Location & Discovery
These two modern-day countries contain the majority of the Indus Valley ruins.
What are Pakistan and India?
These were moisture-resistant and remarkably uniform in size across all Indus cities.
What are fire-baked bricks?
These small, carved soapstone objects were used to identify property and stamp trade goods.
What are seals?
This remains the biggest obstacle to understanding Indus government and religion.
What is the undeciphered script (writing)?
Most modern scholars believe this general factor led to the civilization's collapse.
What is climate change?
This group of people accidentally discovered ancient fire-baked bricks in 1856 while building a railroad.
Who are British railway workers?
This is the name for the heavily fortified central area of an Indus city.
What is a citadel?
The Harappans were among the first to use this type of wheeled transport, still seen in South Asia today.
What are oxcarts?
This 11-centimeter bronze figurine suggests the civilization enjoyed choreographed performance.
Who is the Dancing Girl?
This major river began drying up around 1900 BCE, disrupting agriculture.
What is the Saraswati River?
The civilization is also known by this name, after the first site ever excavated.
What is the Harappan Civilization?
This famous Mohenjo-daro structure may have been used for public social or religious bathing.
What is the Great Bath?
This is the science of working with metals like copper and bronze, which the Harappans mastered.
What is metallurgy?
This bearded figure carved from steatite is one of the few depictions of a potential leader.
Who is the Priest-King?
These seasonal winds can bring life-giving rain or destructive floods.
What are monsoons?
Before finding Harappa, scholars thought Indian civilization began in this valley.
What is the Ganges Valley?
Indus cities were the first in the world to feature these advanced underground systems.
What are sewage/drainage systems?
Harappan jewelry and seals have been found in this distant "land between two rivers."
What is Mesopotamia?
One seal shows a half-human monster attacking a tiger, similar to a myth from this Sumerian poem.
What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?
Early historians wrongly blamed the decline on an invasion by this nomadic tribe.
Who are the Aryans?
This settlement in the foothills of Balochistan shows evidence of farming as early as 7000 BCE.
What is Mehrgarh?
Unlike Egypt, the Indus Valley lacked these massive buildings dedicated to kings or gods.
What are palaces or temples?
This coastal city featured a massive dredged canal and a docking facility for sea trade.
What is Lothal?
The lack of "elite" burials leads some historians to believe the society had this kind of status.
What is equal status (or egalitarian)?
After abandoning their cities, many Harappans migrated East toward this river basin.
What is the Ganges Basin?