For this assignment you will need to understand the difference between history and the past. The past is everything that has happened. History is our interpretation of what happened based on the evidence that we have. 

Sometimes historians differ in their interpretation of what happened. Often, new artifacts or other pieces of evidence will appear that will cause historians to reinterpret past events. In this case, we might say that a discovery has caused us to rewrite history. 

In this section, you learned that, based on available evidence, historians have determined that the people of the Indus Valley were peaceful people. They have based this on there being few weapons discovered, no signs of an army and no evidence that people died violently. It would take a lot of evidence to change this interpretation. 

You also learned here that historians are not all in agreement as to why the Indus Valley Civilization fell. It is this issue that you will focus on for this assignment by looking at the three competing theories. 

Step 1

Take out a piece of paper or open a word-processing document. Write these three headings: Invasion Theory, Climate Change Theory and Natural Disaster Theory.

Read the document below entitled "Disappearance of the Indus Valley Civilization."

Use the document to record point form notes onto the table that you created. 

Step 2

Review the course readings and video (you might want to use the transcript here) to continue filling in your table for evidence for the three theories. 

Step 3

Write a paragraph in which you explain what you believe is the most credible account for the fall of the Indus Valley Civilization. You must support your interpretation with several pieces of evidence from your table. You must also refer to at least two pieces of evidence supporting the other theories, explaining why you have dismissed them. 

This will be marked out of 16 according to the rubric below. 

Insert required rubric