The dockyard at Lothal. Photo: DARSHAN KUMAR/Shutterstock.com

This large rectangular, water-filled structure may look like a reservoir, but is in fact an ancient dock, and one of the oldest in the world. It is located at the site of the ancient city of Lothal situated about 85 kilometers south of Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, in India. Lothal is one of the few sites within the Indus Valley Civilization that is accessible from India.

Lothal is believed to be at least 5,000 years old and was the only port-town of the Indus Valley Civilization. Lothal’s dock connected the city to the Sabarmati river which was an important trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh (now in Pakistan) and the peninsula of Saurashtra. At that time, the surrounding Kutch desert of was a part of the Arabian Sea.