Archaeology and Humanity’s Story:

A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory

Chapter 12 Test Bank—The Indus Valley

Multiple-Choice Questions (30)

1. Chapter 12 focuses on the Indus River Valley of _______________ and _______________.

A) India; Iraq

B) India; Israel

C) India; Ukraine

D) India; Pakistan

2. The complex society called the __________________ developed out of Neolithic and Chalcolithic predecessors.

A) Harappan

B) Hakra

C) Turan

D) Hemamieh

3. One early Neolithic/Chalcolithic site in the Indus Valley is called ______________________.

A) Mohenjo-daro

B) Göbekli Tepe

C) Mehrgarh

D) Mezhirich

4. Which of the following is a limitation of written records, including the as-yet-undeciphered Indus script?

A) They may be biased.

B) They are a relatively recent development in the human past.

C) They rarely record the activities of everyday people.

D) All of the above

5. The _________ site had a walled-off section that may have been reserved for elite residents.

A) Mehrgarh

B) Koobi Fora

C) Kot Diji

D) M’lefaat

6. ______________ was a Mature Harappan outpost near a source of lapis lazuli in Afghanistan.

A) Sankara

B) Shortugai

C) Ghaggar

D) Joshu

7. Some Harappan figurines have stylized faces that resemble much later depictions of the Hindu god ______________.

A) Ganesh

B) Shiva

C) Kali

D) Sarasvati

8. Harappan urbanism began to decline after about _____________________.

A) AD 1492

B) 220 BC

C) 1138 BC

D) 1900 BC

9. ____________ headdresses on Indus Valley figurines usually featured ears or horns.

A) Barley

B) Fish

C) Female

D) Male

10. Climatic changes toward the end of the Mature Harappan made millet and rice more feasible crops than __________________.

A) rice and millet

B) broomcorn millet and foxtail millet

C) wheat and barley

D) einkorn wheat and rice

11. After 5500 BC, some Neolithic Indus Valley groups likely became _________________.

A) herbivores

B) scavengers

C) pastoralists

D) industrial agriculturalists

12. Samples of Indus script usually have about _____________ signs.

A) 17–25

B) 15–20

C) 1–5

D) 150–200

13. Pottery vessels appear in the archaeological record of the Indus Valley after about ______________.

A) 8500 BC

B) 5500 BC

C) 2500 BC

D) 500 BC

14. The Early Harappan period began about ________________.

A) 2187 BC

B) 3200 BC

C) 350 BC

D) AD 400

15. The earliest residents of Mehrgarh used ________________ for cooking and food storage.

A) cedar boxes

B) baskets

C) ceramic vessels

D) iron chests

16. Most Indus Valley structures were built from __________________.

A) steatite

B) faience

C) wooden poles

D) mudbrick

17. Excavations at the Harappa site indicate a period of ______________ between Early and Mature Harappan.

A) agricultural disruption

B) cannibalism

C) cultural continuity

D) warfare

18. The first king of Mohenjo-daro was named ____________________.

A) Ponda Baba

B) Kot Diji

C) Gilgamesh

D) There is no known king of Mohenjo-daro.

19. After marriage, Harappan males probably moved _________________________.

A) up to the second tier of their mudbrick homes

B) across the river, symbolizing rebirth

C) into their fathers’ homes

D) into the areas/homes of their wives’ families

20. Etched carnelian beads produced in the Indus Valley were found at ___________________.

A) Ur

B) Saqqara

C) Anyang

D) Clovis

21. What was the average size of an early village, like Mehrgarh?

A) 1 to 3 square meters (10.76 to 32.29 square feet)

B) 2 to 3 hectares (5 to 7 acres)

C) 10 to 12 square kilometers (3.86 to 4.63 square miles)

D) 12 hectares (29.65 acres)

22. The Mature Harappan period began about ___________________.

A) AD 12

B) AD 2187

C) 700 BC

D) 2600 BC

23. The actual function of the _________________ at Mohenjo-daro is unknown.

A) “Temple Pool”

B) “Pillar of Wisdom”

C) “Great Bath”

D) “Chariot of the Gods”

24. Foxtail and broomcorn millet were likely introduced from China about ________________.

A) AD 33

B) 10,000 BC

C) 7500 BC

D) 2500 BC

25. What event most affected agricultural productivity in the Late Harappan?

A) Volcanic activity

B) Frequent hailstorms

C) The shifting courses of rivers

D) Melting polar ice caps

26. Which of these amenities was present at Mohenjo-daro in the Mature Harappan?

A) Flushable toilets

B) Mechanical bulls

C) Nuclear power

D) Wastewater drainage

27. The Early Harappan period was followed by the ________________ Harappan period.

A) Mature

B) Meso-

C) Classic

D) Formative

28. At its peak, __________________ probably had between 25,000 and 30,000 residents.

A) Kot Diji

B) Mehrgahr

C) Harappa

D) Shortugai

29. We know little about the Indus script, but we do know that it became standardized around ______________.

A) 2600 BC

B) the Paleolithic

C) 1100 BC

D) the Post-Harappan

30. Marks made on pottery vessels after their firing are called __________________.

A) graffiti

B) enchantments

C) seals of approval

D) trowel damage

/Questions (10)

1. Cattle were independently domesticated in the Indus Valley. (

2. Balakot was one phase of the Early Harappan period. (

3. Marks made on pottery vessels prior to their firing are called graffiti. (

4. The Middle Asian Interaction Sphere has been proposed as a name for the massive exchange network to which Mature Harappan sites contributed. (

5. Indus Valley male figurines were often depicted with beards. (

6. Early Harappan people used many grains, including maize. (

7. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro both had structures named granaries though there is no evidence they were used for this purpose. (

8. Domesticated South Asian humped cattle are referred to as zebu. (

9. Harappan art included many representations of animals, including Rhinoceroses. (

10. The Erlitou was the earliest phase of the Early Harappan period. (

1. What herd animal was locally domesticated in South Asia?

2. What evidence suggests wheeled carts at the Harappa site?

3. What was the largest, most populous site of the Indus Valley? Approximately how many residents lived there at its peak?

4. Mature Harappan groups made use of domesticated sheep, wheat, and barley. How did they acquire these resources?

5. Describe the earliest evidence of cotton in the Indus Valley, at the Mehrgarh site.

6. Why is the labeling of Early Harappan “phases” somewhat misleading?

7. A significant innovation of the Early Harappan period was the establishment of standardized weights. What form did these weights take?

8. What evidence supports cultural continuity between the Early and Mature Harappan, as opposed to a violent takeover.

9. What did genetic and strontium isotope analyses reveal about postmarital residence patterns? Where do they suggest people lived after marriage?

10. Name three raw materials on which preserved Indus writing has been discovered.

1. What elements of Harappan urbanism do we see in the cities of today? Provide details.

2. Urbanism went into decline toward the end of the Mature Harappan. What factors contributed to this?

3. Why has the Indus script proven so difficult to decipher, compared to hieroglyphs or cuneiform?

4. Many aspects of Indus Valley civilization remain “mysterious.” Its written language and culture are less understood than those of other Old World early states. There has been a lot of speculation about Harappan ritual and religion. What do we know and why don’t we know more?

5. Discuss the evidence for Harappan involvement in the “Middle Asian Interaction Sphere.”