History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c30.s3.28

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contour maps and aerial photographs, but hardly ever through excavations. The picture that can be pieced together would be somewhat as under (Mate, 1970A, pp.58-69). Most of the important townships in North India were situated on the banks of rivers that supplied water the year round. These were located on natural eminences and were often flanked by small streams that joined the main rivers and served as natural barriers or moats. These towns were enclosed within gigantic ramparts mostly consisting of heaps of earth and sometimes of sun dried bricks. Ramparts at Ujjain (Fig. 3) had a basal width of 60 to 75m and the extant height was 12m while the moat surrounding the wall was between 27.50 to 45m broad (IAR, 1955 to 1958). This was lined with baked brick where danger from floods of the river was apprehended. At Kausambi the average height of the rampart was 10.50m to 12m but the basal width is not mentioned in the published report.