Lothal is a small mature Harappan settlement near Gulf of Khambat in Dhalka taluk of Ahmadabad in Gujrat. It was first excavated in 1957 by S R Rao. The notable structures at Lothal include a dockyard, warehouse, workshop for manufacturing of stone beads, evidence of shell working, rice husk and a cemetery.
Seven major pillar edicts have been found at Lauriya-Araraj, Lauriya Nandangarh, Rampurva, Nigali Sagar, Sarnath, Topra, and Meerut. Ashokan pillars probably signify the axis of the world (axis mundi) that separated heaven and earth.
According to B. B. Lal, former DG of ASI, Kalibangan site shows that an earthquake occured around 2600 BC, which brought to an end the Early Indus settlement at the site. It is perhaps the earliest archaeologically recorded earthquake.