Ancient Indus Questions & Answers

Answers to questions from you and our Facebook page visitors by distinguished ancient Indus scholars and archaeologists.

We publish a new question and answer every Saturday morning. Submit your question to our panel of scholars.

20. What can you say about the relationship of Harappan civilization to distant earlier cities?

Richard H. Meadow

19. What have been the most interesting findings about the Harappan Civilization during the last two decades?

Iravatham Mahadevan, Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow, Shereen Ratnagar, Rita P. Wright

18. Why did the Harappans go to such extraordinary lengths and distance to obtain raw materials such as copper?

Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow, Shereen Ratnagar, Rita P. Wright

17. What is your considered opinion on how and why the Indus valley civilization came to an end?

Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow, Shereen Ratnagar, Rita P. Wright

16. What did the Indus people wear and what material were their clothes made of?

Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow

15. How peaceful was Harappan Civilization?

Iravatham Mahadevan, Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow, Shereen Ratnagar

14. Why were the Citadel walls so high?

Harappa Wall Excavations

Richard H. Meadow

13. What kinds of things did the Indus people eat?

Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow

12. Was the trade relationship between the Harappans and the Mesopotamians a direct one?

Iravatham Mahadevan, Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow, Shereen Ratnagar, Rita P. Wright

11. Was IVC and Mesopotamian trade the longest distance trade of the Bronze Age?

10. How common is the Yogi figure (possibly a proto-shiva figure) across the various Indus sites?

Jane McIntosh, Richard H. Meadow, Shereen Ratnagar

9. Have any artifacts been found with discernible ancient fingerprints?

8. Was the Indus trade effort centralised?

7. How does the decline of the civilization relate to food and housing?

6. Is there any connection between Elam of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilization?

Iravatham Mahadevan

5. What do we know of festivals during the Indus period?

Iravatham Mahadevan

4. What kind of evidence has been used to argue that the Indus Valley Civilization was a matriarchy?

Richard H. Meadow

3. Can we see a close-up of the "trident and bun" seal fragment?

Richard H. Meadow

2. Is there any connection between the peacock of immortality of the Harappan burial urns and the peacocks later found on Roman urns?

Richard H. Meadow

1. What happened after 1800 BCE?

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