Kalibanga Archaeological site is found in which state ?

Concept: Every excavated Harappan (Indus Valley) settlement lies within a specific present-day state, fixed by where archaeologists actually uncovered its remains along an ancient river course. Identifying a site's state means recalling that site's excavation location, not the state's general geography.

Application: Kalibangan lies on the dried-up bed of the ancient Ghaggar river in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan. It was identified as an archaeological site by A. Ghosh in 1952 and excavated by B. B. Lal and B. K. Thapar between 1960 and 1969. The site is notable for the world's earliest known ploughed agricultural field, a row of fire altars, and evidence of an earthquake that may have contributed to the settlement's decline.

Cross-check: Comparing against the other offered states confirms this by elimination -- each hosts a different, well-known Harappan site, none of which is Kalibangan:

• Punjab hosts Rupnagar (Ropar), on the Sutlej river -- not Kalibangan.

• Haryana hosts Rakhigarhi, on the Ghaggar plain -- not Kalibangan.

• Gujarat hosts Lothal and Dholavira, known for dockyard and water-management engineering -- not Kalibangan.

Since Kalibangan is excavated in Hanumangarh district and none of the other states' listed sites match it, the Kalibangan archaeological site is found in Rajasthan.