Dholavira

Dholavira
Part of the excavated site
Dholavira is located in India
Dholavira
Shown within India
Dholavira is located in Gujarat
Dholavira
Dholavira (Gujarat)
LocationKhadirbet, Kutch district, Gujarat, India
Coordinates23°53′18.98″N 70°12′49.09″E / 23.8886056°N 70.2136361°E / 23.8886056; 70.2136361
TypeSettlement
Area47 ha (120 acres)
History
PeriodsHarappa 1 to Harappa 5
CulturesIndus Valley Civilization
Site notes
ConditionRuined
Public accessYes
Official nameDholavira: A Harappan City
CriteriaCultural: (iii)(iv)
Designated2021 (44th session)
Reference no.1645

Dholavira (Gujarati: ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site. It is at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka from the Kutch District. It is in the state of Gujarat in western India. It took its name from a modern-day village 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of it. This village is 165 km (103 mi) from Radhanpur.

Signboard

A large signboard with ten big symbols of the Indus script was found near the north gate of Dholavira. The signs were made from white gypsum and set into a wooden frame. Many scholars think the signboard shows how important symbols were in the city.

A 2025 study by Max Freedom Pollard suggests that the signboard shows the parts of an animal-drawn cart in order.


References

  1. ↑ Gopinath, P. Krishna (15 July 2017). "Ruins on the Tropic of Cancer". The Hindu.
  2. ↑ Subramanian, T. "The rise and fall of a Harappan city". The Archaeology News Network. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Where does history begin?". 19 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Kenoyer & Heuston, Jonathan Mark & Kimberley (2005). The Ancient South Asian World. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9780195222432.
  5. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Dholavira: A Harappan City - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Possehl, Gregory L. (2002). The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Rowman Altamira. p. 17. ISBN 9780759101722. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Sengupta, Torsa; Deshpande Mukherjee, Arati; Bhushan, Ravi; Ram, F.; Bera, M. K.; Raj, Harsh; Dabhi, Ankur J.; Bisht, R. S.; Rawat, Y. S.; Bhattacharya, S. K.; Juyal, Navin; Sarkar, Anindya (2020). "Did the Harappan settlement of Dholavira (India) collapse during the onset of Meghalayan stage drought?". Journal of Quaternary Science. 35 (3): 382–395. doi:10.1002/jqs.3178. S2CID 214252156.
  8. ↑ Max Freedom Pollard (14 November 2025). "Indus Signs as Merchant Marks: Corpus Structure, Context, and Viability". Cambridge Open Engage (Working paper). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.33774/coe-2025-n0cxj. Retrieved 19 November 2025.

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