An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s15.4

v1.c19.s15.4

The wells at Mohenjo-daro vary in diameter from 33 cm to 2·26 m, the average diameter being between about 91 cm, and 1·22 m, while the wells at Harappa range in diameter from 55 cm to 2·13 m. According to Vats, 1940, p. 14, at Harappa the two wells situated far away from the river Ravi are much larger in diameter than those in Mound F whose diameter is so small—56 to 84 cm—that ‘two people cannot draw water from them at one and the same time.’ It has therefore been inferred that ‘people living far from the riverside had to depend on well-water for all and sundry purposes’ for which wells with a larger diameter which could be simultaneously used were a necessity. The well in Chamber 16 e. of the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro (Marshall, 1931, pp. 26, 139, 142) is 1·87 m in internal diameter and is surrounded by another circular brick wall which is separated from the coping of the well by a distance of 33 cm and is provided around the well to strengthen its coping.