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Through material evidences and use of ingenuity archaeologist have come up with some notion of how harappan societies were



1. Burial is one of the strategies used by archaeologist. Through studies of burial archaeologist have found out that there are certain differences in the way graves are made: for example some pits are laid with bricks whereas some are not, thus bringning forth the notion of social differences. However, it is still a specualtion.

2. Evidence of luxury goods too are a good indicator that shows how social structures were, for example most of the evidences of luxury goods were found at the larger settlements like, Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Thus it could be possible that social differences were prominent in the larger settlement due to large population.

3. There are  Some graves that contain pottery and some ornaments, it has lead archaeologist to believe that these things are indicating a belief  in the after life.

4. On the basis of evidences related with different occupations the archaeologists (or archaeo-botanists or archaeo-zoologists) indicate that the people of different occupations or of different socio-economic positions used to live in the Harappan cities.

5. Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers, and that everybody enjoyed equal status. Others feel there were no single ruler but several, that Mohenjodaro had a separate ruler, Harappa another, and so forth, yet others argue that there was a single state, given the similarity in artefacts, the evidence for planned settlements, the standardised ratio of brick size, and the establishment of settlements near sources of raw material. As of now, the last theory seems the most plausible, as it is unlikely that entire communities could have collectively made and implemented such complex decisions.

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By 1900 BCE we find that there are general transformation in the material culture of Harappan Civilization and this phase is also known as Late Harappa.
Here are the transformation:

1. There were disappearance of the distinctive artefacts that were produced during  the mature Harappan phase. For example weight, seals, beads etc

2. We also see disappearance of writing , long distance trade and craft specialisation that were seen during the mature Harappan phase. In general, far fewer materials were used to make far fewer things.

3. House construction techniques deteriorated and large public structures were no longer produced.

4. By 1900 BCE we find that there is an indication of rural way of life. With very poor craft production when compared with the Mature Harappan phase.

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When archaeologist classify there finds and when they try to understand its function they take recourse to many steps and one of it is trying to understand the function of the finds with its similarities in shapes with present day things.
One of the foremost reason of doing this is because many reconstructions of Harappan civilization are made on the assumption that later traditions provide parallels with earlier ones. This is because archaeologists often move from the known to the unknown, that is, from the present to the past.
For example there are evidences of pottery, tools, ornaments, households object etc. We can easily deduce its function because the shapes resembles the present day objects. There are also evidences of toy carts, boats found from Harappa whose function can be known because of its resemblance with the present toys of the children.
Although such thing's function can be easily deduced the main problem the archaeologist face is when they try to apply same methods to reconstruct the religious beliefs of the Harappan people. For example The Proto Shiva seal and the various cones of small size made out of Lapis Lazuli, jasper etc, this things when looked looks like the present day objects hence they are given named like Proto Shiva and Lingas respectively but it is mere speculation, there are possibilities tha seal could be depicting a Shaman or someone else and those cones could be just cones used for board games.
For example The Great Bath at Mohenjo daro, is believed to be a place for bathing for ritual purposes because there are such places here in India. However we are not sure if it was use for such a purposes during that time.
Hence, the method to look for the present day resemblance in the object is useful when the objects are obvious as in pottery, jewelleries etc but it becomes tricky when same methods are applied to understand something else like beliefs, religious practices etc.

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The distinctive features of urban centres in Harappan civilization are.

1. The division of town into Citadel and lower town where, citadel was on the higher ground with its huge structure probably used for public purposes and the lower town wheere we find the residential area with its distinct architecture.

2. Drainage system- It was one of the most important feature of the urban centres, it was neatly laid with idea to keep it clean and was connected with every drain of the residential area.

3. streets- Every part of the town was connected with roads and street. It was laid out along an approximate “grid” pattern, intersecting at right angles. It appears that drain and streets were laid out first and then houses were built along them.

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It cannot be denied that there did exist agriculture during Harappan civilization because we have the evidence of grains. Through evidences archaeologist have come out with ideas regarding the technologies adopted by the Harappans.

1. Representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and archaeologists extrapolate from this that oxen were used for ploughing.

2. Images of terracotta plough have been found and evidences of ploughed field has been found at Kalibangan. Thus we can fairly assume that plogh was used.

3. There are evidence of copper tools, stone blades tools, however archaeologist are not sure what kind of tools were used for agriculture.

4. As most of the sites were located semi arid lands it is postulated that irrigation were required. Hence there are evidences of canals at the Harappan site of Shortughai in Afghanistan