Last updated • 5 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Indus Valley archaeological site in Pakistan
Chanhu-daro is an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilization. The site is located 130 kilometers (81mi) south of Mohenjo-daro, now in Sindh, Pakistan. The settlement was inhabited between 4000 and 1700BCE, and is considered to have been a centre for manufacturing carnelianbeads. This site is a group of three low mounds that excavations has shown were parts of a single settlement, approximately 7 hectares in size.
Since 2015 the archaeological excavations have been carried out by the French Archaeological Mission in the Indus Basin[2] (MAFBI),[3] directed by Aurore Didier[4] (CNRS). The excavations are carried out in cooperation with the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan and the Culture Department, Government of Sindh
Historical significance
Indus Valley sitesHarappan Phase Cut brick c. 2500 – 1900BCE, Chanhu Daro, Pakistan
Chanhudaro is one of the most important sites of Indus civilization. More than 2800 sites belonging to Indus Civilization are identified so far and Chanhu-daro is one of the bigger sites where lot of scope is identified for excavation. However, of late, excavations in this site have not been in progress leading to a decline in contributions from this site. It is situated in a desert area, but it is believed that the Indus River used to flow near this site.[5][6] Sarasvati river is believed to have dried up during 2nd millennium BC,[7] causing the life at Chanhudaro and several hundreds of dwellings situated on the banks of Sarasvati to become very difficult. The people there probably had to abandon their dwelling places and it is thought that drying up of Sarasvati is one of the reasons for the decline of these dwellings, (cities and villages) which in turn contributed to the decline of Indus Civilization itself.[8]
Early excavation
Chanhudaro is about 12miles east of present-day Indus river bed. Chanhu-Daro was investigated in 1931 by the Indian archaeologist N. G. Majumdar. It was observed that this ancient city was very similar to Harappa and Mohenjadaro in several aspects like town planning, building layout etc.[9]
The site was excavated in the mid-1930s by the American School of Indic and Iranian Studies and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where several important details of this ancient city was investigated.[10]
Town planning
For building houses, baked bricks were used extensively at Chanhudaro and Mohenjo-daro.[11] Several constructions were identified as workshops or industrial quarters and some of the buildings of Chanhudaro might have been warehouses.[12]
Industrial activity
Evidence of shell working was found at Chanhudaro and bangles and ladles were made at this site.[13] Harappan seals were made generally in bigger towns like Harappa, Mohenjadaro and Chanhudaro which were involved with administrative network.[14]
Artefacts found
Copper knives, spears, razors, tools,[15] axes, vessels and dishes were found, causing this site to be nicknamed the "Sheffield of India" by Ernest Mackay.[16][17] Copper fish hooks were also recovered from this site.[18] Terracotta cart models, a small terracotta bird which when blown acts as a whistle, plates and dishes were found. Male spear thrower or dancer - a broken statue (4.1cm) is of much importance, found at Chanhudaro, is now displayed at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA.[19][20] Indus Seals are also found at Chanhudaro and Chanhudaro is considered one of the centres where seals were manufactured.[21] The scale of craft production at Chanhudaro seems much greater than that at Mohenjodaro, perhaps taking up half of town for this activity.[22]
Bead making factory
An Impressive workshop, recognised as Bead Making Factory, was found at Chanhudaro, which included a furnace.[23] Shell bangles, beads of many materials, steatite seals and metal works were manufactured at Chanhudaro.[24]
A wide variety of materials were used to make beads here, ranging from precious stones like carnelian, jasper, quartz; metals like gold, copper and bronze; and even shell, terracotta (burnt clay) or faience (silica or sand mixed with gum and colour and then burned). These beads were made in a variety of shapes like discs, cylindrical, spherical, segmented or barrel-like. Softer materials like steatite could be moulded easily while other rocks were worked with a paste of steatite powder to make different shapes of beads. Harder stones resulted in geometrical beads.
Cultivation
Sesame, which is a native of South Africa, is known from number of Harappan sites, including Chanhudaro, probably grown for oil.[25] Peas are also grown at Chanhudaro.[26]
Importance
In respect of Indus Script, ||/ sign is only found on inscriptions found at Chanhudaro. It occurred on eleven objects, (around one sixth of all inscribed objects recovered from Chanhudaro) leading to suggestion by Asko Parapola that it may represent town's name.[27]
Cotton cloth traces preserved on silver or bronze objects were known from Chanhudaro, Harappa and Rakhigarhi.[28]
Objects of Iron were reported from Chanhudaro, Ahar, Rajasthan and Mundigak and this gains importance as it has been claimed that Iron was produced in 3rd Millennium in South Asia.[29]
Bibliography
Aurore Didier. Nouvelles recherches sur les débuts de la Civilisation de l'Indus (2500-1900 av. n. è.) au Pakistan. Les fouilles de Chanhu-daro (Sindh). Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Paris: Durand: Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, 2017, Comptes rendus des séances de l'année 2017,, Avril à juin, pp.947-980
Aurore Didier, David Sarmiento Castillo, Pascal Mongne, Syed Shakir Ali Shah. Resuming excavations at Chanhu-daro, Sindh: First results of the 2015-2017 field-seasons. Pakistan Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Museums of Pakistan, 2017, 30, pp.69-121.[30]
Quivron, G. (2000). The Evolution on the Mature Indus Pottery Style in the Light of the Excavations at Nausharo, Pakistan. East and West,50(1/4), 147-190. Retrieved February 5, 2021, from JSTOR29757453
Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) to the north. The core of the Harappan civilisation extended over a large area, from Gujarat in the south, across Sindh and Rajasthan and extending into Punjab and Haryana. Numerous sites have been found outside the core area, including some as far east as Uttar Pradesh and as far west as Sutkagen-dor on the Makran coast of Balochistan, not far from Iran.
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area from much of modern day Pakistan, to northwestern India and northeast Afghanistan. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan.
Mohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built c. 2500 BCE, it was the largest settlement of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneous with the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoan Crete, and Norte Chico.
Sir John Hubert Marshall was an English archaeologist who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, two of the main cities that comprise the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer is an American archaeologist and George F. Dales Jr. & Barbara A. Dales Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He earned his Bachelor of Arts, Master's, and Doctorate degrees at the University of California, Berkeley, finishing in 1983. Kenoyer is president of the Society of Bead Researchers.
Kalibangān is a town located at 29.47°N 74.13°E on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh in Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, India 205 km. from Bikaner. It is also identified as being established in the triangle of land at the confluence of Drishadvati and Sarasvati Rivers. The prehistoric and pre-Mauryan character of Indus Valley civilization was first identified by Luigi Tessitori at this site. Kalibangan's excavation report was published in its entirety in 2003 by the Archaeological Survey of India, 34 years after the completion of excavations. The report concluded that Kalibangan was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and "world's earliest attested ploughed field". It is around 2900 BC that the region of Kalibangan developed into what can be considered a planned city.
Dholavira is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of it. This village is 165 km (103 mi) from Radhanpur. Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of a city of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Earthquakes have repeatedly affected Dholavira, including a particularly severe one around 2600 BCE.
Rangpur is an ancient archaeological site in Surendranagar district near Vanala on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, western India. Lying on the tip between the Gulf of Khambhat and Gulf of Kutch, it belongs to the period of the Indus Valley civilization, and lies to the northwest of the larger site of Lothal. It is the type site for the Rangpur culture, a regional form of the late phase of the Indus Valley Civilization that existed in Gujarat during the 2nd millennium BCE.
Banawali is an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilization period in Fatehabad district, Haryana, India and is located about 120 km northeast of Kalibangan and 16 km from Fatehabad. Banawali, which is earlier called Vanavali, is on the left banks of dried up Sarasvati River. Comparing to Kalibangan, which was a town established in lower middle valley of dried up Sarasvathi River, Banawali was built over upper middle valley of Sarasvati River.
Gola Dhoro is an archaeological site belonging to Indus Valley civilization, situated at the head of the Gulf of Kutch, near Bagasara in Kutch district of Gujarat, India. The site contains a small fortified area of approximately 50x50 m with living quarters and manufacturing sites both inside and outside this area.
Kuntasi is an archaeological site which is identified as a port belonging to the Indus Valley civilization. This site is located on the right bank of Phulki River, about 2 km south-east of Kuntasi village and 30 km from Morbi in Maliya taluka of Morbi District in Gujarat state of India. It is five km inlandward from present shore line. It was first reported by P. P Pandya and later thoroughly explored by Y. M. Chitalwala. The excavations revealed two periods of occupation. Period I is assigned to the Mature Harappan phase and the Period II is assigned to the Late Harappan phase. This site was identified as a jetty and a manufacturing centre.
Allahdino is a small village belonging to the Harappan period, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Karachi. It is an unfortified settlement of 1.4 hectares, established in a coastal area of Pakistan. This small but well-organised settlement was abandoned by c. 2000 BCE.
Kunal is a pre-Harappan Indus Valley civilisation settlement located, just 30 km from Fatehabad City in Fatehabad district of Haryana state in India. Compared to other IVC sites, such as cities like Rakhigarhi and towns like Kalibangan, Kunal site was a village. Excavation at Kunal show 3 successive phases of Pre-Harappan indigenous culture on the Saraswati river who also traded with Kalibanga and Lothal. Kunal, along with its other contemporary sites Bhirrana and Rakhigarhi on Sarasvati-Ghaggar river system, is recognised as the oldest Pre-Harappan settlement, with Kunal being an older cultural ancestor to Rehman Dheri in Pakistan< which is on the Tentative List for future World Heritage Sites.
Pabumath is an Indus Valley civilisation archaeological site near Suvai village in Rapar Taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat, India.
Pakistan is home to many archaeological sites dating from Lower Paleolithic period to Mughal empire. The earliest known archaeological findings belong to the Soanian culture from the Soan Valley, near modern-day Islamabad. Soan Valley culture is considered as the best known Palaeolithic culture of Central Asia. Mehrgarh in Balochistan is one of the most important Neolithic sites dating from 7000 BCE to 2000 BCE. The Mehrgarh culture was amongst the first culture in the world to establish agriculture and livestock and live in villages. Mehrgarh civilization lasted for 5000 years till 2000 BCE after which people migrated to other areas, possibly Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the best known sites from the Indus Valley civilization.
Indus–Mesopotamia relations are thought to have developed during the second half of 3rd millennium BCE, until they came to a halt with the extinction of the Indus valley civilization after around 1900 BCE. Mesopotamia had already been an intermediary in the trade of lapis lazuli between the Indian subcontinent and Egypt since at least about 3200 BCE, in the context of Egypt-Mesopotamia relations.
Etched carnelian beads, or sometimes bleached carnelian beads, are a type of ancient decorative beads made from carnelian with an etched design in white, which were probably manufactured by the Indus Valley civilization during the 3rd millennium BCE. They were made according to a technique of alkaline-etching developed by the Harappans, and vast quantities of these beads were found in the archaeological sites of the Indus Valley civilization. They are considered as an important marker of ancient trade between the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and even Ancient Egypt, as these precious and unique manufactured items circulated in great numbers between these geographical areas during the 3rd millennium BCE, and have been found in numerous tomb deposits.
Aurore Didier is a French archaeologist and researcher. At the French National Center for Scientific Research, she is in charge of the ‘Indus-Balochistan programme’, and director of the French Archaeological Mission in the Indus Basin. Her primary interest is South Asian protohistory, specifically the Bronze Age in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands and the Indus Valley Civilization.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
