Lothal : Inside the museum

How do we know what was the lifestyle of people in those times? How do we know what items did they use for their daily survival? Through artifacts of course!

Artifacts are our primary sources in deciphering the way of living of people back in the day and help us in deciding whether there were social disparities or not. We also get an insight into what was the culture, practices and rituals performed and whether any religion dominated the social life like in today’s time or not.

Dietary practices

We come to know of the dietary practices of Harappans living in Lothal mainly from the charred grains they have left behind for us. Since Lothal was situated on the tributaries of Sabarmati River and was known for its flourishing trade with faraway lands through the waters, it is not surprising that bones of fish and fish hooks have been found. This gives us inkling that the people were well versed with the art of fishing. Fish hooks were made up of different materials such as ivory and terracotta.

There is a skill fishermen use for fishing. They use huge nets with stones hanging on its edges to catch a large amount of fish. This style of fishing was known to the citizens of Lothal as is evident from the discovery of stones, also called net sinkers.

Importance of aesthetics

The people paid great attention to the aesthetics and their own beautification. The people loved to adorn themselves with jewellery of all kinds including bangles, necklaces, elaborate headgears and even earrings! They were made from materials ranging from terracotta to shells and to steatite. They were famous for their remarkable technology in making micro beads. A mirror made of bronze and tin has also been found. They had needles made of bone and ivory.

They not only paid close attention in beautifying themselves but also with the items they used. Beautiful pottery has been unearthed which gives us an insight not only to the civilization itself but also into the minds of people and their creativity. They used their pottery as canvases to paint and decorate. Pots have been found with delicate painting made of black colour. Some gigantic pots or vessel have been found.

Sense of religion

We do not know whether they had any religion in particular or not. We also do not know if there were any God/s specific to the harrapan culture. But as it is the tendency of humans to blame religion for anything unusual or out of place, we do gauge from the findings that the people seemed to have a sense of religion in the very least.

The archeologists have unearthed what we may label as conches. As we know a conch is an important symbol of Hinduism with respect Lord Hanuman. Maybe these conches hint at something?

The harrapans like their Egyptian counterparts seemed to have believed in the concept of afterlife. These are evident from the fact they buried their dead. The dead were usually buried with items that he may need in the afterlife. One of the objects that have been unearthed from quite a few burials is called a ‘dish-on-the-stand’. It was the most important object and indicates towards the ritual and practices.

Entertainment

A board which looked strikingly familiar to present day ludo was being displayed in the lothal museum. It must been quite a rage in those times. They had the dice and the game men. Toys for children included clay models of bullock carts and other scenes of common life.

Seals

The unicorn seals are what give the Harappan civilization their identity. The unique features of these seals were even though they were made in a negative, when they would be punched onto something it would give out a positive.

Tools

Many of us have this misconception that once the Stone Age ended, stone tools also ceased to be used. But it was not so. Stone tools continued to be in use even when Bronze Age (the time when Harrapan civilization occurred) had come into being. Stone tools were extremely effective and long lasting considering the fact that some people in the community were still dependent on hunting for their survival.

They had other tools also such as hammer, chisel and spools. The harrapans were the first to have a saw which had teeth.

Visit to Lothal left me wondering at the marvels of archaeological excavations and the many interpretations that go with it. We came back home exhausted yet excited bursting with the new found knowledge of one of the very important historical sites.