Four Objects for a Harappan Display
A government school in Ludhiana is setting up a one-room museum for its Class 8 students. The committee has six replicas: a steatite seal showing a humped bull and script, a terracotta toy cart with solid wheels, a bronze 'dancing girl' figurine, a cube-shaped stone weight, a painted storage jar, and a copper mirror. The display case has space for four objects and three labels. The principal wants the exhibit to answer one question: 'What shows that Harappan cities were planned and trading?' A teacher warns that the dancing girl is often described as a 'priestess' or 'dancer' without firm evidence. Another teacher wants to include the mirror because it looks interesting. The committee must choose four objects and write labels that separate what archaeologists know from what they infer. They also have to explain one limitation of using museum replicas for historical claims.
1. Which four objects should the committee select, and what does each contribute to the exhibit question? Justify each choice by linking it to a specific feature of Harappan urban life or trade.
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Select the seal, the stone weight, the toy cart and the storage jar. The seal carries script and an animal motif; sealings were used to mark and control goods, so it points to administration and exchange. The cubical weight belongs to a standardised system, which is evidence of regulated trade rather than random barter. The toy cart shows wheeled transport and craft production, both linked to moving goods. The storage jar points to surplus storage, which supports the idea of planned provisioning in a city. Exclude the bronze figurine and copper mirror from this case because their main value is craft, religion or personal use, not planning and trade. The exhibit question has two parts; no single object proves street drainage or grid planning, so the label should say 'evidence for standardised trade and storage' rather than 'proof of all urban planning'. A strong answer states the link and the limit.
2. The committee must write a 25-word label for the bronze figurine. Draft it and explain why you avoided the words 'priestess' and 'dancer' as facts.
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Label: 'Bronze figurine of a woman, Mohenjo-daro, c. 2500 BCE. Her role is unknown; “dancing girl” is a modern nickname.' The wording avoids 'priestess' because there is no inscription or context identifying her office; it avoids 'dancer' as a fact because the posture suggests movement but does not prove occupation. It gives material, findspot and approximate date, which are archaeological facts. The phrase 'modern nickname' tells the visitor that the popular name is interpretation. This is important in a school museum because labels can turn guesses into facts.
3. A parent asks why replicas are used and whether they can be trusted. Explain one limitation and one safeguard.
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A replica can mislead if it is treated as the original: size, colour, texture and findspot may differ, and a replica cannot show wear patterns or soil context. The safeguard is to label every replica clearly, give the original's museum and findspot, and use the replica only for shape or design. For the mirror, the committee should say: 'Copper alloy object; function inferred as a mirror; not used here as evidence of planning or trade.' It can be displayed in a small 'crafts and daily life' case. The parent should be told that replicas are teaching aids, not primary evidence, and that the report should cite the original object and its publication.