Lothal excavation and the alleged tidal dockyard

Record summary

Lothal was excavated by S. R. Rao after its identification in the mid-1950s. A large brick-lined basin was interpreted as a tidal dockyard, making the site important for discussions of Harappan maritime trade, craft production and urban planning. Other researchers have questioned whether the basin was a dock, an irrigation or water-storage structure, or a feature altered by later sedimentation. The lead is useful for comparing archaeological interpretation with environmental reconstruction, but the site's chronology, hydrology and relationship to a former river channel require checking against excavation reports and later geoarchaeological studies.