What do archaeologists term a group of objects, distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and period of time?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Culture
Option (1) Industry — Incorrect. In archaeology, an industry is a set of artefacts of one kind made in the same way, such as the stone tools of a site. It covers one class of objects, not a whole group of distinctive objects of a region and period.
Option (2) Assemblage — Incorrect. An assemblage is the set of different artefacts found together at one site or one layer of it. It does not by itself stand for objects that recur over a whole geographical area and period.
Option (3) Culture — Correct. Archaeologists use the term ‘culture’ for a group of objects, distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and period of time. In the case of the Harappan culture, these objects include seals, beads, weights, stone blades and even baked bricks.
Option (4) Factory — Incorrect. A factory is a place where things are made; in archaeology, a site where tools or other objects were manufactured. It is not a name for a group of objects.
Note 1: The archaeological terms in Options (1), (2) and (4), ‘industry’, ‘assemblage’ and ‘factory’, are not in NCERT (2026-27); they are explained here for the benefit of the students.
Note 2: The section ‘Terms, places, times’ of the chapter ‘Bricks, Beads and Bones’, which gives the meaning of the term ‘culture’, was there in the 2023-24 NCERT; this portion has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27), though the chapter is still there.
NCERT (2023-24): “Terms, places, times … The Indus valley civilisation is also called the Harappan culture. Archaeologists use the term ‘culture’ for a group of objects, distinctive in style, that are usually found together within a specific geographical area and period of time. In the case of the Harappan culture, these distinctive objects include seals, beads, weights, stone blades (Fig. 1.2) and even baked bricks.…” |