More from Dholivara

“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.