Rangpur

Rangpur is an Indus Valley civilisation site near Vanala in Surendranagar district, on the Saurashtra peninsula between the Gulfs of Khambhat and Kutch, north-west of the larger site of Lothal. Its distinctive pottery led archaeologists to name a regional late Harappan culture after it, the Rangpur culture of the 2nd millennium BCE.

M.S. Vats made trial digs for the Archaeological Survey of India in 1931, followed by further seasons up to S.R. Rao's work in 1953–56. Rao traced a sequence from microliths around 3000 BC through Harappan and late Harappan phases to a Lustrous Red Ware period around 1000–800 BC. Finds include beaded-rim dishes, black-and-red ware, high-necked jars, steatite and carnelian beads, axes and signs of shell working. Remains of rice, bajra and millet show what its people grew and ate, and they also kept animals for milk and curd.