Housing

Differences in social status are often apparent from differences in the size and quality of houses. Evidence of this in the Harappan domains, however, is relatively limited. The majority of Harappan houses consisted of a courtyard surrounded by rooms. There was some variation in the number of rooms, and some larger houses had several courtyards. In some cases larger houses were surrounded by small ones, suggesting an elite household with those of

This grave at Harappa held the burial of a mother and her baby. The grave was disturbed when the body was still intact: she was turned over onto her front and her left arm was broken, perhaps by careless handling when removing the bangles she was likely wearing. The pottery vessels deposited with her were also disarranged. (J. M. Kenoyer, Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

Dependents. In some settlements, such as Mohenjo-daro, the houses had two or even three stories, whereas at Kalibangan, for instance, the houses had only one floor; this, however, may merely reflect the relative lack of space within the crowded cities, forcing householders to expand upward. At Banawali, the few excavated houses of the lower town seem prosperous, with storage chambers, an upper floor, and valuable artifacts. In mound E at Harappa, the main street leading from the gate was lined with houses whose contents included seals, stoneware bangles, and other inscribed material; unlike many houses in this walled area, these contained no trace of craft activity, suggesting their residents were probably from the literate elite. There was a noticeable difference in the small part of the settlement exposed at Dholavira between the straight cardinally orientated street in the walled Middle Town and the more crooked street of the Lower Town. Whether this difference was reflected in the size or quality of the housing in the two areas is not yet apparent. The investigation of Harappan suburbs might be revealing; however, one small excavation in a suburban area well outside the walled Lower Town at Mohenjo-daro suggests there was little difference in quality between housing in the city center and in the suburbs.

The architecturally flimsy housing outside the walled town at Kuntasi may have accommodated workers in the town's industries; alternatively, visiting pas-toralists or hunter-gatherers bringing in goods and materials may have camped there. The residential buildings inside the walls comprised two large houses with their own kitchens, plausibly the residences of senior officials, and a number of smaller houses served by a separate communal kitchen, said by the excavator to resemble dormitories, which were probably the accommodation provided for staff employed in this trading and industrial center, such as craftspeople and lesser officials. Kuntasi is poorly located for agriculture, but the suburban areas of many towns probably housed the farmers, pastoralists, fishers, and hunter-gatherers whose produce sustained the settlement. These may also have resided within the walled area of some towns. The houses at Kalibangan were arranged so that animals and carts could be kept in the courtyard.

Analogies with other civilizations would lead one to expect palaces housing the rulers of the Harappan state, either on the citadel or in a segregated part of the lower town. Nothing certainly of this nature has been found. A small number of the buildings that have been uncovered may have included both residential and public rooms, such as the complex on the southern part of the citadel mound and House V in the HR-B area of the Lower Town at Mohenjo-daro, the "granary" at Harappa, the complex on the citadel at Balakot, and the buildings at Allahdino. These may have housed those in authority and their entourage.

Of considerable interest are the buildings in the northern part of the Mohenjo-daro citadel. Adjacent to the Great Bath is the College, a building that included a courtyard with a fenestrated walkway echoing that surrounding the Great Bath, several other courtyards, and a number of rooms, as well as a large number of entrances. North of the Great Bath, shut off from the outside world, was an accommodation block with bathrooms on the ground floor and presumably sleeping quarters above. Since the Great Bath was most probably a religious facility, it is likely that these nearby buildings provided the residential and administrative quarters of the priests who served here.

While houses uncovered on the citadel of Harappan settlements usually differ little from those in the associated lower town, in some cases they are said to be larger. There must in any case have been some significance to the difference in location, housing on the Indus citadels being associated with other structures that included both religious installations and probable administrative or public buildings.