THEME-1 BRICKS, BEADS AND BONES (QUESTION ANSWER)

THEME-1

BRICKS, BEADS AND BONES

(QUESTION ANSWER)

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NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS

1. List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.
Ans:

FOOD WHO RPOVIDE THESE FOOD ITEMS (i)    From plants Food Gatherers (ii) Flesh and Fish Hunter gatherers (iii)  Wheat, Maize, Millets, Pulses, rice, peas, etc Farmers

2. How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?
Ans: (a) Archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society in the following ways:

(i)     By studying Burial sites

(ii)   By studying artefacts and classified them into utilitarian and “luxuries”.

(b) The archaeologists have noticed the following differences in the socio-economic conditions in Harappan society:

1. In the Harappan society, the dead were generally laid in pits. In some burial pits the hallowed-out spaces were lined with bricks.
2. Some graves contain pottery and ornaments.
3. In some instances the dead were buried with copper mirrors.
4. Artefacts are divided into two categories – utilitarian and luxuries. The utilitarian objects are of daily use. These are made of ordinary materials such as stone and clay. These are found in all settlements. Luxury items are found in large settlements of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. These are made of valuable materials like faience. Gold too was rare and precious as all the gold jewellery has been found at Harappan sites.

3. Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans: Yes, I agree with that the drainage system in Harappan cities which indicates the town planning. I can cite the following reasons in support of my answer.

1. The drainage system needed a planning for its execution. It seems that first drainages were laid out and then houses were built along with the drains. Every house was supposed to have at least one wall along a street to allow the domestic waste water to flow out in the street drains. The plans of the lower town show that roads and streets were laid out along an approximate grid pattern, intersecting at right angles.
2. It appears that human settlement was made by planning from the beginning. The city was restricted to a fixed area on the platforms.
3. Bricks, sundried or baked, were of standard ratio. The length and breadth of bricks were of four times and twice the height respectively These bricks were used at all the settlements of the Harappan Civilisation.

4. List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan Civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.
Ans: Making beads was an important craft of the Harappan people. It was mainly prevalent in Chanhudaro.

(i) Materials for making beads included beautiful red coloured stone-like camelian, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite.

(ii) Besides these, use of copper, bronze, gold, shell, faience, terracotta or burnt clay was also used.

Process of making beads :-

(i) Making of beads differed as per the materials used. Beads had varietyof shapes.
(ii) Nodules were to be chipped for making rough shapes. They were finally flaked into the final form.
(iii) By firing the yellowish raw material, the red colour of camelian was obtained. Grinding, polishing and drilling constituted the last phase.

(iv) Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira were famous for specialized drilling.

5. Look at figure 1.30 (See NCERT page-26) and describe what you see. How is the body placed? What are the objects placed near it? Are there any artefacts on the body? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton?
Ans: Following observations can be obtained after looking at the figure:

1. Body has been kept in North-south direction in a pit,
2. Many graves contain pottery and ornaments which include jar.
3. Yes, jewellery like bangles are there on the body.
4. Yes, this indicates towards the sex of the skeleton, Le. it is the body of a woman.

It is concluded that there were great social or economic differences among the people living within the area of the Harappan Civilisation. But as a whole it appears that the Harappan did not believe in burying precious things with the dead.

6. Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro. Ans: Planned City: Harappa as a planned urban centre. It had two parts. One part of the city was small. It was built on a higher place.

The second part was comparatively large. It was built on a lower place. The first part was designed as citadel and the second part was as lower town. The citadel owed its height to the fact that it was built on mud brick platforms. It had walls on all sides and these walls were separated from the lower town.

Lower Town: It was also a walled town. Most of the buildings were built on platforms.
In fact, these platforms were considered as foundation stones. It required huge quantity of labour force to build these platforms. It is obvious that settlement was first planned and then implemented as per the building plan. Quality of sun-dried bricks or baked bricks also prove the concept of planning.
All the bricks were of standard ratio. The length and width was four times and twice the height of the bricks respectively. These bricks were used in the settlements of the Harappan Civilisation.

Drainage System: The drainage system was well planned. All the roads and streets were laid out on a grid pattern. They intersected one another at the right angles. It seems that streets featuring drains were laid out first and houses were built thereafter along with them. To make the flow of domestic water, every house had at least one wall along the street.

The Citadel: There were many buildings in the citadel. These buildings were used for many special public purposes. The Warehouse and the Great Bath were the two most important constructions.

7. List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan Civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.
Ans: (a) The raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation was as given below:

1. Stones like camelian, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite;
2. Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and
3. Shell, faience and terracotta, or burnt clay.

(b) The above raw materials might have been obtained as mentioned below :

1. They established settlements such as Nageshwar and Balakot in areas where shell was available. Other places were Shortughai, in far-off Afghanistan, near the best source of lapis lazuli, a blue stone and Lothal near the sources of camelian, steatite and metal.
2. The second way was to send expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and south India for gold.
3. The third way to have contact with distant lands. For example, copper was brought from Oman, on the south-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Mesopotamian texts mention contact with Meluhha, possibly the Harappan region. It is likely that communication with Oman, Bahrain or Mesopotamia was by sea.

8. Discuss, how archaeologists reconstruct the past.
Ans: Recovering artefacts through excavation.

- Classification of finds that finds are whether tools or weapons or

ornaments or both or something meant for ritual use.

- An understanding of the function of an artifact is often shaped by it

resemblance with present day things. Beads, pots are obvious examples.

- Archaeologists reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining

seals, some of which seem to depict ritual scenes

- Archaeologists often move from known to unknown that is from present to

past regarding the reconstruction of religious practices.

- Remains of crops or pits are studied to identify food.

- By observing the different layers of sites they try to find out different things for the information of Socio-economic conditions, religious and cultural life of past people.

- Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by

investigating the context in which it was found.

- Use of indirect evidence eg. for clothing they depend on indirect evidence

like description in sculpture

9. Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.
Ans: Some archaeologists say that Harappan society had no rulers and that everybody enjoyed equal status.

- Others feel there were no single ruler but several.

- Under the guidance and supervision of the rulers, plans and layout of the city were prepared.

- Big buildings, palaces, forts, tanks, wells, canals, granaries etc were

constructed under the supervision of rulers.

- Roads, drains were also constructed and cleanliness was maintained

under the overall supervision of ruler.

- The ruler might have taken interest in promoting the farmer to increase production and the craftsmen to promote different handicrafts

- He maintained and controlled extra ordinary uniformity of Harappa's

artefacts like - Seals, Weight and bricks.

- During foreign attack and natural disaster he used to play an active role by providing security and food,

- He used to issue common acceptable coins or seals, weight and

measurements.

 10. On the given map, use a pencil to circle the sites where evidence of agriculture has been recovered. Mark an X against sites where there is evidence of craft production and R against sites where raw materials were found.

Ans: (i) Sites of agriculture: Harappa, Banawali, Kalibangan, Mohenjodaro, Dholavira (Gujarat).
(ii) Sites of craft production: Chanhudaro, Nageshwar, Balakot.

(iii) Sites of raw material: Nageshwar, Balakot, Khetri.

        ONE MARKS QUESTIONS

Q1.Which of the following name is appropriate, Indus valley civilization or Harappan Culture.

Ans: Harappan Culture.

Q2. Which was the first site of Indus valley civilization where this unique culture was discovered?

Ans: Harappa.

Q3. Where was evidence of ploughed field found in Indus Valley Civilization?

Ans: Kalibangan.

Q4: Terracotta models of the plough have been found at which sites in Indus valley Civilization?

Ans: 1. Cholistan

2. Banawali

Haryana

Q5. From which traces of canals have been found in Indus valley Civilization.

Ans: Shortughai

Q6. Where was water reserve found in Indus valley Civilization .

Ans : Dhaulavira

Q7. Name any two structures which were found in the Citadel?

Ans: 1. The warehouse -

2. The great bath -

Q8. In Mesopotamians texts Dilmun, Meluhha and Magan words are used for which centres?

Ans : Dilmun for Bahrain

Meluhha for Harappa

Magan for Oman.

Q9. The longest signs containing inscription contains how many signs?

Ans : 26 Signs

Q10. Harappa Script was written from which side?

Ans : From Right to left.

Q11: Weights were usually made of which stone in Indus valley Civilization.

Ans: Chert.

Afghanistan

Gujarat

In Harappa

In Mohenjodaro

Q12. Weights were generally made in which form?

Ans: Cubical with No markings.

Q13.What was the type of the lower denomination of weights?

Ans: Binary (1,2,4,8,16, 32 upto 12,800)

Q14: what was the type of the higher denominations of weights?

Ans: Decimal System

Q15: Who was the first Director General of A. S. I. ?

Ans: Cunningham.

Q16: What was the time period of Cunningham’s main interest in history?

Ans: 600 B.C.E. to 400 C. E.

Q17: Who announced the discovery of a new civilization in the Indus valley?

Ans: John Marshall.

Q.18. Who has written “The story of India Archaeology”

Ans. S.N.Roy

Q.19. Who was the first professional archaeologist to work in India?

Ans. John Marshall

Q.20. What was the new technique that was followed by R.E.M. Wheeler?

Ans. To Follow the stratigraphy of the round rather than digging horizontal lines.

Q.21 How did the Harappans obtain red colour of carnelian?

Ans:-Harappans obtained red colour of carnelian by firing the

yellowish raw material and beads at various stages of production.

Q.22 How do we know about the social differences among the Harappans?

Ans:-By study of the structure of burials and things found from these burials. By classifying artifacts into useful and luxurious things.

Q.23 What were the animals of Harappans civilization?

Ans:- Pet animals :- Cattle , Sheep , Goat , Buffalo , Pig - Wild animal: - Boar, Deer, Ghariyal.

Q. 24 List the food items available to the people in Harappan civilization?

Ans:- Products taken from plants; Fish and flesh; wheat, millet, pulses, rice etc.

Q-25.The first discovered Harappa site was?

Ans-.      Harappa

Q-26.One Harappan site in Haryana

Ans-.      Banwali

Q-27.The site where fire altars and ploughed field found

Ans-   Kalibangan

Q-28.A specialised centre for shell making

Ans-      Balakot

Q-29.The most recently discovered site Haryana 

Ans-5.      Rakhi Garhi

Q-30The site where water reservoirs found

Ans-  Dholavira

   Q-31.  One specialized centre for shell making

Ans- Nageshwar

   Q-32.The Important Harappan site from Gujarat

Ans- Lothal

   Q-33.  The site where R.D Banerji conducted excavations

Ans- Mohenjodaro

   Q-34.The major centre of bead making

Ans- Chanhudaro

    Q-35.One Harappan site now in Pakistan.

Ans-.  Kot Diji

S. A (3 Marks)

Que.1. How were the dead bodies disposed of in Harappan    civilization?

Ans: - From the archaeological finds it is believed that –

i. The dead bodies were buried in the ground

ii. The dead body was left in the open for the animals and birds to eat its flesh.Skeleton were buried in the ground

2. Mention two features of the Harappan civilization?

Ans. i) It was an urban civilization.

ii) It was primarily based on trade

iii) The people were peace loving

v) Had well planned cities

3. Give two features of the Harappan writing?

Or

In what way is the Harappan script unique?

Ans 1. It is not alphabetical. Has not yet not been deciphered

2. Probably written from right to left as wide gaps are seen on the right and cramping on the left.

3. Writing found on copper tools, Jars, seals, terracotta, tablets etc.

4. Mention the names of two persons who discovered the Harappan civilization.

                             OR

Who contributed in discovering Harappan civilization?

Ans. i. Dayaram Sahni

II R D Banarjee

iii. Cunningham

IV John Marshall

v. Wheeler

vi. N.G.Mazumdar

5. How do you know about the lives of Harappan people?

Ans. On the basis of finds and remains like

a)Ruins of buildings

b) Pottery

c) Ornaments

d) Tools and seals

6. Name the ornaments found near the burial in Harappa.

Ans: - a) Rings of shells. b) Beads c) Jasper

7. Write important features of great bath of Mohenjo-Daro.

Ans: - a) It was made of finely built burnt bricks.

 b) Great bath reflects credit on the engineering skill.

c) It measures 12m X 7m and is 3m deep

d) The great bath had efficient drainage to flush out dirty water.

8. Mention opinion of archaeologists about the existence of rulers in Harappan Society.

Ans: - a) some archaeologists have opinion that they had no rulers and everybody Enjoyed equal status.

b) Some suggest that there were several rulers.

c) Others argue that there was single state to maintain the uniformity in

Society.

9. Write the salient features of Harappan Agriculture technologies?

OR

What type of evidence found in Harappan sites related to agriculture technology?

Ans: - i. Representation on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull Was known

ii. Oxen were used for ploughing.

iii. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a ploughed field of kalibangan

iv. The field had two sets of furrows at right angles to each other suggesting That two different crops were grown together.

V. Most Harappan sites are located in semi-arid lands, where irrigation was Probably required for agriculture.

vi. Traces of canals have been found at the Harappan site of shortughai in Afghanistan.

10. Write the salient features of Mohenjo-Daro.

Or

“Mohenjo-Daro was a well planned Urban city” explain it.

Or

Write the salient feature of Harappan civilization.

Ans: - 1. A planned urban Centre: - Mohenjo-Daro was divided in two parts. First One is Height part called citadel and second one is Lower part is called

Lower town.

2. Laying out drains.

3. Roads and streets.

4. Domestic architecture.

5. Great Bath.

 11. What was Cunningham‟s confusion on Harappan period? Explain it.

OR

On which basis Harappan civilization time period was divided by Cunningham.

Or

In real, was Cunningham didn‟t understand the time period of Harappan in his whole life.

Ans: - i. The written word (text and inscriptions) as a guide to investigations. In Fact Cunningham‟s main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic (6th century BCE – 4th Century CE) and later period.

ii. He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited.The subcontinent between the 4th & 7th centuries CE to locate early Settlement.

iii. A site like Harappa, which was not part of the itinerary of the Chinese Pilgrims and was not known as an early historic city.

iv. Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganges valley. Given his Specific focus, it is not surprising that he missed the significance of

Harappa.

V. A Harappan seal was given to Cunningham by an Englishman. He noted.The subject, but unsuccessfully tried to place it within the time frame With which he was familiar.

12. How Harappan civilization changed from Urban to rural civilization.

Or

How a well planned civilization of Harappa was decline.

Ans: - 1. Due to changes in climate

2. Deforestation.

3. Excessive floods

4. The shifting and/or drying up or rivers

5. Foreign attack.

6. To over use of the landscape.

13. „Was there a singular ruler in Harappan society‟ explain it

Or

Explain the ruling system of Harappan Society.

Ans: - i. Some archeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no Rulers, and that everybody enjoyed equal status.

ii. Other feel there was no single ruler lout several, that Mohenjo-Daro had a Separate rulers Harappa another and so forth.

iii. Yet others argue that there was a single state, given the similarity in

Artefacts, the standardized ratio of brick size, and the establishment of

Settlements near sources of raw material.

iv. A stone statue was labelled and continues to be known as the „priest-

King‟. This is because archaeologists were familiar with Mesopotamian

History and its priest-king.

Q14. Our Knowledge about the Indus Valley Civilization is poorer than that of other civilizations, why?

Ans:-Because -We could not read the script of that age till now.

- Dependency on only archaeological sources .i.e. buildings, seal, beads etc.

- For other civilizations literary sources are available unlike Indus Valley

Civilization.

Q.15 List the raw material required for craft production in Indus Valley Civilization and how these might have been obtained?

Ans:- - Stone -like carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, and steatite.

- Metal - like- copper, bronze, gold.

- Shell , faience and terracotta

Method of procuring material for craft production-

(A)They established settlement near the source of material -eg Nageshwar,

Balakot

(B)They might have sent expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of

Rajasthan (for copper) and south India (for gold)

Q.16 What was the confusion in the mind of Cunningham while studying Harappan Civilization?

Ans:-

- He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited India between the fourth and seventh century.

- He thought that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga Valley.

Q.18 What were the differences in techniques adopted by Marshall and wheeler in studying Indus Valley Civilization.

Ans:-

- Marshall tended to excavate along regular horizontal units, measured uniformly throughout the mound ignoring the stratigraphy of the site. Due to this technique valuable information about the context of these finds was

irretrievably lost.

- Wheelers recognized that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the

mound rather than digging mechanically along uniform horizontal lines.

Q.19. What were the features of settlements of pre- Harappa period?

Ans:-

- They had no large buildings.

- There was a prevalence of agriculture and cattle rearing.

Some people were also engaged in sculpture.

- There was no well-planned network of roads and drainage system.

Q.20. How you can say that the people of Mohenjodaro were concerned about their privacy?

Ans:-

- On the basis of residential buildings & special structures.

- The main entrance of the houses was made in such a way that it did not give adirect view of the interior or the courtyard.

- There were no windows in the walls along the ground level.

Q.21. Mention any four items found in the graves of the Harappans?

Ans:-Jewellary of both men and women ornaments consisting of three shell

rings, a jasper (Semi precious Stones) Beads and copper mirror.

Q.22. How you can say that there was a break between the early Harappan and the late Harappan Civilization?

Ans:- - There is evidence of large scale burning at some places or sites.

- The abandonment of certain settlements.

- Some drastic change we can see in town planning, drainage system and otherpatterns.

Q.23. Why is Harappan script considered an enigmatic script or mysterious script?

OR

What are the main characteristics of Harappan Script?

Ans:-

- Because it is yet to be deciphered. Its mystery has still not been solved yet.

- It was not alphabetical. It had too many signs; all the signs symbolized certain things.

- The sign of this script were of the period 375 to 400.

- The script has been found on a variety of objects.

Q.24. Write a note on the agriculture technology of Harappans?

An2:-

- The prevalence of agriculture is indicated by finds of grains in various sites of civilization. Archaeologists have found evidence of a ploughed field at seals and terracotta sculpture indicates that the bull was known and oxen were used for ploughing.

- Two different crops were grown together.

- Canals and wells were constructed for irrigation. Traces of canals have been found in all the Harappan sites of Shortughai in Afghanistan; Water reservoirs have been found in Dhaulavira.

Q.25. How can you say that the Harappan culture was an urban one?

Ans

- The cities were well planned into upper and lower town.

- The roads were straight and wide.

- The houses were made of burnt bricks and contained more than one

storey. Every house had a well and bathroom.

- The Drainage system was excellent with house drains emptying into street

drains.

- Existence of public buildings.

- Lothal had a dockyard and was an important trading Centre.

Q.26. Write a note on the drainage system of Harappa?

Ans:-

- The drainage was made of mortar lime and gypsum.

- They were covered with big bricks and stones which could be lifted easily

to clean the drain .

- Smaller drains from houses on both the sides were laid on the main

channel.

- Pits were provided for sewage for the houses.

Q.27. Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harppan civilization?

Ans:-

- Some archaeologists say that Harappan society had no rulers and that

everybody enjoyed equal status.

- Others feel there were no single ruler but several.

- Under the guidance and supervision of the rulers, plans and layout of the

city were prepared.

- Big buildings, palaces, forts, tanks, wells, canals, granaries etc were

constructed under the supervision of rulers.

- Roads, drains were also constructed and cleanliness was maintained

under the overall supervision of ruler.

- The ruler might have taken interest in promoting the farmer to increase

production and the craftsmen to promote different handicrafts

- He maintained and controlled extra ordinary uniformity of Harappa's

artefacts like - Seals, Weight and bricks.

- During foreign attack and natural disaster he used to play an active role by

providing security and food,

- He used to issue common acceptable coins or seals, weight and

measurements.

Q 28- Write a short note on the seals of Indus valley people.

Ans:-

- More than 2000 seals have been found at the various sites.

- They are made up of various materials such as steatite, faience, ivory, pottery etc.

- They are very informative regarding dress, ornaments, hair styles etc.

- By the seals we know about the religions, commercial activities, etc.

Q 29. What do you know about trade and commerce of Indus valley civilization?

Ans:-Internal Trade: - was advanced Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa were main trade Centre. Heavy and small weight has been found at these sites. These are made up in the multiple of two as 1:2:4:8:16 upto 12,800.

-There was strict control on weight and measure.

-International trade - They had trade relation with other countries such as Egypt, Oman.

-The trade was carried both by sea and land

-Probably the metals like gold, silver, Tin and copper and precious stones were imported from the other countries,

Q 30- How did Harappan civilization come to an end?

Ans:-

- Some schools have tried to explain the important causes which led to

the abandonment of the mature Harappan sites by 1800 B.C. E.

Some of them are as follows:-

- By Floods - It is speculated that a sudden flood might have

submerged the various town and buried them under the thick layer of

mud.

- Due to the change in the course of Indus River.

- Climatic change - It is also possible that there was climate change

and drought took place due to deforestation.

- Earthquakes - It is also probable that the nature itself turned the whole

land upside down.

- Aryan Invasion - Some scholars say that Aryans were responsible.

Value Based Questions

Q 31:- What value do you attach to the work of Sir John Marshall in leaving India three thousand years older than he had found her?

Ans: - He was the director general of Archaeological Survey of India

- By his effort it was proved that there existed a great civilization in India

which was contemporary of Mesopotamia.

- For this great - work we attach the value of thank fullness, indebtedness

LONG ANSWER (8 MARKS)

Q.1: How do archaeologists reconstruct the past?

Ans:- - Recovering artefacts through excavation.

- Classification of finds that finds are whether tools or weapons or

ornaments or both or something meant for ritual use.

- An understanding of the function of an artifact is often shaped by it

resemblance with present day things. Beads, pots are obvious examples.

- Archaeologists reconstruct religious beliefs and practices by examining

seals, some of which seem to depict ritual scenes

- Archaeologists often move from known to unknown that is from present to

past regarding the reconstruction of religious practices.

- Remains of crops or pits are studied to identify food.

- By observing the different layers of sites they try to find out different things for the information of Socio-economic conditions, religious and cultural life of past people.

- Archaeologists also try to identify the function of an artefact by

investigating the context in which it was found.

- Use of indirect evidence eg. for clothing they depend on indirect evidence

like description in sculpture

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