lothal1

The most dominating sight at Lothal is the massive dockyard, which has made Lothal so important on the international archaelogical map. Spanning an area, 37 meters from east to west and nearly 22 meters from north to south, the dock was perhaps the greatest work of maritime architecture before the birth of Christ. It was excavated besides the river Sabarmati, which has since changed course marginally, and showed a thorough study of tides, hydarualics and the effect of sea water on bricks. Ships could sluice into the northern end of the dock through an inlet channel connected to the estuary of the river Sabarmati during high tide, and the lock gates were closed so the water level would rise sufficiently for them to float.

Dockyard in summerl

An inlet channel 1.7 meteres above the bottom level of the 4.26 meter deep tank, allowed excess water to escape, while other inlets prevented siltation of the tank and erosion of the banks. After the ship had loaded or unloaded its cargo, the gates were opened, for them to return to Arabian sea waters of the Gulf of Cambay. Archaelogical finds from the excavations ratify trade with the Egypt and Sumeria.The hydraulic knowledge of the Harrapans can be judged by the fact that boats could dock into Lothal in the 1850s and in 1942 timber was brought from Baruch to Saragwala nearby. It is said that The dockyard could at that time hold 30 ships of 60 tonnes each or vice versa-a cargo comparable to that of the modern docks at Vishakapatnam!

From the plinth of the acropolis, it is a short distance walk to the lower town which contains a commercial and residential area. The arterial streets that led from north to south, were flanked by shops, merchant dwellings and artisans' workshops, while the streets running from east to west led to the residential areas with lanes allowing access to individual dwellings. The bead factories, situated where the 8th street of the commercial area and 5th street of the residential area meet, comprised the main industry of the Harrapans who opted to slected the Gulf of Cambay region because of it's wealth of agate and other semi precious stones. The factory comprised 11 rooms, which included the worker's quarters, warehouse and gaurd room, surrounding a courtyard.

Acropolis, upper town, Lothal

The main bead making machine was a twin chambered klin, made from mud plastered bricks, which was used for heating the stones used to make beads, and bellows helped raise the temperatures within. Lothal was specially famous for its micro beads made by grinding the materials, rolling it on a string, baking it solid and finally sawing the roll into required shapes and sizes. Unique neclaces were made with microbeads of gold, and some which are as little as 0.25 MM in diameter are testimony to the science of bead making perfected by the Indus valley civilisation, which has not been surpassed by artisans at the main bead producing centre at Cambay even today. The middle classes who could not afford gold, contented themselves with gilded copper wires, and the low income groups wore ornaments made from shells and clay.

Click For More Details