Important archaeological sites

The essentials

Several Indian sites are landmarks for understanding prehistory and early civilisation. Knowing their location, period and main finds helps connect the general sequence of cultures to the Indian subcontinent.

Key points

• Sohan (Soan) valley: in the Potwar plateau region (now in Pakistan), near the Siwalik foothills. Gives its name to the Sohanian Lower Palaeolithic industry of pebble tools such as choppers and chopping tools; studied by de Terra and Paterson in the 1930s.
• Burzahom: Neolithic site near Srinagar, Kashmir. Known for pit dwellings (semi-underground houses suited to cold winters), bone tools, polished stone axes, coarse grey pottery and burials in which dogs were sometimes buried with their owners.
• Nevasa: on the Pravara river in Maharashtra, excavated by H. D. Sankalia. Has a long sequence including Lower and Middle Palaeolithic tools; the Middle Palaeolithic flake tool industry of India is sometimes called the "Nevasian". It also has Chalcolithic remains.
• Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation: a Bronze Age urban civilisation, mature phase roughly 2600–1900 BCE. Harappa was excavated by Daya Ram Sahni and Mohenjo-daro by R. D. Banerji (in the early 1920s). Features: planned cities with grid streets, covered drains, baked-brick houses, citadel and lower town, the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, standard weights, seals with an undeciphered script, and a dockyard at Lothal (Gujarat). Other sites include Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Dholavira (Gujarat) and Rakhigarhi (Haryana).

Exam tips

• Pair site with period: Sohan (Lower Palaeolithic), Nevasa (Palaeolithic), Burzahom (Neolithic), Harappa (Bronze Age).
• Remember Burzahom's pit dwellings and dog burials.

Common mistakes

• Placing Burzahom in the Palaeolithic or the Harappan period; it is a Neolithic site.
• Calling the Harappan script deciphered; it has not been convincingly read.