Kuntasi is an archaeological site (locally known as ''Bibi-no-Timbo'') which is identified as a port belonging to the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

. This site is located on the right bank of Phulki River, about 3 km south-east of Kuntasi village and 30 km from

Morbi Morbi or Morvi is a city in the Morbi district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. , the city's population was determined to be 194,947. The city is on the Machhu River, from the sea and from Rajkot. Hi ...

in Maliya taluka of

Morbi District Morbi district is in the state of Gujarat, India. It was formed on August 15, 2013, along with several other districts, on the 67th Independence Day of India. Morbi city is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district has 5 taluk ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is five km inlandward from present shore line. It was first reported by P. P Pandya and later thoroughly explored by Y. M. Chitalwala. The excavations revealed two periods of occupation. Period I is assigned to the Mature Harappan phase (c. 2200–1900 BCE) and the Period II is assigned to the Late Harappan phase (c.1900–1700 BCE). This site was identified as a jetty and a manufacturing centre.

Area

Kuntasi had 2 hectares of walled town and unwalled suburbs. A stone platform ran along the western side of wall. It appears to have been a planned settlement, established for production, storage and movement of goods.

Architecture

The excavated site consists of two parts, a two hectare walled settlement and unwalled suburbs. A stone platform ran along the western side of the wall, and adjoining this inside the walled town were a substantial industrial complex and a number of storage facilities. A centrally placed house with a number of rooms, including a private kitchen was found. Other houses lay in the north and west of the walled area, mostly large rectangular buildings. The houses in Kuntasi were built on stone foundations with walls of mud bricks in Harappan proportion but unusually large. In the southwestern corner, a large isolated room was found, which has been identified as a kitchen serving most of the settlement. The buildings were arranged around a large open space. However, the town of Kuntasi lacked Citadel which was prominent in bigger towns like

Kalibangan Kalibangān is a town located at on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar (Ghaggar-Hakra River) in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh in Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, India 205 km. from Bikaner. It is also ident ...

Dholavira Dholavira ( gu, ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is ...

Banawali Banawali (Devanagari: बनावली) is an archaeological site belonging to Indus Valley civilization period in fatehabad district, Haryana, India and is located about 120 km northeast of Kalibangan and 16 km from Fatehabad. Ban ...

etc. belonging to Indus Valley Civilisation. A jetty (platform) for unloading and loading cargo on the boats going down the creek is also identified.

Double wall

Kuntasi had a double wall, built out of boulders and mud, separated by a passage with a width of about 20 meters. Southernwest corner of town had a tower, and eastern side had a gate flanked by guard chambers, presumably to control public access to the walled area.

Artifacts found

Pottery with drawings were found. Two cylindrical stone anchors, suggesting seaborne activity was also found. A small pot with copper hoard, few copper bangles, two finger rings and more than thousand micro beads of

steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...

were also found. Other artifacts include cubical chart weights, tools made of bones, terracotta toy carts, agate and carnelian goods.

Importance

Kuntasi was similar to

Lothal Lothal () was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE. Archaeological Survey of ...

, another port town of IVC, though on a smaller scale.

Lapis Lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mine ...

was found in unusual large quantity in this settlement, indicating that it was exported to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, as lapis lazuli was known to have been an important export item from IVC to Mesopotamia. It is also suggested that a land route connected this site to Lothal via

Rangpur, Gujarat Rangpur is an ancient archaeological site near Vanala on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, western India. Lying on the tip between the Gulf of Khambhat and Gulf of Kutch, it belongs to the period of the Indus Valley civilization, and lies to th ...

.
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Notes