Module: | Subsistence, Agriculture & Animal Hubandry
Q7: Consider the following statements regarding animal domestication and wildlife interaction in the Harappan civilization:
1. Bones of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, and pig found at Harappan sites indicate that these animals were domesticated by the population.
2. Evidence from archaeo-zoologists confirms that Harappans strictly avoided consuming meat from wild animal species such as boar, deer, and gharial.
3. While bones of wild species are found at the sites, it remains unclear whether the Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat from other hunting communities.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
2. Evidence from archaeo-zoologists confirms that Harappans strictly avoided consuming meat from wild animal species such as boar, deer, and gharial.
3. While bones of wild species are found at the sites, it remains unclear whether the Harappans hunted these animals themselves or obtained meat from other hunting communities.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: B
🎯 Quick Answer:
Option B is correct because statement 2 is factually incorrect regarding the consumption and presence of wild animal species.Structural Breakdown: The faunal assemblage at Harappan sites is divided into domesticated species (cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, pigs) used for food, dairy, and draught purposes, and wild species (boar, deer, gharial) whose bones are also consistently found in the occupational debris.
Historical/Related Context: Studies by archaeo-zoologists confirm that Harappans definitely consumed meat from wild species, contradicting any assumption of a strictly domesticated meat diet.
Bones of fish and fowl have also been recovered extensively.
Causal Reasoning: Despite the clear presence of wild animal bones, archaeologists cannot definitively establish the procurement method.
The Harappans may have engaged in hunting expeditions themselves, or, more likely given their advanced trade networks, they bartered agricultural surplus for meat provided by specialized hunter-gatherer communities living on the periphery of their settlements.