningham missed the significance of Harappa due to his reliance on Chinese Buddhist pilgrims; John Marshall excavated horizontally, mixing up stratigraphy; R.E.M. Wheeler corrected this by introducing stratigraphic excavation. Decline theories include climatic change, deforestation, and floods, but no single factor explains the collapse.