Surkotada
Surkotada is an archaeological site located in Rapar Taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat, India which belongs to the Indus Valley civilisation (IVC).
[3]: 220 The site at Surkotada is located 160 km (99 mi) north-east of Bhuj, in the district of Kutch, Gujarat.
The ancient mound stands surrounded by an undulating rising ground clustered by small sandstone hills.
In the ancient days, a river 750 m (½ mi) wide flowed past the north-eastern side of the site.
The following is a description of the three phases in terms of the building activity: The earliest occupants of Surkotada had affiliations with an antecedent culture.
They built a citadel with mud-brick and mud-lump fortification with a rubble veneer of five to eight courses over a raised platform of hard rammed yellow earth.
In the residential area a drain, a bathroom with a small platform and a soakage jar in every house prove the well known sanitary arrangement and drainage system of the Harappan Period IB (1950 BC – 1800 BC) There is no break in the continuity of settlement from phase IA to phase IB, but this period has been defined separately due to the arrival of a new wave of people who used a new form of pottery and instruments.
After the fire of period IB, a new group of people came to Surkotada though the site does not show any break in the continuity of settlement.
These measured respectively The total built up area of Surkotada of the period IC is in the form of a rectangle aligned along the cardinal directions.
Mature Harappan principles were being followed in Surkotada long after the civilization itself had started declining and most other sites had decayed or died out.
As of today there is no evidence of a city scale settlement near the citadel complex of Surkotada, as one might be expected on the lines of Mohenjo-daro and Kalibangan.
About 500 m (1,600 ft) south-east of the citadel, there is a low mound which represents some sort of small habitation but the Harappan vestiges are scarce.
[2][7][8][note 1] Presence of Mongooses were found in Surkotada as well as in Mohenjadaro, Harappa, and Rangpur, indicating that these animals were kept as a protection against snakes.
