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1. Lothal and Kalibangan
Dr. Virag Sontakke
Assistant Professor
A.I.H.C. & Archaeology
Banaras Hindu University, Varansi

2. Discovery and Excavations
• Lothal was discovered in November 1954.
• The explorations were part of the programme for
locating Harappan settlements in India.
• 88 sites were reported from 1954 to 1959 by the
Archaeological Survey of India.
• The site was excavated to see the cultural sequence.
• Lothal emerged as an important site of Indus Valley
Civilisations.

3. Introduction
• Situated in between the Sabarmati river and its
tributary
• Modern Bhogavo region of Gujarat.
• Located near Saragwala village of Ahmadabad
district (85 km)
• Site is 10 km up to the Gulf of Cambay
• Once it was close to the Arabian sea
• Lothal was excavated between 1954 -55 to 1962-63 by
ASI.
• Director: S.R. Rao
• Lothal, was an international trade center.
• Site remains are now exposed
• Antiquities are displayed in site museum

5. The Site
• Size: 280 x 225 meters
• Site Plan: Rectangular
• Citadel: “Acropolis” by
S.R. Rao
• Surrounded by
fortification
• Material: Mud and baked
bricks
• Entrance: South
• Burial cemetery: Outside
the enclosing wall, N-W
direction

6. Plan of the Site

7. Stratigraphy & Chronology
• The 7 m. thick occupational deposit
• Divided into two Periods, A and B,
• Period A: Mature Harappa culture
• Period B: Late Harappa

8. Plan of
the Site
1.Acropolis
2.Lower Town
3.Dockyard
4.Ware house
5.Bead
industry
6.Houses
7.Bathrooms
8.Cemetery

9. Citadel: “Acropolis”
• Trapezoidal in
Plan
• Elevated area
(mud platform)
• Size: 128 x 61
meters
• Remains of
1. Residential
buildings
2. Streets
3. Lanes
4. Bathrooms
5. Drains

10. Residential Area
• Various size Houses
• Generally 4-6 rooms
• A large courtyard
and veranda
• Bathrooms
• Fire alters
• Manufactures/
Artisans houses:
1. Coppersmiths
2. Bead makers

11. Streets
• Systematic streets
• Three streets running
north-south
• Two lanes running east-
west
• Made of mud bricks with
gravel at the top
• One big street identified
as “bazar street”
• There were shops along
the street

12. Lower Town
• Divided into two parts
• Contains a commercial and residential area.
• The principal streets running from north to south
• Streets (6–8 metres) were flanked by shops
• Accommodation for craftsmen-coppersmiths, goldsmiths,
shell-workers and bead-makers, their shops and working-
places.
• Merchant dwellings and artisan’s workshops also situated on
the side of road.
• Streets running from east to west led to the residential areas
• Lanes allowing access to individual dwellings.
• The houses give evidence to a sophisticated drainage system.
• The street maintained a uniform width
• Evidence of shops, workplaces of coppersmiths and
beadmaker.

13. Lower Town

15. Bathroom &
Drainage
• The main sewer, 1.5 meters deep and 91 cm
width
• It connected to many sewers.
• Bricks smoothened and joined together
seamlessly.
• These sewer are watertight.
• Drops at regular intervals for cleaning.
• Houses baths and drains that emptied into
underground soakage jars.

18. Dockyard
• Situated eastern end
of the site
• It is surrounded by a
wall of burnt bricks
• Size:
1. East-west: 212
meter and 215
meter
2. North-south: 37
meter and 35
meter.
• Has a sluice gate
and a spill channel
for maintaining
water
• Towards western
side a mud platform
could be wharf
(jetty)
• At wharf goods were
loaded and
unloaded

19. • It is opined as the world’s first dockyard.
• This dock inland, is connected with a canal
connecting to the estuary of River Sabarmati.
• Ships could sluice into the northern end of the dock
by an inlet channel connected to the River Sabarmati.
• During high tide, the lock gates were closed so the
water level would rise sufficiently for them to float.
• After the ships had loaded or unloaded cargo, the
gates were opened for them to return to the sea.
• Dimensions indicate the dock could handle 60 ships
of 30 tonnes each.
• This showed a thorough study of tides, hydraulics
and the effect of seawater on bricks.
Dockyard

20. Dockyard

22. Warehouse
• South of the residential
area
• Brick complex
• 3.5 meters above the
ground
• The warehouse was
divided into 64 rooms.
• Each room is 3.5
square meters.
• Rooms connected by 1.2
meter wide passages.
• Twelve of these cubical
blocks are visible today.
• 65 terracotta sealing
found
• These sealings had
impressions of reed,
woven fiber one side

23. Warehouses
• 64 cubical blocks
• 3.6-meter square each
• Rest on 1-meter high
platform
• Has wooden canopy
• For protecting cargo from
sun and rain
• It featured paved baths,
underground and surface
drains and a drinking
• The warehouses near the dockyard.
• Set on a 4 m. high plinth.
• Area: 1930 Square meters
• The cubical blocks were connected by passages.

24. Warehouses

25. The bead factory
• The bead factory possesses a central courtyard and
eleven rooms.
• The mud plaster of the floors and walls are vitrified
due to constant heat.
• A double-chambered circular kiln, with stoke-holes
for fuel supply.
• Evidence of reed, cow dung, sawdust and agate are
items of kiln
• It has
1. Workers Quarters
2. Guard Rooms
3. Store

27. Importance of Lothal
• A trade center
• Unique Dockyard
• Warehouse and bead industry
• External Trade
• A circular steatite seal of Bahrain find at Lothal.
• Evidence the Indus trade with Mesopotamia.
• Lothal might also have been the intermediary station
for receiving gold from Kolar
• Lothal provides one of largest collection of antiquities

28. Kalibangan

29. Kalibangan

30. Kalibangan
• Kalibangan means “Black Bangle”
• Numerous bangles were found over the mound
• Situated on the bank of Ghaggar river
• In Ganganagar district of Rajasthan
• Excavated by B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar from 1960-
69.

32. The Site

33. The Site
• Size of Kalibangan is small as compare to other
sites
• There are three mounds
• Smaller mound is on western side known as KLB
1
• Bigger mound known as KLB 2
• The third mound where only fire alters reported
• Both the citadel and lower town present
• The citadel on the west and the lower city on the
east.
• Spread of the site: over half a kilometre
• Cemetery: 300 meters away from the citadel

35. Chronology
• Two periods
• Period I: Early
Harappan
Date: 3500 BCE –
2500 BCE
• Period II: Mature
Harappans
Date: 2500 BCE –
1750 BCE

36. Architecture and Town Planning:
Early Harappan period
1. Remains of earlier structures found at lower
levels
2. Site was fortified
3. Fortifications Repaired twice: Thickness increase
4. First Phase: 1.9 m.;
5. Second Phase: 3.7–4.1 m.
6. Baked bricks used for constructions of houses
7. Burnt bricks used for drains
8. Structure and planning similar to Harappa and
Mohenjodaro

37. The citadel
• The citadel complex was
fortified
• It consists of two equal
but separately patterned
parts.
• The fortification was
built throughout of mud-
bricks.
• The southern half of the
citadel contained some
five to six massive
platforms.
• A few platforms may
have been used for
religious or ritual
purposes.
• The northern half of the
citadel contained
residential buildings of
the elite.

38. Citadel
• Fortification wall
made of baked bricks
(40 x 20 x 10 cm and
30 x 15 x 7.5 cm)
• Southern wall portion
is heavily fortified
with corner bastions
• Three entrance: east,
north and west
• Plan: Parallelogram (समानाांतर चतुर्ुुज)
• Height from GL: 9 meters
• Size: 240 meters north-south and 120 meters east-west
• Fortification wall: 3 to 9 meter width
• Rectangular bastions at regular intervals

39. Citadel: Residential Structures
• Houses were away
from the fortification
wall of the citadel
• This distance perhaps
for privacy matters?
• The space in-between
was paved with brick
pavement
• Evidence shows three
times renovations of
pavement
• Size of the bricks: 30 x
15 x 7.5 cm.

40. Lower Town
• Situated east of the citadel
at a distance of 40 meter
• Plan: Parallelogram
(समानाांतर चतुर्ुुज)
• Size: 360 meters north
south and 24o meters east-
west
• Enclosed with fortification
wall with gateway (3-7 m.)
and guard room
• Wall Width: 3.5 to 9 meter
• Made of mud bricks
• Size: 40 x 20 x 10 cm and
30 x 15 x 7.5 cm
• The city was grid planned

41. The lower
Town
• Houses in lower town was in grid pattern.
• Streets running north-south and east-west, dividing the area
into blocks.
• The houses were built of mud-bricks, baked bricks.
• Houses have drains, wells, etc.

42. Houses
• Houses followed the common pattern of other Harappan
cities.
• The town planning is like a chess board.
• All houses opened out to the lanes.
• Each house had a courtyard and 6–7 rooms.
• Some houses have private wells
• One house had stairs for going to the roof.
• Houses were built of 10 X 20 X 30 cm brick sizes
• Burnt bricks were used in drains, wells, bathing platforms,
door-sills etc.
• Floors of rooms were built of thrashed fine mud,
sometimes laid with mud bricks or terracotta cakes.
• One house had floors built of burnt tiles decorated with
geometrical designs.

43. Houses
• Chess-board pattern
• Layout of the city was
according to the
fortification wall
• Fortification and streets
were planned at the same
time
• Early Harappan houses
made of mud bricks
• Houses opened from lanes
• Double storied houses
also presents
• Roof probably flat with
mud plastered
• A few floors were paved
with decorated tiles with
intersecting circles
• Door size: 70-75 cm. wide
• Door shape: single -leaf

44. Roads
• Eight main roads have
been exposed
• Five roads in north-south
and
• Three east-west.
• B. B. Lal: streets were
also in ratio
• Small lanes connect to the
roads
• Size: 1.8 meters to 7.2
meters
• Drains were found below
the roads
• Probable evidence of
wooden drains

46. Fire altars
• A few massive platforms found
• Situated at a distance from each other
• Vandalism of these platforms by brick robbers makes difficult
to reconstruct their original shape
• Stairs were also associated with these structures
• Oval fire pits of burnt bricks have been found
• Seven fire altars were found
• Pits contains charcoal & terracotta cakes
• In one such fire alter and rectangular pit (1.24 x 1 m) contain
bovine bones and antlers
• It perhaps used for religious purpose
• Fire-altars have been found in three groups
a) Public altars in the citadel,
b) Household altars in the lower town, and
c) Public altars in a third separate group.

48. Agricultural Field
• Earliest reference of ploughed field of world
• It dated 2800 BCE (pre-Harappan)
• Situated outside the fortification
• Excavations revealed a grid pattern of
furrows
• Grid pattern of furrows: 30 cm running east-
west and about 190 cm apart running north-
south
• A pattern is still similar to the one practiced
even now.
• In modern times, similar ploughing is used
for double crops in this region, (mustard and
gram).

50. Significance of Kalibangan
• Evidence shown that there occurred an
earthquake around 2600 BC, which brought to
an end the Early Indus settlement at the site.
• Earliest record of agricultural field
• Uniformity with other urban settlements
• Probably act as regional capital
• Fire alters indicate Sun Worships?

51. Any Questions?