A total of 1,022 cities and settlements had been found by 2008, mainly in the general region of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra Rivers, and their tributaries; of which 406 sites are in Pakistan and 616 sites in India; of these 96 have been excavated. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa, Mohanjo-Daro (UNESCO World Heritage site), Dholavira, Ganeriwala and Rakhigarhi.
The Harappa language is not directly attested, and its affiliation is uncertain since the Indus script is still un-deciphered. A relationship with the Dravidian or Elamo-Dravidian language family is favored by a section of scholars.
The Indus Valley Civilisation is named after the Indus Valley, where the first remains were found. The Indus Valley Civilisation is also named as the Harappan civilisation after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in what was then the Punjab province of British India.
The Indus Valley Civilisation has also been called by some the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilisation", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation" or the "Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation", as the Ghaggar-Hakra river is identified by some with the mythological Sarasvati river. suggesting that the Indus Valley Civilisation was the Vedic civilisation as perceived by traditional Hindu beliefs.
Important Points:-
- The earliest radiocarbon dating mentioned on the web is 2725±185 BC (uncalibrated) or 3338, 3213, 3203 BC calibrated, giving a midpoint of 3251 BC. Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark (1991) Urban process in the Indus Tradition: A preliminary report. In Harappa Excavations, 1986–1990: A multidisciplinary approach to Second Millennium urbanism, edited by Richard H. Meadow: 29–59. Monographs in World Archaeology No.3. Prehistory Press, Madison Wisconsin.
- Periods 4 and 5 are not dated at Harappa. The termination of the Harappan tradition at Harappa falls between 1900 and 1500 BC.
- Maohenjo-daro is another major city of the same period, located in sindh province of pakistan. One of its most well-known structures is the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro.
