List The Raw Materials Required For Craft Production In The Harappan Civilisation And Discuss How These Might Have Been Obtained

Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation

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:

• Stones like chameleon, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite;
• Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and
• Shell, faience and terracotta, or burnt clay.

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

• They established settlements such as Nageshwar and Balakot in areas where shells were 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 chameleon, steatite and metal.
• The second way was to send expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and south India for gold.
• 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.

Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation

2. How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society? What are the differences that they notice?

3. Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning? Give reasons for your answer.

4. List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan Civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.

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?

6. Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro. 

7. List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan Civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.

8. Discuss how archaeologists reconstruct the past.

9. Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.

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.