Editing Harappa (section)

==History==
[[File:IVC-major-sites-2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map showing the sites and extent of the [[Indus Valley civilization]]. Harappa was the centre of one of the core regions of the Indus Valley Civilization, located in central [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. The [[Harappan architecture]] and Harappan Civilization was one of the most developed in the old [[Bronze Age]].]]
The [[Indus Valley civilization|Harappan Civilization]] has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of [[Mehrgarh]], approximately 6000 BC. The two greatest cities, [[Mohenjo-daro]] and Harappa, emerged {{Circa|2600 BC}} along the [[Indus River]] valley in [[Punjab region|Punjab]] and [[Sindh]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Beck | first = Roger B. | title = World History: Patterns of Interaction | url = https://archive.org/details/mcdougallittellw00beck | url-access = registration | publisher = McDougal Littell | year = 1999 | location = Evanston, IL | isbn = 978-0-395-87274-1 }}</ref> The civilization, with a possible [[writing system]], urban centres, [[Drainage#Early history|drainage infrastructure]] and diversified [[Social structure|social]] and [[economic system]], was rediscovered in the 1920s also after excavations at [[Mohenjo-daro]] in Sindh near [[Larkana]], and Harappan cities, in west [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] south of [[Lahore]]. A number of other sites stretching from the [[Himalaya]]n foothills in the east [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[India]] in the west, to [[Gujarat]] in the south and east, and to [[Balochistan, Pakistan]] in the west, have also been discovered and studied. Although the archaeological site at Harappa was damaged in 1857<ref>Michel Danino. The Lost River. Penguin India.</ref> when engineers constructing the [[Lahore]]-[[Multan]] railroad used brick from the Harappa ruins for [[track ballast]], an abundance of artefacts have nevertheless been found.<ref>[[Jonathan Mark Kenoyer|Kenoyer, J.M.]], 1997, Trade and Technology of the Indus Valley: New insights from sand, clay, stones and were baked at very high temperature. As early as 1826 Harappa, located in west Punjab, attracted the attention of [[Daya Ram Sahni]], who gets credit for preliminary excavations of Harappa.</ref>

Because of the reduced [[sea-levels]], certain regions in the late Harappan period were abandoned.<ref name="Mcintosh 2008 94">{{cite book|title= The Ancient Indus Valley New Perspectives |first= Jane |last= Mcintosh |publisher= Routledge |year=2008 |page=94 |isbn= 978-1-57607-907-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&dq=harappan+civilization+oxford&pg=PA104}}</ref> Towards its end, the Harappan civilization lost features such as [[writing]] and [[hydraulic engineering]].<ref>{{cite book|title= The Ancient Indus Valley New Perspectives |first= Jane |last= Mcintosh |publisher= Routledge |year=2008 |page=101 |isbn= 978-1-57607-907-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&dq=harappan+civilization+oxford&pg=PA104}}</ref> As a result, the Ganges Valley settlement gained prominence and Ganges' cities developed.<ref name="Mcintosh 2008 94"/>

The earliest recognisably Harappan sites date to 3500 BC. This early phase lasts till around 2600 BC. The civilization's mature phase lasted from 2600 BC to 2000 BC. This is when the great cities were at their height. Then, from around 2000 BC, there was a steady disintegration that lasted till 1400 BC – what is usually called Late Harappan.<ref>{{Citation |title=Culture change during the Late Harappan period at Harappa: new insights on Vedic Aryan issues |date=2004-08-02 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203641880-7 |work=The Indo-Aryan Controversy |pages=33–61 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780203641880-7 |isbn=978-0-203-64188-0 |access-date=2022-03-30}}</ref> There is no sign that the Harappan cities were laid waste by invaders. The evidence strongly points to natural causes. A number of studies show that the area which is today the [[Thar Desert]] was once far wetter and that the climate gradually became drier.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Q. |first=Madella, Marco Fuller, Dorian |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1103344632ndjabcxsabchbbcvdsscbuhdchnaeuc |title=Palaeoecology and the Harappan Civilization of South Asia: a reconsideration |date=2006-01-18 |publisher=Elsevier |oclc=1103344632}}</ref>