“Dholavira in Kutch”:https://varnam.org/archives/000171.html, Gujarat was a city along the route of the river Saraswati. This region which is in close proximity of the sea is believed to to have been a major port city and excavations in the area have revealed information regarding the trade India had with ancient Rome.
Now, “recent excavations”:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/505144.cms in Dholivara have revealed one of the world’s oldest stadiums and sign boards.
bq. One of the stadiums is huge. The multipurpose structure, with terraced seats for spectators, around 800 feet in length (around 283 metres) can accommodate as many as 10,000 persons. The other stadium is much smaller in size.
bq. “It is believed that the bigger stadium was used for a variety of purposes, maybe for makeshift bazaars. This would be similar to exhibition grounds coming up these days,” said former joint director general of Archeological Survey of India, Dr R S Bisht who was delivering a special lecture on “Dholavira revisited’ at Panjab University on Wednesday.
bq. Apart from the world’s first stadiums, Bisht also talked about what could be the world’s oldest signboard which was also discovered at the site. The “signboard”, with undecipherable inscriptions of the Indus valley civilisation, dates back to the 3000 BC to 1500 BC. “It is believed that the stone signboard was hung on a wooden plank in front of the gate. This could be the oldest signboard known to us,” said Bisht. The excavations began under Bisht’s stewardship in 1990.

“Gandi Umar Khan”:http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2004_pg7_29 is a site in North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, which belongs to the Harappan Civilization era. This site was discovered in 1997 and excavations were carried out from September 2003 to January 2004.
bq. During the excavations, two main periods were identified; the Harappan and Kot Dijian. The researchers were particularly excited about their discovery of the relationship between the two periods. The archaeologists believe that the Harappan Civilization derived from the Kot Dijian and prefer to call the latter the ?Early Harappan Culture?. Some researchers have identified transitional phases between them at certain cites. But no transitional phase was witnessed there. Rather a complete break between them was observed. A fifty-five centimetre-thick ashy layer devoid of any cultural material separates them.
bq. The Harappans and the Kot Dijians lived in mud-brick structures on the site of Gandi Umar Khan in the Gomal Plain while in Harappa and Moenjodaro, they lived in kiln-baked brick structures. The orientation of the rooms remained unchanged. The Kot Dijians at Gomal used the same style of architectural with only slight variations from the Harappans.
bq. The Harappans of Gandi Umar Khan worshipped the mother-goddess and cult objects in the shape of T/C female figurines were collected from the site, reflecting a regional variation because they are slightly different from those found at Harappa and Moenjodaro. Other antiquities excavated from the site include stone blades, tools and beads, metal objects like antimony rods and nails, baked clay ceramics and T/C cakes. Pottery and T/C cakes were found in large numbers from the site. The Harappan pottery is mainly plain. However, painted ceramics were also collected. These were painted black on red in floral and geometrical pattern. On the other hand, the Kot Dijian ceramics are thin and include short-necked grooved ware, flanged-rimmed and painted and plain ware, Quetta wet-ware and rimless bows. [“Daily Times”:http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-1-2004_pg7_29]
Some of these sites date back upto 7000 years. While Harappan Civilization may have dervived from Kot Dijian, there is a theory now that “Harappan Civilization is the same as the Vedic Civilization”:https://varnam.org/archives/000291.html.