Lothal (લોથલ) : Ancient port city 4500 years back

Photo album link for Lothal 

Lothal is  one of the most fascinating  remains  of  an  ancient  port city from the  Indus civilization ( 3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) .  The place   was discovered   in 1958  Dr. Rao from the  archaeological  society of India.  Lothal is    the  exhibit- A   of the  existence of   life  and advanced  civilization thriving  in Gujarat  in prehistoric or geologic times ..  The place is only 80 KM form  Ahmadabad. Lothal is one   the oldest man-made structure and city  on the planet.  Per   Wikipedia's list of the oldest  man-made  structures,  only two structures pre-dates that.
(The wiki list of the oldest man-made structures is not updated with the  new archaeological find in the Orkney Islands off the northern tip of Scotland Ness, Scottland, the story at PBS : Scottish Island Discovery Digs Up New Information About, timed  3300 BC   about the Neolithic  religion).

{Side Note 1:One of the   relatively   "breaking news"  is about the  discovery of  the dinosaur  bones in  Gujarat per BBC News - The dinosaur wonders of India's Jurassic Park . { Also  at Wiki  "The Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park in Gandhinagar in the state of Gujarat, India, has been described as the second largest hatchery of dinosaur eggs in the world.^[1] The Park was set up by the Geological Survey of India^[1][2] and is the only dinosaur museum in the country."]. I  plan to  visit Dahod ( The birthplace of Mogul  Emperor Aurangazeb), 
Chamaner ( built by  Mahamad  Begada, the most prominent Sultan, Only UNESCO  heritage site in  Gujarat at present ),  Jambhughoda  along with  Dang district ( Place of  "adivasi"  the "native Indians of India', Kawant ), Dabhoi  and Malav or Madhya Pradesh(MP)  , part of Gurjar-Prathara empire  , an Indian Gurjar imperial dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries.    End of side Note 1} 

So  excluding the the "Jurassic Park", Lothal is the  Oldest place in the long history of  Gujarat with  irrefutable set of the scientific  and archeological supporting  facts. 
Lothal  was  excavated in 1958.  The map in the archaeological survey of India office, shows scores of Indus Valley sites scattered across the whole of Gujarat  most of them occupying positions near deltas.  The place  currently being excavated   is  at Dholavira,Kutch ,  For someone  interested in archaeology and ancient civilisations, Lothal is a perfect place to get an insight into the Indus Valley civilization like Dholavia  which  is under excavation  and   being developed for  Gujarat tourism as well for the application for theUNESCO heritage site.

Lothal literally  means  “mound of  dead”. The ancient city  is  one of the southernmost outposts of the Indus civilization and certainly one of the most interesting of Harrapan town planning ( The Indus Valley Civilization also known as Harappan culture)   Lothal  has  the unique lockgated dockyard is perhaps the greatest of maritime architecture from the ancient world, and to the Sabarmati river just before its meeting with the sea in Gulf of Cambay. 

A museum is stocked with archaelogical findings that offer an insight into the Indus Valley period..One of the  iconic  findings is  the  Stampseal with unicorn and ritual offering stand, ca. 2000-1900 B.C.; Harappan. Indus Valley, Harappa. At Lothal  the archaeologists also  discovered  two  human  skeletons  with double burial, which  they are still not able to find at other sites like 

Seals appear in the Indus Valley around 2600 B.C. with the rise of the cities and associated administrators. Square and rectangular seals were made from fired steatite. The soft soapstone was carved, polished, and then fired in a kiln to whiten and harden the surface. Seals made of metal are extremely rare, but copper and silver examples are known. The square seals usually have a line of script along the top and a carved animal in the central portion. The animals depicted on the seals, usually males, include domestic and wild animals as well as mythical creatures, such as the unicorn.  

Artifacts from the Indus Valley Civilization   was spread over some 1,260,000 km²,  up to Afganistan  . making it the largest ancient civilization  The Indus Valley is one of the world's earliest urban civilizations, along with its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million.   The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistory houses.

The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, as the first of its cities to be unearthed was located at Harappa, excavated in the 1920 . Up to 1,999, over 1,056 cities and settlements have been found, out of which 96 have been excavated, mainly in the general region of the Indus  . Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-daro (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Dholavira, Kalibanga, and Rakhigarhi.
The most dominating sight at Lothal is the massive dockyard, which has made Lothal so important on the international archaeological map.

{Side Note 2:  I  had about it when my  family moved  back  to Ahmadabad  in 1964.  I have been   ever very keen to  visit it.. However  I  managed to see  it for the first time in this trip of  2013
Part of  my high school reunion agenda was a  visit to  Gundi to visit Ashram run by my classmate and friend at Gundi (also  in Dholaka  Taluka)   in the last picture.  I was joined  by my two NRI friends .   On the way to Gundi, we stopped  by at a village named Ganpatpur, which has  Ganesh temple  and  was preparing for a  fair  next week, expecting   500,000 visitors. That is also an interesting stop among the  near by places. In past I have been to Dholaka  as  a stop from   school picnic in  1965 ( to  Vautha)  which has a historical  lake .  The  story pops-up from memory in  context to   the current challenges of  state vs private property  around the world.  The  designed  man-made lake has  a crooked corner as the old-lady a dancer  refused to move. The Queen-mother Minaldevi around 1050 AD  let her stay  and moved the lake around her  house. It is known as the exhibit of  Justice and  may be the  earliest  exception to the "Eminent domain"   ( the power of the state to seize private property without the owner's consent.  Side Note 2: } 

Reference :

1. A.S. Khadikar, N. Basaviah, T. K. Gundurao and C. Rajshekhar Paleoenvironments around the Harappan port of Lothal, Gujarat, western India, in Journal of the Indian Geophysicists Union (2004)
2. The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective - Page 80-83  ( Google book) 
3. Prehistory And Harappan Civilization - Page 225-271 (Google Book,   recommended ) 
4. Wikipedia : Lothal , Indus Civilization  Harappa Culture 
5. Dancing Girl Of Mohenjodaro, Indus Valley Civilization C- 2700-2000 BCE. The "Dancing girl" found in Mohenjo-daro is an artifact that echoes the architectural wonders of ancient, deep buried long ago. She   frequently  refereed in  the write-up of the Indus Civilization  . Like the enigmatic of  smile of Mona-Lisa, the attitude  of the  dancing  this 4500 old dancing girl  has been subject of annotations by experts and critics,