Thursday, October 29, 2015

Dholavira

Dholavira (Gujarati:) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern village 1 km (0.62 mi) south of it. This village is 165 km from Radhanpur. Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of an ancient Indus Valley Civilization/Harappan city. It is one of the five largest Harappan sites[1] and most prominent archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also considered as having been the grandest of cities of its time. It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch. The area of the full site is more than 100 ha (250 acres). The site was occupied from c.2650 BCE, declining slowly after about 2100 BCE. It was briefly abandoned then reoccupied until c.1450 BCE.
The site was discovered in 1967-8 by J. P. Joshi and is the fifth largest of eight major Harappan sites. It has been under excavation since 1990 by the Archaeological Survey of India, which opines that “Dholavira has indeed added new dimensions to personality of Indus Valley Civilisation.”[5] The other major Harappan sites discovered so far are: Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Ganeriwala, Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, Rupnagar and Lothal.
Architecture and Material Culture
Estimated to be older than the port-city of Lothal,[citation needed] the city of Dholavira has a rectangular shape and organization, and is spread over 22 ha (54 acres). The area measures 771.1 m (2,530 ft) in length, and 616.85 m (2,023.8 ft) in width. Unlike Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, the city was constructed to a pre-existing geometrical plan consisting of three divisions – the citadel, the middle town, and the lower town.The acropolis and the middle town had been furnished with their own defence-work, gateways, built-up areas, street system, wells, and large open spaces. The acropolis is the most thoroughly fortified and complex area in the city, of which it appropriates the major portion of the southwestern zone. The towering “castle” stands is defended by double ramparts. Next to this stands a place called the ‘bailey’ where important officials lived.The city within the general fortifications accounts for 48 ha (120 acres). There are extensive structure-bearing areas which are outside yet integral to the fortified settlement. Beyond the walls, another settlement has been found.[5] The most striking feature of the city is that all of its buildings, at least in their present state of preservation, are built of stone, whereas most other Harappan sites, including Harappa itself and Mohenjo-daro, are almost exclusively built of brick. Dholavira is flanked by two storm water channels; the Mansar in the north, and the Manhar in the south.
“The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering, given the state of technology in the third millennium BCE” says R.S.Bist, Joint Director General (Rtd.), Archeological Survey of India.[1] One of the unique features[13] of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system[14] of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world,[citation needed] built completely of stone. The city had massive reservoirs, three of which are exposed.[15] They were used for storing fresh water brought by rains[14] or to store water diverted from two nearby rivulets.[16] This clearly came in response to the desert climate and conditions of Kutch, where several years may pass without rainfall. A seasonal stream which runs in a north-south direction near the site was dammed at several points to collect water.[4]
The inhabitants of Dholavira created sixteen or more reservoirs[4] of varying size during Stage III.[5] Some of these took advantage of the slope of the ground within the large settlement,[5] a drop of 13 m from northeast to northwest. Other reservoirs were excavated, some into living rock. Recent work has revealed two large reservoirs, one to the east of the castle and one to its south, near the Annexe.[17]
The reservoirs are cut through stone vertically, and are about 7 meters deep and 79 meters long. They skirt the city, while the citadel and bath are centrally located on raised ground.[14] There is also a large well with a stone-cut trough connecting it to a drain meant for conducting water to a storage tank.[14] The bathing tank had steps descending inwards.[14]
In October 2014 excavation began on a rectangular stepwell which measured 73.4m long, 29.3m wide, and 10m deep, making it three times bigger than the Great bath of Mohenjedaro.[18]
Seal Making
Some of the seals found at Dholavira, belonging to Stage III, contained animal only figures, without any type of script and it is suggested that these type of seals represent early conventions of Indus seal making.[4]
Other structures and objects
A huge circular structure on the site is believed to be a grave or memorial,[14]although it contained no skeletons or other human remains. The structure consists of ten radial mud-brick walls built in the shape of a spoked wheel.[14] A soft sandstone sculpture of a male with phallus erectus but head and feet below ankle truncated was found in the passageway of the eastern gate. Many funerary structures have been found (although all but one were devoid of skeletons),[14] as well as pottery pieces, terra cotta seals, bangles, rings, beads, and intaglio engravings.
Hemispherical Constructions
Seven Hemispherical constructions were found at Dholavira, of which two were excavated in detail, which were constructed over large rock cut chambers.[5] Having a circular plan, these were big hemispherical elevated mud brick constructions. One of the excavated structures was designed in the form of a spoked wheel. The other was also designed in same fashion, but as a wheel without spokes. Although they contained burial goods of pottery, no skeletons were found except for one grave, where a skeleton and a copper mirror were found.[5] A necklace of steatite beads strung to a copper wire with hooks at both ends, a gold bangle, gold and other beads were also found in one of the hemispherical structures.
These hemispherical structures bear similarity to early Buddhist stupas.[5] The Archeological Survey of India, which conducted the excavation, opines that “the kind of design that is of spoked wheel and unspoked wheel also remind one of the Sararata-chakra-citi and sapradhi-rata-chakra-citi mentioned in the Satapatha Brahmana and Sulba-sutras”.

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