History at Key Stage 2 Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation?

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? BC AD 1666: The Great Fire of London 55 BC AD: Roman Britain s: The Viking Age 3100 BC – 1069 BC: Ancient Egypt When was the Indus Valley civilisation? Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? 1000 BC – 323 BC: Ancient Greece BC: Indus Valley

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? Where was the Indus Valley civilisation? Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? The Indus valley was in Asia, in parts of what are now India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Click to have a closer look: Afghanistan India Pakistan The Indus river Harappa Mohenjo-Daro The area where the Indus Valley civilisation was is shown in bright green

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? What was the environment like in the Indus Valley? Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? Sea Hills Mountains Desert River Why do you think people would want to settle in the Indus valley? How do you think the environmental features would affect the lives of people living here?

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? How was the Indus Valley civilisation discovered? In the first evidence of the Indus Valley civilisation was discovered. It was a set of engraved seals found near the town of Harappa, like the ones shown in the picture Following this discovery, a team of archaeologists including Rakhal Das Banerjee, John Marshall, E.J.H Mackay and M.S.Vats excavated the area and found the remains of buildings and streets. It soon became clear that what they had found was evidence of an ancient civilisation. Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation?

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? What do streets and buildings tell us about life in Mohenjo-Daro? Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? Drains Houses built in straight lines Straight streets between houses Clay bricks baked in the sun City gate

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? What do pictures of artefacts tell us about life in Mohenjo-Daro? Choose a picture of an artefact and write a description of it. In your description you may want to mention: Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? The size and shape of the artefact How the artefact is decorated The colour of the artefact What you think it might have been used for Reasons why you think it was used for this purpose

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? What sort of written evidence is there of the Indus Valley civilisation? Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? The Indus Valley civilisation’s system of writing was based on pictures, called ideograms. Each ideogram could have several different meanings. Can you think of examples of how we use pictures or ideograms to communicate nowadays?

History Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? How can the fish ideogram be interpreted? The fish ideogram could have two meanings: Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation? Fish Star The Indus Valley people believed that the stars were like fish swimming in the night sky. Why do you think the fish ideogram might have the meaning ‘star’?

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