RAS question
The pre-Harappan phase at Kalibangan (Period I) is characterized by:
Correct answer: (B) Sothi-Siswal pottery.
Kalibangan's pre-Harappan Period I is characterised by Sothi-Siswal pottery.
Explanation
Kalibangan Period I belongs to the pre-Harappan or Early Harappan phase, dated in the explanation to about 2900-2600 BCE, and its diagnostic marker is Sothi-Siswal pottery. The cited study notes that early Harappan pottery called the Sothi assemblage was first recovered in stratigraphic context during the Archaeological Survey of India's excavations at Kalibangan. It also treats Sothi, Kalibangan I and Siswal A as closely related parts of the same Early Harappan ceramic complex. That fits the page explanation: this phase is identified by decorated pottery with simple geometric designs, along with evidence of a fortified settlement and mud-brick houses. So the key is not a generic Harappan label, but the specific Sothi-Siswal ceramic tradition associated with Kalibangan I.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Northern Black Polished Ware belongs to the Mauryan period, so it cannot define Kalibangan's much earlier pre-Harappan Period I.
- (C) Painted Grey Ware belongs to a later period, whereas the question is asking for the Early Harappan marker of Kalibangan Period I.
- (D) Rang Mahal pottery is linked here with a post-Harappan context, so it does not identify the pre-Harappan phase at Kalibangan.
Concept
This tests the RAS archaeology habit of identifying sites by their ceramic cultures, not just by their broad civilisation labels. Kalibangan recurs because it anchors Rajasthan's Early Harappan sequence through Period I and its Sothi-Siswal pottery.