Editing Harappa (section)

==Culture and economy==

The Indus Valley civilization was basically an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce, the latter including trade with [[Elam]] and [[Sumer]] in southern [[Mesopotamia]]. Both [[Mohenjo-daro]] and Harappa are generally characterised as having "differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers."<ref name=loc>Library of Congress: Country Studies. 1995. [http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/indusvalleyciv/a/harappanculture.htm Harappan Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702145021/http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/indusvalleyciv/a/harappanculture.htm |date=2 July 2007 }}. Retrieved 13 January 2006.</ref> Although such similarities have given rise to arguments for the existence of a standardised system of urban layout and planning, the similarities are largely due to the presence of a semi-orthogonal type of civic layout, and a comparison of the layouts of [[Mohenjo-Daro]] and Harappa shows that they are in fact, arranged in a quite dissimilar fashion.

The weights and measures of the Indus Valley Civilisation, on the other hand, were highly standardised, and conformed to a set scale of gradations. Distinctive seals were used, among other applications, perhaps for the identification of property and shipment of goods. Although copper and [[bronze]] were in use, [[Iron (material)|iron]] was not yet employed. "Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were [[Agriculture|cultivated]]; and a number of animals, including the [[Zebu|humped bull]], was [[Domestication|domesticated]],"<ref name="loc" /> as well as "[[fighting cock|fowl for fighting]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schneller |first1=Thomas |title=Poultry: identification, fabrication, utilization |date=28 September 2009 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=9781435400382 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8xHK6ibUMYC&dq=Harappa+cock+fight&pg=PA16 |page=16}}</ref>  Wheel-made pottery—some of it adorned with animal and geometric motifs—has been found in profusion at all the major Indus sites. A centralised administration for each city, though not the whole civilisation, has been inferred from the revealed cultural uniformity; however, it remains uncertain whether authority lay with a commercial [[oligarchy]]. Harappans had many trade routes along the Indus River that went as far as the Persian Gulf, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Some of the most valuable things traded were [[carnelian]] and [[lapis lazuli]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Worlds Together, Worlds Apart|last = Pollard|first = Elizabeth|publisher = Norton|year = 2015|isbn = 978-0-393-92207-3|location = New York|page = 67}}</ref>

What is clear is that Harappan society was not entirely peaceful, with the human skeletal remains demonstrating some of the highest rates of injury (15.5%) found in South Asian prehistory.<ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.1016/j.ijpp.2012.09.012 | pmid=29539378 | volume=2 | issue=2–3 | title=A peaceful realm? Trauma and social differentiation at Harappa | year=2012 | journal=International Journal of Paleopathology | pages=136–147 | last1 = Robbins Schug | first1 = Gwen| s2cid=3933522 | url=http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/G_Robbins_Schug_Peaceful_2012.pdf }}</ref> Examinations of Harappan skeletons have often found wounds that are likely to have been inflicted in battle.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robbins Schug |first1=Gwen |last2=Blevins |first2=K. Elaine |last3=Cox |first3=Brett |last4=Gray |first4=Kelsey |last5=Mushrif-Tripathy |first5=V. |date=2013-12-17 |title=Infection, Disease, and Biosocial Processes at the End of the Indus Civilization |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=e84814 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0084814 |pmid=24358372 |pmc=3866234 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...884814R |issn=1932-6203|doi-access=free }}</ref> Paleopathological analysis demonstrated that [[leprosy]] and [[tuberculosis]] were present at Harappa, with the highest prevalence of both disease and trauma present in the skeletons from Area G (an [[ossuary]] located south-east of the city walls).<ref name="plosone.org">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0084814 | volume=8 | issue=12 | title=Infection, Disease, and Biosocial Processes at the End of the Indus Civilisation | year=2013 | journal=PLOS ONE | page=e84814 | last1 = Robbins Schug | first1 = Gwen| pmc=3866234 | pmid=24358372| bibcode=2013PLoSO...884814R | doi-access=free }}</ref> Furthermore, rates of craniofacial trauma and infection increased through time demonstrating that the civilisation collapsed amid illness and injury. The bioarchaeologists who examined the remains have suggested that the combined evidence for differences in mortuary treatment and epidemiology indicate that some individuals and communities at Harappa were excluded from access to basic resources like health and safety.