Rojdi is an archaeological site belonging to the
Indus valley civilization. It is located on the northern bank of the
Bhadar River in
Gondal taluka of
Rajkot district
Rajkot district is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Gujarat. Located in Saurashtra peninsula, Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is the third-most advanced district in Gujarat and the fourth most po ...
in central
Saurashtra peninsula of
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 in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It was continuously occupied from 2500 BCE to 1700 BCE.
[Possehl, Gregory. (2004). ''The Indus Civilization: A contemporary perspective'', New Delhi: Vistaar Publications, , pp.82-6.]
Chronology
The site was excavated for seven seasons between 1982 and 1995 by the Gujarat State Department of Archaeology and the University Museum at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. The excavation confirmed three periods of occupation, called Rojdi A, B and C. Twenty radiocarbon dates have helped to estimate the chronology of Rojdi as follows:
* Rojdi C 1900-1700 BCE
* Rojdi B 2200-1900 BCE
* Rojdi A 2500-2200 BCE
Architecture
Two large excavation areas have been exposed at Rojdi, which are known as the South Extension and the Main Mound. There was also a systematic excavation at an outer gateway and at an isolated structure at the northern slope of the site. All of these very finely preserved structures can be dated to Rojdi C period (early second millennium BCE). The houses in Rojdi were built on stone foundations, probably with mud walls above them. No bricks were found, baked or otherwise, in the excavations. No wells, bathing platforms and the associated street drains were found either.
The material culture
Much of the pottery found in Rojdi is a hard, red to buff ware made from well-prepared clay. The most frequently found vessel is the hemispherical red ware bowl, often with a stud handle, this accounts for over half of all shreds recovered from Rojdi. The pottery often has graffiti with signs from the
Indus script
The Indus script, also known as the Harappan script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not they constituted ...
, such as jar sign. There is also a short inscription in Harappan writing on the rim of a potshred. Five (four complete and one broken) copper or bronze flat axes were found, all belonged to Rojdi C period. Signs of industrial and manufacturing activities are absent in all phases at Rojdi. Its overall character suggests a farmer's village.
See also
*
Indus Valley civilization
*
List of Indus Valley Civilization sites
Over 1400 Indus Valley civilisation sites have been discovered, of which 925 sites are in India and 475 sites in Pakistan, while some sites in Afghanistan are believed to be trading colonies. Only 40 sites on the Indus valley were discovere ...
*
*
Hydraulic engineering of the Indus Valley Civilization
The ancient Indus Valley Civilization in South Asia, including current day's Pakistan and north India, was prominent in infrastructure, hydraulic engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices that are the first known examples o ...
Notes
{{India-hist-stub
Archaeological sites in Gujarat