Dholavira
Dholavira is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is from Radhanpur. Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of an ancient Indus Valley Civilization/Harappan city. Dholavira’s location is on the Tropic of Cancer. It is one of the five largest Harappan sites and most prominent archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is also considered as having been the grandest of cities of its time. It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch. The quadrangular city lay between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south. The site was thought to be occupied from c.2650 BCE, declining slowly after about 2100 BCE, and that it was briefly abandoned then reoccupied until c.1450 BCE, however recent research suggests the beginning of occupation around 3500 BCE and continuity until around 1800 BCE.
The site was discovered in 1967-68 by J. P. Joshi, of the Archaeological Survey of India, and is the fifth largest of eight major Harappan sites. It has been under excavation since 1990 by the ASI, which opined that "Dholavira has indeed added new dimensions to personality of Indus Valley Civilisation." The other major Harappan sites discovered so far are Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Ganeriwala, Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, Rupnagar and Lothal.
Chronology of Dholavira
, the director of the Dholavira excavations, has defined the following seven stages of occupation at the site:| Stages | Dates | |
| Stage I | 2650–2550 BCE | Early Harappan – Mature Harappan Transition A |
| Stage II | 2550–2500 BCE | Early Harappan – Mature Harappan Transition B |
| Stage III | 2500–2200 BCE | Mature Harappan A |
| Stage IV | 2200–2000 BCE | Mature Harappan B |
| Stage V | 2000–1900 BCE | Mature Harappan C |
| 1900–1850 BCE | Period of desertion | |
| Stage VI | 1850–1750 BCE | Posturban Harappan A |
| 1750–1650 BCE | Period of desertion | |
| Stage VII | 1650–1450 BCE | Posturban Harappan B |
Recent C14 datings and stylistic comparisons with Amri II-B period pottery shows the first two phases should be termed Pre-Harappan Dholaviran Culture and re-dated as follows: Stage I, and Stage II.
Excavations
Excavation was initiated in 1989 by the ASI under the direction of Bisht, and there were 13 field excavations between 1990 and 2005. The excavation brought to light the urban planning and architecture, and unearthed large numbers of antiquities such as, animal bones, gold, silver, terracotta ornaments, pottery and bronze vessels. Archaeologists believe that Dholavira was an important centre of trade between settlements in south Gujarat, Sindh and Punjab and Western Asia.Architecture and material culture
Estimated to be older than the port-city of Lothal, the city of Dholavira has a rectangular shape and organization, and is spread over. The area measures in length, and in width. Unlike Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, the city was constructed to a pre-existing geometrical plan consisting of three divisions – the citadel, the middle town, and the lower town. The acropolis and the middle town had been furnished with their own defence-work, gateways, built-up areas, street system, wells, and large open spaces. The acropolis is the most thoroughly fortified and complex area in the city, of which it appropriates the major portion of the southwestern zone. The towering "castle" stands is defended by double ramparts. Next to this stands a place called the 'bailey' where important officials lived. The city within the general fortifications accounts for. There are extensive structure-bearing areas which are outside yet integral to the fortified settlement. Beyond the walls, another settlement has been found. The most striking feature of the city is that all of its buildings, at least in their present state of preservation, are built of stone, whereas most other Harappan sites, including Harappa itself and Mohenjo-daro, are almost exclusively built of brick. Dholavira is flanked by two storm water channels; the Mansar in the north, and the Manhar in the south.Reservoirs
Bisht, who retired as the Joint Director-General of the ASI, said, "The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering, given the state of technology in the third millennium BCE." One of the unique features of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world, built completely of stone. The city had massive reservoirs, three of which are exposed. They were used for storing fresh water brought by rains or to store water diverted from two nearby rivulets. This clearly came in response to the desert climate and conditions of Kutch, where several years may pass without rainfall. A seasonal stream which runs in a north-south direction near the site was dammed at several points to collect water. In 1998, another reservoir was discovered in the site.The inhabitants of Dholavira created sixteen or more reservoirs of varying size during Stage III. Some of these took advantage of the slope of the ground within the large settlement, a drop of from northeast to northwest. Other reservoirs were excavated, some into living rock. Recent work has revealed two large reservoirs, one to the east of the castle and one to its south, near the Annexe.
The reservoirs are cut through stone vertically, and are about deep and long. They skirt the city, while the citadel and bath are centrally located on raised ground. There is also a large well with a stone-cut trough connecting it to a drain meant for conducting water to a storage tank. The bathing tank had steps descending inwards.
In October 2014, excavation began on a rectangular stepwell which measured long, wide, and deep, making it three times bigger than the Great Bath of Mohenjedaro.
Seal making
Some of the seals found at Dholavira, belonging to Stage III, contained animal only figures, without any type of script. It is suggested that these type of seals represent early conventions of Indus seal making.Other structures and objects
A huge circular structure on the site is believed to be a grave or memorial, although it contained no skeletons or other human remains. The structure consists of ten radial mud-brick walls built in the shape of a spoked wheel. A soft sandstone sculpture of a male with phallus erectus but head and feet below ankle truncated was found in the passageway of the eastern gate. Many funerary structures have been found, as well as pottery pieces, terra cotta seals, bangles, rings, beads, and intaglio engravings.Hemispherical constructions
Seven hemispherical constructions were found at Dholavira, of which two were excavated in detail, which were constructed over large rock cut chambers. Having a circular plan, these were big hemispherical elevated mud brick constructions. One of the excavated structures was designed in the form of a spoked wheel. The other was also designed in same fashion, but as a wheel without spokes. Although they contained burial goods of pottery, no skeletons were found except for one grave, where a skeleton and a copper mirror were found. A necklace of steatite beads strung to a copper wire with hooks at both ends, a gold bangle, gold and other beads were also found in one of the hemispherical structures.These hemispherical structures bear similarity to early Buddhist stupas. The Archaeological Survey of India, which conducted the excavation, opines that "the kind of design that is of spoked wheel and unspoked wheel also remind one of the Sararata-chakra-citi and sapradhi-rata-chakra-citi mentioned in the Satapatha Brahmana and Sulba-sutras".