New
New
Year 3
The mysteries of the Indus Valley civilisation
I can describe some of the mysteries that still remain about the Indus Valley Civilisation.
New
New
Year 3
The mysteries of the Indus Valley civilisation
I can describe some of the mysteries that still remain about the Indus Valley Civilisation.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- 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.
Keywords
Mystery - a mystery is something that we aren't able to explain yet
Figurine - a small statue or model of a person is called a figurine
Granary - a granary is a large building used to store grain from the harvest
Common misconception
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!
Pupils could create figurines of people or things important to them in their lives to help them understand why the ancient civilisations made their figurines.
Teacher tip
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Historians can read the ancient writing of the people of the Indus Valley.
True
Q2.
A brownish-red mineral that was often used to make jewellery is called...
gold
bronze
Q3.
The people of the Indus Valley made art from...
Q4.
When something is of great worth or value it is...
skill
art
Q5.
Clay seals with animals and writing on them were...
very big
Q6.
The people of the Indus Valley used things they could see around them as inspiration for their...
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Something that we aren't able to explain yet is a...
granary
figurine
Q2.
Select the things we know about the Indus Valley civilisation.
what their religion was
what their writing says
Q3.
Match the discovery to what it tells us about the people of the Indus Valley civilisation.
they were good at organising cities
they could flush away dirty water
they were able to use clean water
Q4.
Which of these are still mysteries of the Indus Valley civilisation?
Q5.
Things like figurines and clay seals give us about the Indus Valley religion.
Q6.
Granary circles are a mystery because…
they are made of bricks.
they are circles.
Additional material
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