# Mohenjo-daro housing data: Gini coefficient of 0.44 in Indus city, lower than Knossos and Palenque

- Published: 2026-11-08 05:57 UTC
- Section: Science › Research
- Tags: Mohenjo-daro, Indus Civilisation, Gini coefficient, economic inequality, residence area, GINI database, Adam S. Green, Knossos, Palenque, ancient cities
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-be9ed31d207574daf96d33e9_mohenjo_daro_housing/

**Archaeologists estimated inequality in Mohenjo-daro from residence areas. The Gini coefficient of 0.44 is lower than at Knossos (0.86) and Palenque (0.75).**

![Mohenjo-daro housing data: Gini coefficient of 0.44 in Indus city, lower than Knossos and Palenque](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/fca1f7049f13f057.jpg)
*Saqib Qayyum, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0*

A team led by archaeologist Adam S. Green of the University of York tested with quantitative data whether economic inequality was limited in Mohenjo-daro. The study, published in May in the journal Antiquity and available on cambridge.org, covers the most extensively excavated city of the Indus Civilisation (c. 2600–1900 BC) [1]. The city lies near the Indus River in Pakistan's Larkana Plain [1]. The authors drew on the GINI database [1].

## Gini coefficient and residence areas

The Gini coefficient is derived from a Lorenz curve and ranges from 0 (total equality) to 1 (total inequality) [1]. In archaeology it is commonly calculated using residence areas as a proxy for wealth or income [1]. The authors note that residential disparities do not comprehensively reflect social inequality, but they can reveal differences in access to labour and resources among households [1]. House size does not always match actual property, so the indicator is imperfect.

The mounds of Mohenjo-daro were excavated in the early twentieth century, and its walls, doorways, staircases and courtyards were imperfectly recorded with the methods of that time [1]. Earlier researchers noted heterogeneity in structure size, and one proposed that the larger residences could have served as palaces for a heterarchical elite [1]. Green had observed that none of the larger houses included the administrative features archaeologists associate with a seat of authority [1].

## Result and comparison

According to a report on the study, Mohenjo-daro as a whole reached a Gini coefficient of 0.44. For comparison, the report gives 0.86 for Minoan Knossos and 0.75 for Mayan Palenque, both cities with clear signs of social hierarchy. The same report says the coefficient at Mohenjo-daro declined gradually over time.

The authors point to the absence of palaces, ostentatious tombs and exclusionary temples in Indus cities [1]. Large non-residential buildings were physically accessible to the public [1]. Together with planned streets, drainage infrastructure, weights and measures, and standardised seals and sealings, they formed public goods that benefited the wider community [1]. Green said the benefits of society were not concentrated in the hands of a narrow elite, and that urban infrastructure was distributed among ordinary households.

## Sources

1. [cambridge.org](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/inequality-declined-in-the-bronze-age-city-of-mohenjodaro/BF07ED4E516F2127F1C3E645C9C8F462)
2. [novinky.cz](https://www.novinky.cz/clanek/veda-skoly-staroveke-mohendzodaro-ukazuje-ze-ekonomicky-rust-nemusel-nutne-znamenat-socialni-nerovnost-40606948)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-be9ed31d207574daf96d33e9_mohenjo_daro_housing/