NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation.

Board	CBSE
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 12
Subject	History
Chapter	Chapter 1
Chapter Name	Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation
Number of Questions Solved	9
Category	NCERT Solutions

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Chapter 1 Bricks, Beads and Bones The Harappan Civilisation

Question 1.
List the items of food available to people in Harappan cities. Identify the groups who would have provided these.
Solution :
(a) The following items of food were available to people in Harappan cities : Wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, sesame, millets, rice, fish, and goat.
(b)

• Animals such as cattle, sheep, buffalo and pig were domesticated. So, they could get meat from these animals.
• The evidence of a ploughed field at Kalibangan and knowledge of bull prove that harvesting was done by the Harappans.
• Regarding hunting of wild animals such as boar, deer and gharial, there is no proof whether the Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat from other hunting communities.

Question 2.
How do archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society ? What are the differences that they notice ?
Solution :
(a) Archaeologists trace socio-economic differences in Harappan society in the following ways:

• Burials
• Looking for “luxuries”.

(b) The archaeologists have noticed the following differences in the socio-economic conditions in Harappan society :

• In the Harappan society, the dead were generally laid in pits. In some burial pits the hallowed-out spaces were lined with bricks.
• Some graves contain pottery and ornaments.
• In some instances the dead were buried with copper mirrors.
• Artefacts are divided into two categories – utilitarian and luxuries. The utilitarian objects are of daily use. These are made of ordinary materials such as stone and clay. These are found in all settlements. Luxury items are found in large settlements of Harappa and Mohenjodaro. These are made of valuable materials like faience. Gold too was rare and precious as all the gold jewellery has been found at Harappan sites.

Question 3.
Would you agree that the drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning ? Give reasons for your answer.
Solution :
The drainage system in Harappan cities indicates town planning as is clear from the following reasons :

• It was planned drainage system. In the Lower Town, the roads and streets were laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles.
• It seems from the plan of the Lower Town that streets with drains were laid out first and then houses built along them.
• The drains of every house were connected to the street drains. Very long drainage channels were provided at intervals with sumps for cleaning. Drainage system has been found in smaller settlements like Lothal.

Question 4.
List the materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation. Describe the process by which any one kind of bead was made.
Solution :
(a) The materials used to make beads in the Harappan civilisation were as given below:

• Stones like carnelian of a beautiful red colour, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite;
• Metals like copper, bronze and gold;
• Shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay.

(b)

• The process or technique for making beads differed according to the material.
  For example, steatite, a very soft stone, was easily worked. Some beads were moulded out of a paste made with steatite powder. This permitted making a variety of shapes, unlike the geometrical form that were made out of harder stones.
• Red colour of carnelian was obtained by firing the yellowish raw material and beads at various stages of production.
• Nodules were chipped into rough shapes, and then finely flaked into the final form.
• Grinding, polishing and drilling completed the process.

Question 5.
Look at figure and describe what you see. How is the body placed ? What are the objects placed near it ? Are there any artefacts on the body ? Do these indicate the sex of the skeleton ?
Solution :
(a) A dead body has been laid in a pit.
(b) Some objects of pottery are placed near it.
(c) There seems to be some ornaments on body but these do not indicate the sex of the skeleton because jewellery has been found in burials of both men and women.

Question 6.
Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenj odaro.

Or

Describe the features that justify that Mohenjodaro was a planned urban cetnre.
Solution :
Some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro were as given below :

1. Mohenjodaro is the most well known site. It was divided into two sections – one smaller but higher and the other much larger but lower. These are known as the Citadel and the Lower Town, respectively. Both the sections were walled.
2. Several buildings were built on platforms which implies that the building activity was restricted on the platforms. It seems that the settlement was first planned and then implemented accordingly.
3. The standardised ratio of bricks – sundried or baked – is also a sign of planning. The length and breadth of bricks were four times and twice the height, respectively.
4. There was well-planned drainage system. The roads and streets were laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles. It appears that streets with drains were laid down first and then houses built along them.
5. Residential buildings were centered on a courtyard, with rooms on all sides. There were no windows in the walls along the ground level to have privacy. The main entrance too did not give a direct view of the courtyard.
6. There was a bathroom in everyhouse. The drains were connected to the street drains.
7. Some houses had staircases to reach a second story or the roof.

Question 7.
List the raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation and discuss how these might have been obtained.
Solution :
(a) The raw materials required for craft production in the Harappan civilisation was as given below:

• Stones like camelian, jasper, crystal, quartz and steatite;
• Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and
• Shell, faience and terracotta, or burnt clay.

(b) The above raw materials might have been obtained as mentioned below :

• They established settlements such as Nageshwar and Balakot in areas where shell was available. Other places were Shortughai, in far-off Afghanistan, near the best source of lapis lazuli, a blue stone and Lothal near the sources of camelian, steatite and metal.
• The second way was to send expeditions to areas such as the Khetri region of Rajasthan for copper and south India for gold.
• The third way to have contact with distant lands. For example, copper was brought from Oman, on the south-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Mesopotamian texts mention contact with Meluhha, possibly the Harappan region. It is likely that communication with Oman, Bahrain or Mesopotamia was by sea.

Question 8.
Discuss how archaeologists reconstruct the past.
Solution :
It is the material evidence by which the archaeologists reconstruct the past. This material could be pottery, tools, ornaments and household objects. It is done in the following ways:

1. Classifying finds : The archaeologists classify their finds in terms of material, such as stone, clay, metal, bone, ivory, etc. and in terms of function i.e., an artefact is a tool or an ornament or both or something meant for ritual use.
2. The archaeologists try to reconstruct religious practices because certain objects which seemed unusual or unfamiliar may have had a religious significance. For example, terracotta figurines of women, heavily jewelled, some with elaborate head dresses were regarded as mother goddesses.
3. Religious beliefs and practices are reconstructed by examining seals, depicting ritual scenes, animals (one, horned animal) cross-legged yogic figure.
4. Many reconstructions are made on the assumption that later traditions provide parallels with earlier ones because archaeologists move from present to the past. The example is ‘proto-Shiva’ seal which can be compared with Rudra mentioned in Rigveda.

Question 9.
Discuss the functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society.
Solution :
The functions that may have been performed by rulers in Harappan society whereas mentioned below –

1. There are indications of complex decisions being taken and implemented in Harappan society. For example, the extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in seals, pottery, weights and bricks would have due the authority of the rulers. A large building has been found in Mohenjodaro. It might be a palace for the rulers. A stone statute has been labelled as ‘priest-king’. Thus, he may be a ruler who exercised authority for taking various decisions.
2. Whether the ritual practices were performed by the ‘priest-king’ is not clear because these practices of Harappan civilisation are not well understood yet nor are there any means of knowing whether those who performed them also held political power.

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