History & Civics
This is a picture of a fragment of an artefact found at one of the Harappan sites.
(a) What kind of material is the artefact made of?
(b) What kind of an artefact does this fragment belong to?
(c) What can you tell about the craft skills of the Indus people by looking at the fragment?
Answer
(a) The artefact appears to be made of terracota (reddish-brown baked clay).
(b) The fragment likely belongs to a Painted and Glazed pot of Harappan times.
(c) This artefact shows that the Harappan people were expert potters. They could create symmetrical and durable pots in various shapes and sizes using the potter's wheel. The pots were generally glazed and painted.
Related Questions
What do you know about the Harappan script?
State three causes for the decline of the Harappan Civilisation.
Swasti sees the Harappan script written on a seal. She wonders why historians have not been able to decipher such simple pictures. She concludes that the Harappan script must be very advanced and complex.
(a) What assumption is Swasti making about the Harappan script?
(b) Explain why this assumption might be incorrect.
Which of the following statements might best explain why changes in the course of the river Indus led to the decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation?
- The wild animals moved away to find another source of water and there was nothing left to hunt for the Indus Valley people.
- The land was left dry and infertile, and not fit for agriculture.
- New plants that required less water began to grow in the region, and the Indus Valley people did not have knowledge about these plants.