Lothal is essentially a single culture site. The Harappan Culture in all its variant forms is well represented here.

The Harappans were attracted to Lothal not only by its sheltered harbour with a rich cotton-and rice-growing hinterland but also by its bead-making industry.

The Indus dichotomy of dividing the city into a citadel or Acropolis and a Lower Town was followed in planning Lothal. The Ruler and his entourage lived in the acropolis where houses were built on 3 m high platforms and provided with all the civic amenities including paved baths, underground drains and a well for potable water.

The Lower Town which also enjoyed civic amenities was subdivided into two sectors. The north-south arterial street Hanked by shops was the main commercial centre in which the rich merchant and ordinary craftsmen lived together. The residential sector lay to the east and west of bazaar.

While planning the town, Lothal engineers accorded high priority to two other needs. The fulfillment of which depended the economic prosperity of the inhabitants. The first one was a dock for berthing ships and the second a warehouse for storing and examining cargo. The dock built on the eastern flank of the town is an engineering feat of the highest order. Its very location away from the main current avoided silting but at the same time ships could have access to the dock in high tide.

The second need, namely the warehouse, arose from the large volume of cargo which Lothal had to handle. Hence, a warehouse was built close to the acropolis on a 3.5 m high podium of mud-bricks to serve as a clearing house for incoming and outgoing cargo.

With the birth of a planned Harappan port-town in Phase II (2350 BC) Lothal enjoyed great prosperity owing to foreign trade. It became a busy industrial centre importing pure copper and producing bronze celts, fish-hooks, chisels, spearheads and ornaments which were supplied through normal trade channels all over the western province and beyond.