Mysteries

Mysteries and unsolved archaeological puzzles of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization.

Mystery at Mound F #2

Possible granary in Harappa
Although there is no evidence to suggest that Mound F at Harappa or the "granary" at Mohenjo-daro (illustrated above) actually were granaries, this theory by archaeologists like Sir Mortimer Wheeler has taken hold in the public imagination. One can see how this happened in the compelling descriptions offered. Wheeler writes that "the granary stood on the steep verge of the citadel at Mohenjo-daro and at the western end of its north side was a recessed unloading bay.

Ritual Mask or Amulet

Loosely included under the rubric of terracotta "figurines" are the terracotta masks found at some Harappan sites. This mask clearly has a feline face with an open mouth with exposed fangs, a beard, small round ears and upright bovine horns. It is small and has two holes on each side of the face that would have allowed it to be attached to a puppet or worn, possibly as an amulet or as a symbolic mask. The combination of different animal features creates the effect of a fierce composite animal.

A Toponym in Chanhu-daro?

Can potential place-names in Indus inscriptions be isolated? Dr. Asko Parpola, in by far best single book on the subject, Decipering the Indus Script, after discussing how place names survive in people's names in Dravidian-speaking South India today, where "the name of the ancestral village often forms the first element of a person's proper name," continues by saying that "a similar survival of Harappan place-names in the Greater Indus Valley is not at all unlikely (§ 9.4).

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