The ancient Indus Valley : new perspectives
"The Indus Valley gave rise to a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization - a uniquely peaceful society that developed everything from a complex government to sanitary plumbing to maritime trade to a rich mythology. Yet it was completely forgotten until its remarkable rediscovery in the 1920s. This volume offers a revealing study of a civilization that was the equal of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, one that covered a far larger region yet lasted a much shorter time and is far less well known." "Researchers have tentatively reconstructed a model of Indus life from the limited material that remains. Based on important findings from recent surveys and excavations in South Asia and neighboring regions, The Ancient Indus Valley explains what is now known about the Indus civilization's roots in the farming cultures of prehistoric South Asia, as well as the hallmarks of its extraordinary development. It is an eye-opening introduction to a vanished world - and a stirring testament to archaeology's power to recover the past."--Jacket
Nonfiction
ix, 441 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm.
9781576079072, 9781576079089, 1576079074, 1576079082
144773528
pt. I. Introduction
Ch. 1. Introduction
The Indus in Its Setting
A Lost Civilization
A Land of Unsolved Mysteries
pt. 2. Indus Civilization
Ch. 2. Location of the Indus Civilization and Its Environmental Setting
Location
The Environmental Setting
The Changing Landscape
Environmental Degradation
Ch. 3. Historical and Chronological Setting
History of the Investigation of South Asia's Past
Studying the Indus Civilization
Ch. 4. Origins, Growth, and Decline of the Indus Civilization
Early South Asia (ca. 2 to 1 Million-7000 BCE)
Early Farmers in Northwest South Asia (7000-4300 BCE)
Later Settlements (4300-3200 BCE)
The Early Indus (Early Harappan) Period (3200-2600 BCE)
The Transition (2600-2500/2450 BCE)
The Mature Indus Civilization (2600-1900/1800 BCE)
The Posturban (Late Harappan) Period (1900/1800-1300 BCE)
Ch. 5. Economics
Subsistence Patterns
Arable Agriculture
Animal Husbandry
Aquatic Resources
Wild Resources
Ch. 6. Resources, Trade, and Communications
Introduction
Internal Trade and Communications
South Asian Trade and Exchange
Overland Trade across the Iranian Plateau
Gulf Trade
Later Developments in Local and International Trade
Ch. 7. Settlements
Settlements and Settlement Patterns
Cities, Towns, and Villages
The Features of Urban Centers
Ch. 8. Social and Political Organization
Introduction
Clues to Social Organization
Clues to Political Organization
Ch. 9. Religion and Ideology
Introduction
Religious Structures
Iconography
Ritual Practices
The Treatment of the Dead
Reconstructing Harappan Religion
Ch. 10. Material Culture
Workshops and Factories
Construction
Artifacts
Art
Ch. 11. Intellectual Accomplishments
Numbers, Time, and Space
Languages
The Indus Script
Ch. 12. The Indus Civilization Today
The Emergence of Harappan Civilization
Theories on the Sociopolitical Organization of the Indus State
Indus Collapse
General
History of Discovery
Indus Antecedents
The Indus Civilization in South Asian Culture
Neighbors of the Indus Civilization
The End of the Indus Civilization and the Post-Harappan Period
Economy, Trade, and Foreign Relations
Industry, Technology, and Science
The Harappan People
Social and Political Organization
Settlement and Settlements
Language, Writing, and Seals
Useful Web Pages
Journals and Occasional Publications