RAS question
The Indus Valley Civilization belongs to which period?
Correct answer: (B) Bronze Age.
The Indus Valley Civilization belongs to the Bronze Age, marked by Harappan use of copper and bronze tools, vessels and ornaments.
Explanation
The Indus Valley Civilization, or Harappan Civilization, belongs to the Bronze Age because its material culture was built around copper and bronze metallurgy rather than iron. Its chronology places it around 3300-1300 BCE, and eGyanKosh, Unit 15: Harappan (Indus Valley) describes Harappan culture as the first Bronze Age culture of South Asia. Harappans used copper and bronze for tools, vessels and ornaments as a characteristic feature. That is why Bronze Age is the correct period classification: the civilisation's everyday and craft technology fits the copper-bronze phase, and Harappans were contemporaries of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Iron Age is wrong because iron was not known to Indus Valley Civilization people.
- (C) Paleolithic Age is wrong because it refers to the Old Stone Age, a much earlier phase than the Indus Valley Civilization.
- (D) Neolithic Age is wrong because it predates the Indus Valley Civilization rather than describing its copper-bronze material culture.
Concept
This tests the ancient-history chronology of major cultural phases, especially the distinction between stone-age, bronze-age and iron-age classifications. It recurs in RAS because Indus Valley chronology and material culture are standard anchors for early Indian history questions.