MCQ
upsc-p1-history-prehistory-indus-valley MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers
Solve 9 upsc-p1-history-prehistory-indus-valley questions for RAS/RPSC preparation.
Practice questions
Q1With reference to Mature Harappan town planning, consider the following statements: 1. Connecting household drains with street drains required civic coordination. 2. Harappan planning combined common standards with adaptations to local conditions. 3. Every fortified area necessarily proves continuous warfare. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Drainage needed planned slopes, brick lining, cleaning access and links between house and street drains, while layouts varied by site. Statement 3 is incorrect because fortification could serve defence, flood protection, symbolic separation or administrative control.
Q2Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below: List I (Site) (a) Dholavira (b) Chanhudaro (c) Kalibangan (d) Burzahom List II (Associated feature) 1. Pit dwellings and bone tools 2. Craft production 3. Reservoirs and a three-part city 4. Ploughed field with cross-furrows
Dholavira is associated with reservoirs and a three-part city; Chanhudaro with craft production; Kalibangan with a cross-furrowed ploughed field; and the Neolithic site Burzahom with pit dwellings and bone tools. Thus option D gives the correct matching.
Q3With reference to Harappan seals and religious interpretations, consider the following statements: 1. The short length of most inscriptions makes decipherment difficult. 2. Terracotta female figurines conclusively prove organised goddess worship throughout the civilisation. 3. Structures interpreted as fire altars establish a uniform Vedic ritual system at every Harappan site. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Only Statement 1 is correct. Most Harappan inscriptions are short and the script remains undeciphered. Female figurines do not by themselves prove civilisation-wide organised goddess worship, and fire-altars are site-specific interpretations rather than proof of a uniform Vedic ritual system.
Q4Consider the following statements about Stone Age evidence in India: 1. Microliths may continue into periods later than the Mesolithic. 2. A tool type by itself always provides a precise date even without stratigraphy or scientific dating. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Statement 1 is correct because microlithic tools can persist into later contexts. Statement 2 is incorrect: tool form alone cannot fix a precise date; stratigraphy, associated material or scientific dating is needed.
Q5Arrange the following cultural-technological markers in their general chronological sequence: (a) Standardised urban weights and seals (b) Handaxe-cleaver tradition (c) Polished stone tools with food-producing villages (d) Microlithic composite tools Select the correct answer using the code given below.
The general sequence is the Palaeolithic handaxe-cleaver tradition, Mesolithic microlithic composite tools, Neolithic polished stone tools with food production, and finally Mature Harappan standardised urban weights and seals. This is the sequence in option B.
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6Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the code given below: List I (Evidence) (a) Standard bricks and weights (b) Great Bath (c) Undeciphered script (d) Late Harappan change List II (Cautious inference) 1. Deurbanisation and regionalisation 2. Writing existed but cannot yet be read 3. Shared norms and coordinated production 4. Public or ritual water-related structure
7Consider the following statements about the transformation of the Harappan urban system: 1. Urban functions could weaken while nearby rural life continued. 2. Some pottery traits, craft habits and agricultural practices continued in altered forms. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.
8With reference to the archaeological interpretation of prehistoric and Harappan cultures, consider the following statements: 1. A scientific date belongs to the sampled material and not automatically to every nearby object. 2. Harappan culture is often termed protohistoric because its writing is absent. 3. Standard brick ratios by themselves prove the existence of a modern centralised nation-state. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.
9Arrange the following developments in their general sequence within the Harappan cultural transformation: (a) Urban standardisation in the Mature Harappan phase (b) Regional village-to-town developments of Early Harappan cultures (c) Regional post-urban cultures such as Cemetery H, Jhukar and Rangpur (d) Weakening of large cities, standardised exchange and long-distance trade Select the correct answer using the code given below.