What did the discovery of similar seals of Harappa at Mohenjodaro suggest?

1) The correlation between India and Pakistan
2) The presence of Mesopotamian artefacts in India
3) The correlation between Harappa and Mohenjodaro
4) The significance of Early Historic levels

3

During the early 20th century, archaeologists like Daya Ram Sahni and Rakhal Das Banerji made significant discoveries at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, respectively. They found seals that were much older than the Early Historic levels. The similarity in the seals lead to a popular conjecture that the two sites were a part of one archaeological culture. Thus, indicating the presence of an ancient civilization in the Indus Valley. These findings led John Marshall, the Director-General of the ASI at that time, to announce the existence of a new civilization to the world in 1924. The discovery of similar seals in Mesopotamian sites suggested that this civilization was contemporary with Mesopotamia.

John Marshall's tenure as the Director-General of the ASI brought about a transformative period in Indian archaeology. As a professional archaeologist with experience in Greece and Crete, Marshall introduced new approaches to the field. While he was interested in remarkable discoveries, he also emphasized the study of everyday life patterns. Marshall employed a method of horizontal excavation units that measured consistently across the mound, disregarding the site's stratigraphy. Consequently, artefacts from the same unit, even if they were from different stratigraphic layers, were grouped together, resulting in the loss of valuable contextual information about these finds.