Class 12 History theme 1

  4. Tracking social differences Burials Massive pyramids of Egypt These pyramids were Royal burials, where enormous quantities of wealth were buried. At burials in Harappan sites the dead were generally laid in pits. Burial pits of different kinds some graves contain pottery and ornaments. Jewelry has been found in burials of both men and women An ornament consisting of three shell rings, a Jasper bead and hundreds of micro beads was found near the skull of a male in Harappan. Buried with copper mirrors Harappans did not believe in burying precious things with the dead. 4.2. looking for "Luxuries". Another way to identify social differences is to study artefacts. These artefacts are classified as utilitarian and luxurious. Utilitarian: ordinary materials of daily uses such as stone or clay. objects like Querns, pottery, needless, flash rubbers. Utilitarian objects are usually found distributed throughout settlements. Luxurious: they are rare, or made from costly,...

  MohenjoDaro is a planned urban centre. The development of urban centres was the most unique feature of the Harappan civilization. First site is Harappan.  the cities were divided into two or more parts.  The part of the west was smaller but higher called the citadel.  The part of the east was larger but lower; this is called a lower town.  Both the citadel and lower town were walled. 3.1 Laying out drains. Covered drains laid out in straight lines had a gentle slope , drains in houses were connected to those on the streets and smaller drains  led into bigger ones. inspection holes were provided at intervals to clean them. Drains and Streets were laid out first and then houses built. bricks Sun dried baked where of a standardized ratio. 3.2 Domestic architecture Lower town- residential buildings. Courtyard, was probably the centre of activities such as cooking and weaving.  no windows in the walls  its own bathroom, Wells, Mohenjo Daro had about ...

Beginnings -There were several cultures in the region prayer to the mature Harappan These cultures were associated with distinctive pottery, evidences of agriculture and pastoralism and some small settlements 2. Subsistence strategies. - Mature Harappan culture developed in some of the areas occupied by the early Harappan cultures - Subsistence strategies for foods.plants, animals and fish - Their dietary practices - It is studied by botanists ( specialists in ancient plant remains) - Harappan sites wheat, Barley, lentil chickpea and sesame - Gujarat millets - rice- koldihwa ( north of vindhyas) - bones of animals: ships ,goats, buffalo and pig - These were domesticated- a process in which crops are grown and animals are looked after - archaeo-zoologists. - Wild animals like boar, deer and gharial. 2.1. Agriculture technologies: - Representations on seals and Terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known and oxen were used for ploughing. - Terracotta models of ploug...

 NOTES | VIDEOS | MCQs - Harappan seals- one of the distinctive features ,  made of of steatite stone (very soft stone) - These seals were used for the sealing the bags or trade purposes. - seals contain Animal motifs (bull, pashupati shiv) & signs ( remain undecifered) -sources to know about their lives:- - Archaeological objects include the houses, pots, ornaments, tools, seals, weapons etc. Theme , Places , Times - The Indus valley Civilisation is also called the Harappan Culture / mature Harappan. - Civilisation means - place where people did modern farming, educated, and abided by the laws. - Culture - Used this word for a group of Objects ( seals, beads, weights, stone, blades, baked briks) , in distinctive styles , usually found together within a specific area (Afghanistan, Jammu, Baluchistan and Gujarat), and period of time (2600 BCE- 1900BCE) - Early harappan and Late Haraappan. ------------------------------------------------*************----------------------...

 NOTES  |  VIDEOS  | MCQs  | IMAGES - Clay- locally available. - Stone, timber, metals from outside the alluvial plains. - There were men and women, craft persons, making in their own homes orn in special workshops. - For construction of special buildings in the city, rulers sent people to distant lands. - Terracotta toys models of Bullock Carts, suggested important means of transportation.. - copper - Rajasthan, Oman( West Asia). - Tin - Afghanistan - Gold- Karnataka - Precious stones - Gujarat, Iran, Afghanistan. 6.1 MATERIALS FROM THE SUBCONTINENT AND BEYOND. - Shell - Nageshwar and Balakot. - Lapis Lazuli - Shortughai (Afghanistan) - Carnelian - Lothal ( Bharuch).  - Steatite - Rajasthan and Northern Gujarat. - Metal - Rajasthan - These expeditions of materials established communication with local communities. - Ganeshwar -Jodhpura Culture developed in Khetri, here non-Harappan pottery has been found. 6.2  CONTACT WITH DISTANT LANDS. - Copper- Oman...

Archeologists usually looking for the following raw materials to identify centres of craft production. - stone nudules. - whole shell - copper ore - tools. - rejected or waste materials. - larger waste materials were used to make smaller objects. But left minuscule bits. - craft production was also undertaken in large cities.

Notes  |  video | MCQs Chanhudaro , 7 hectares Mohenjodaro , 125 hectares - Chanhudaro devoted to craft production, including bead-making, shell-cutting, metal-working, seal-making and weight-making. - materials used to make beads -  stones like carnelian (of a beautiful red colour), jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite. metals like copper , bronze and gold shell like faience and terracottta or burnt clay. - their shapes were numerous - disc-shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shped, segmented. And decorated by incising or painting. - Techniques for making beads depends upon materials. eg: Steatite , a very soft stone mixed with other materials. - Red colour of Carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw materials and beads at various stages of production. - Grinding , polishing and drilling completed the process. - specialised drills have been found at Chanhudaro, Lothal and Dholavira. - Nageshwar and Balakot , both the settlements are near coast , were...

 Another strategy to identify social differences is to study artefacts. - classified as Utilitarian &  Luxuries.  - utilitarian: for daily uses ( stone or clay). - eg: Querns, Pottery, needless, flesh: rubbers ( body scrubbers). Luxuries: rare,made from costly, non-local materials or with complicated technology.  eg - little pots of faience * Distribution of artefacts :  - rare objects are generally concentrated in large settlements. eq - miniature pots of faience, perhaps used as perfume bottles are found mostly in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa -Gold jewellery found at Harappan sites was. recovered from hoards.