Long story short
Harappan Civilisation
Harappan seals are very distinctive. It is made up of a stone called steatite. It contains animal motifs and some scripts. These scripts are still undeciphered.
Important Mature Harappan Sites
Pakistan
- Sutkagendor
- Mohenjodaro
- Amri
- Balakot
- Harappa
- Kot Diji
- Chanhudaro
- Ganweriwala
India
- Manda
- Rakhigarhi
- Banawali
- Kalibangan
- Mitathal
- Dholavira
- Nageshwar
- Lothal
- Rangpur
Within Harappan culture, differentiation is made such as early Harappan, mature Harappan and late Harappan. They had different subsistence agriculture practices with both animal and plant diets. The agricultural land was arid, so there should have been irrigation wells, canals and other techniques. A Canal was found in Shortughai in Afghanistan and a water reservoir in Dholavira.
Mohenjodaro
Mohenjodaro is considered to be an urban centre in the Harappan culture. The smaller higher fortified citadel on the west side and the lower large lower town on the east side show the planned nature of this settlement. The use of standard ratio bricks and enormous structures depict the planned nature.
Use of baked bricks in the construction of drains and streets and houses are built on the sides of the drain. This depicts the sophistication of planning. The citadel has many structures such as - the great bath, warehouse, etc. The distinctive builds are believed to be planned.
Social differences
Based on the burial and buried materials, it is assumed that there were material indifferences between various Harappan sites. Burials are made in pits and some happen to have some precious objects inside them. The availability of gold from Mohenjodaro and Harappa and their non-availability in Kalibhangan shows the differences among the cultures and their access to various physical entities.
Craft Production
Harappan culture had crafts with various materials in various forms. Raw materials including carnelian, jasper, crystal, quartz, bronze, gold, etc crafted in various forms with various techniques are truly a distinctive feature of a well-civilized society.
The raw materials are perhaps procured from various regions depending upon the availability. The chemical similarity in bronze found from Mesopotamia, Oman and Harappa suggests the trade between these civilizations.
Long-distance trade requires authenticity and communication, and for that distinctive seals were used. The scripts used in these seals are still undeciphered. Weights were used for trading to probably quantify the trade.
Civilized and planned settlement gives us the idea that some central authority existed. For instance, there were similarities in artefacts, evidence for planned settlement, standardised brick size ratio, and settlement establishment near raw material reserves.
Due to activity on soil mounds were formed at different times and each mound contains remains of its age. The mounds are collectively identified as stratigraphy.