Author: S Settar
Ravi Korisettar/
Editor: S Settar and Ravi Korisettar
Publisher: Manohar
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 518
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8173043205
Description
This Indian Archaeology in Retrospect attempts to take stock of the progress made in the field of Sough Asian archaeology, especially during the latter half of the twentieth century. Fifty-nine papers, spread over four volumes, are contributed by a team of scholars, well-known in the areas of their specialization.
Besides reviewing the widening horizons of empirical data, they have also identified the changing attitudes, methodologies and tools of inquiry. Besides presenting a synoptic view of our current understanding of the cultural evolution, an attempt is also made here to explore the future possibilities in this field.
This is an attempt to explore, not to exhaust the entire field of prehistory. Our enquiry is not only dictated by the material brought to light so far and the nature of its significance, but also by the availability of competent and critical scholarship which could evaluate it with a depth of understanding and detachment that it deserves.
Never before an attempt of this type and in the scale has been made to critically evaluate the progress made into our past. This has become possible because of the participation of a team of up-coming as well as well-established scholars of international repute. As many as 46 Indian and about 16 European and American scholars have contributed to make this series what it is.
This volume covers the major aspects of Harappan Civilization since its discovery in 1922. Fourteen papers, contributed by nineteen scholars deal with the major aspects of the Civilization such as geo-archaeological perspectives; pastoralism, trade and technology, religion and society, urban character, terracotta art and symbolism, bioanthroplogy, archaeobotany and the Indus script. From about 37 Indian sites known in 1947, our knowledge has now increased to 1022; they are distributed over a million square kilometer area.
Ninety-six of these have been excavated-forty-one in Pakistan and fifty-five in India. This complex information is presented in a catalogue of events, nothing the progress made year after the year.
Contents
FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION Fifty Years of Harappan Archaeology: The Study of the Indus Civilization since Indian Independence GREGORY L POSSEHL Geoarchaeological Perspectives on the Harappan Sites of South Asia JOSEPH SCHULDENREIN Deciphering the Indus Script RAE CONINGHAM Settlement Networks of the Indus Civilization MICHAEL JANSEN The Pre-Harappan cultures of Gujarat P Ajithprasad Post-Urban Harappan culture in Gujarat V H Sonawane Harappan Social Organization M K Dhavalikar Harappan Religion: Myth and Polemics SHUBHANGANA ATRE The Terracotta Figurines from Mohenjo Daro: Considerations on Tradition, Craft and Ideology in the Harappan Civilization (c. 2400-1800 bc) ALEXANDRA ARDELEANU-JANSEN Some Important Aspects of the Harappan Technological Tradition K K BHAN, M VIDALE and J M KENOYER Re-thinking Thinking: Ceramic Studies in Gujarat ARCHANA CHOKSI Biological Anthropology of Human Skeletons from Harappa Kenneth A R Kennedy Issues in Harappan Archaeobotany: Retrospect and Prospect DORIAN Q FULLER and MARCO MADELLA From Mehrgarh to Harappa and Dholavira: Prehistoric Pastoralism in North-Western South Asia through the Harappan Period RICHARD H MEADOW AND AJITA K PATEL Investigations into the Archaeofauna of Harappan Sites in Western India P K THOMAS Appendix Archaeology of the Harappan Civilization: An Annotated List of Excavations and Surveys GREGORY L POSSEHL List of Contributors Index