Download Artifact Box Vanessa Orahood

Artifact Box
Vanessa Orahood
Indus River Valley Civilization
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: History
Content Statement 2- Early civilizations (India, Egypt, China and Mesopotamia) with unique
governments, economic systems, social structures, religions, technologies and agricultural practices and
products flourished as a result of favorable geographic characteristics. The cultural practices and products
of these early civilizations can be used to help understand the Eastern Hemisphere today.
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: Geography
Content Statement 3- Globes and other geographic tools can be used to gather, process and report
information about people, places and environments. Cartographers decide which information to include
and how it is displayed.
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: Geography
Content Statement 4- Latitude and longitude can be used to identify absolute location.
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: Geography
Content Statement 5- Regions can be determined, classified and compared using various criteria (e.g.,
landform, climate, population, cultural, or economic).
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: Geography
Content Statement 6- Variations among physical environments within the Eastern Hemisphere influence
human activities. Human activities also alter the physical environment.
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: Geography
Content Statement 7- Political, environmental, social and economic factors cause people, products and
ideas to move from place to place in the Eastern Hemisphere in the past and today.
Standard: 6th grade Social Studies
Strand: Geography
Content Statement 8- Modern cultural practices and products show the influence of tradition and
diffusion, including the impact of major world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and
Judaism).
5 Themes of Geography Related to Artifacts
CS 3&4-Place & Location- two types of maps
CS 5-Regions- seal, weights, wheat to grow, transport and sell crops/ farming used for economic trade
CS 6-Human-Environmental Interaction- oven baked bricks to build homes and cities for protection
from environment
CS 7-Movement-cart for transportation of goods
CS 8-Regions-cultural- pottery used in households and in religious and burial practices
Introduction:
The Indus Valley Civilization was located the areas known today as Afghanistan to Pakistan to
northwest India along the basin of the Indus River region. It is the earliest known civilization on the
Indian subcontinent from around 4,600 years ago and is a relatively recent discovery. The first recorded
evidence of the civilization was in 1861, but actual excavation of the sites didn’t begin until the 1920’s.
There were two main cities Harappa, on the north part of the Indus River and Mohenjo-Daro to the south.
Since then it has been discovered that there were more than 100 towns and villages excavated around the
river basin area. The area was very fertile but it was also prone to floods. The two largest cities of
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were large urban areas with urban planning and design. The buildings were
made of oven baked bricks that were all the same size and shape, had a public bath house and defensive
towers in the west and south. Each house had a well, and waste water drains which kept the city clean and
dry. Each house also had an entrance through a courtyard that protected it from noise and thieves. Their
economy was based on trade within their civilization and possibly other civilizations such as the
Mesopotamians. They were very precise and organized in their trade systems and were a mostly
agricultural society. They farmed and also had domesticated animals and pets like dogs. Like many of the
ancient civilizations it is not clear why the cities were abandoned. There is evidence that people began to
leave the cities around 1900 BCE, and skeletons found indicate those that
stayed were malnourished.
Artifact #1- (Location & Place) Maps
The first map shows the region of the Indus River Civilization with three of
the major cities Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, and Lothal. It also shows their
relationship to the Himalayan Mountains, Thar Desert, China, Nepal and the
Arabian Sea. The second map is a modern day locations map that compares
the locations of the ancient civilizations.
Teaching Idea: I would use this as an introductory lesson and I would have
students get into small groups and give them both maps and ask them to
compare and contrast the two maps and list some ways that they are alike and
different. Then we would discuss their findings. Then I would have them draw
conclusions about why the modern cities are in their locations and come up
with some possible reasons why the ancient cities were in their locations.
Artifact #2- (Regions) Indus Seal
This is an Indus seal used to mark goods that were going to be traded. The seals are
made from stone, mostly a form of talc and usually carved with a picture of an animal
or a woman. This particular animal is a mythological creature called a unicorn and it is
believed to represent a merchant or family. They would bundle up the goods to be sold and press the seal
into a soft clay to seal it for transportation. The clay would harden and be broken off at the market or
when sold. The writing at the top is Indus script and much of the language is still unknown because no
one has been able to decipher the script.
Teaching idea: I could have students create their own family seal and create their own script to make a
coded message. Then they could trade with another student to try to crack the code. This could help the
students to have a real world experiential lesson to relate to the tasks performed by historians and
archeologists.
Artifact #3- (Human-Environmental Interaction) Oven-Baked Bricks
The Indus Civilization is believed to be the first to make mud-bricks that were
the same size and shape and fired in a kiln instead of sun baked like other early
civilizations. The bricks in an area were also the same size and usually
measured 7 x 15 x 29
cm.
Teaching idea: This
would be a follow-up lesson after we look at the
maps. Since there is a
big push to make “Green” communities. I would
describe what it
means. The use of bricks by the Indus people would
be an example of this.
First I would go over the architectural design of the
cities then I would
show them a brick. Then I could have the students
brainstorm about why
they made bricks instead of wood or stones based
on the cities location. Then I would have them infer why bricks are a good building material for this area
and climate.
Artifact #4- (Movement) Cart
This is a terra cotta toy cart from the Harappan period site of Nausharo in
Baluchistan. This is believed to be a toy version of the carts used in the time
period from 2600 to 1900 BCE. Merchants would use carts like this to cart
goods to be traded. Carts similar to this style are still used in Afghanistan and
Pakistan today.
Teaching ideas: I would have the students get into groups and give them some air dry clay, sticks, and
cardboard and have them try to duplicate building the cart. Then after they dry have a competition to see
which team built the best cart. After the races I would have them write in a journal or a paragraph about
the positives and negatives about this cart design. Then have them come up with ways that they could
make a better cart design.
Artifact #5- Pottery (Regions/Cultural)
In many of the burial sites around the Indus River Valley, the bodies were buried
with their jewelry on and other belongings around them in terra cotta clay pots
like these. They have found 0-40 pots in graves and believe that more pots related
to more wealth. They found one grave site with 70 pots. They have also found
plates and other pottery that was used for everyday life.
Teaching idea: At the end of the unit as a final project to convey their
understanding of the culture as a whole I would have the students make a 10 item
poster about the Indus River Valley Civilization. They would need at least 5 hand drawn pictures, labeled
and 5 facts. They could use technology to research the project further. One of the items most likely on
everyone’s posters would be the pottery.
References
BBC - Primary History - Indus Valley - Land of the Indus. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/schools/primaryhistory/images/indus_valley/land_of_the_indus//i_ma
p.gif
Harappa. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from https://www.harappa.com/slideshows/around-indus-90slides
Harappa. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from https://www.harappa.com/slide/weights-harappa
Harappa. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from https://www.harappa.com/slide/toy-carts-nausharo
Harappa. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from https://www.harappa.com/indus6/ancientindia92.html
Indus Civilization: Harappan burial practices - Krishnapriya. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016, from
http://jeyakumar1962.blogspot.com/2011/11/harappan-burial-practices-krishnapriya.html
Indus Valley Civilization, Mohenjo Daro, Harappan Culture - Crystalinks. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2016,
from http://www.crystalinks.com/induscivilization.html
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (n.d.). Indus civilization. Retrieved July 13, 2016, from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indus-civilization