Another question from site visitors answered by an ancient Indus civilization scholar, this time with a comprehensive timetable situation the ancient Indus civilization with others epochs.
I was watching the 6 part BBC's 'Story of India' and had a thought about the abandonment of the Indus cities and migration eastward due to the failure of the monsoon. Could this failure of the monsoon be due to the eruption of the island of Theara north of Crete? The timing seems close. The ash cloud traversed Egypt, so it would have ended up in the Indian Ocean. Is there any evidence of ash deposits in the Indus river valley from the eruption? Is it possible the ash went too far south to show up and still affect the monsoon? Just curious if anyone has thought of this before.
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
The floods of 2010 in Pakistan did not impact the major Harappan sites since the Harappans tended to build their cities in areas that would not be flooded even with the most extreme floods. The site of Mohenjo-daro was protected by a massive embankment constructed by the Pakistan Government to protect the site from the river which was gradually eroding the edges of the settlement. In 2010 the floods came to the top of the embankment, but did not overflow into the areas of the site.
Massimo Vidale
We have no evidence, but they certainly had, because complex culture needs to transmitted by specialized institutions. The "Assembly hall" on the Citadel of Mohenjo-Daro might have been something similar, if the excavators were right.
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
So far we have not found any buildings that could be interpreted as institutions of education. Indus peoples undoubtedly had ways to teach their children, but they were probably done in small houses that do not look any different from other houses.
Are there any structural remains in any of the Harappan sites to point to a marketplace or shop where goods were bought and sold? What do scholars have to say about the market system in those days, apart from the well-known theory of goods being stored in a storehouse and taken by boats for trade?
