The mysteries of the Indus Valley civilisation | History

Starter quiz

Historians can read the ancient writing of the people of the Indus Valley.
- True
- False ✓
A brownish-red mineral that was often used to make jewellery is called...
- gold
- carnelian ✓
- bronze
The people of the Indus Valley made art from...
- clay ✓
- metal ✓
- stone ✓
- gold ✓
When something is of great worth or value it is...
- skill
- precious ✓
- art
Clay seals with animals and writing on them were...
- very big
- very small ✓
The people of the Indus Valley used things they could see around them as inspiration for their...
- 'art' ✓

Something that we aren't able to explain yet is a...
- granary
- figurine
- mystery ✓
Select the things we know about the Indus Valley civilisation.
- what their religion was
- that they had water systems ✓
- that they made bricks ✓
- what their writing says
Match the discovery to what it tells us about the people of the Indus Valley civilisation.
- straight streets
  
  ⇔
  
  they were good at organising cities ✓
- drains
  
  ⇔
  
  they could flush away dirty water ✓
- wells
  
  ⇔
  
  they were able to use clean water ✓
Which of these are still mysteries of the Indus Valley civilisation?
- What the figurines were used for ✓
- What their writing says ✓
- Who was in charge ✓
- What their religion was ✓
Things like figurines and clay seals give us ______ about the Indus Valley religion.
- 'clues' ✓
Granary circles are a mystery because…
- they are made of bricks.
- no grain has been found there. ✓
- they are circles.

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Archaeologists do not understand everything about the Indus Valley civilisation because we cannot read their writing.
There is no evidence of how these places were ruled or governed, but they were clearly very well organised.
Their religion is a mystery to us, although they made lots of figurines that may have been offered to gods.
There are pictures of figures with horns or controlling animals, which historians know other Asian people believed in.
There are buildings that archaeologists thought were granaries, but now aren't sure because no grain has been found.

Pupils might think that it will never be possible to read the ancient Indus Valley civilisation script.

A new discovery similar to the Rosetta Stone could unlock the key to deciphering the writing and help to solve some of the mysteries!