The ancient Indus Valley : new perspectives / Jane R. McIntosh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McIntosh, Jane.

Series:

Understanding ancient civilizations

ABC-CLIO's understanding ancient civilizations series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indus civilization.

Physical Description:

ix, 441 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm.

Place of Publication:

Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, [2008]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

The Indus in Its Setting 3

A Lost Civilization 4

A Land of Unsolved Mysteries 4

Part 2 Indus Civilization

Chapter 2 Location of the Indus Civilization and Its Environmental Setting 9

Location 9

The Environmental Setting 11

The Changing Landscape 19

Environmental Degradation 23

Chapter 3 Historical and Chronological Setting 27

History of the Investigation of South Asia's Past 27

Studying the Indus Civilization 41

Chapter 4 Origins, Growth, and Decline of the Indus Civilization 53

Early South Asia (ca. 2 to 1 Million-7000 BCE) 53

Early Farmers in Northwest South Asia (7000-4300 BCE) 56

Later Settlements (4300-3200 BCE) 62

The Early Indus (Early Harappan) Period (3200-2600 BCE) 67

The Transition (2600-2500/2450 BCE) 80

The Mature Indus Civilization (2600-1900/1800 BCE) 83

The Posturban (Late Harappan) Period (1900/1800-1300 BCE) 91

Chapter 5 Economics 109

Subsistence Patterns 109

Arable Agriculture 110

Animal Husbandry 122

Aquatic Resources 133

Wild Resources 138

Chapter 6 Resources, Trade, and Communications 147

Internal Trade and Communications 148

South Asian Trade and Exchange 159

Overland Trade across the Iranian Plateau 165

Gulf Trade 168

Later Developments in Local and International Trade 191

Chapter 7 Settlements 205

Settlements and Settlement Patterns 205

Cities, Towns, and Villages 209

The Features of Urban Centers 223

Chapter 8 Social and Political Organization 245

Clues to Social Organization 245

Clues to Political Organization 256

Chapter 9 Religion and Ideology 275

Religious Structures 275

Iconography 279

Ritual Practices 290

The Treatment of the Dead 293

Reconstructing Harappan Religion 296

Chapter 10 Material Culture 301

Workshops and Factories 301

Construction 303

Artifacts 306

Art 335

Chapter 11 Intellectual Accomplishments 345

Numbers, Time, and Space 345

Languages 348

The Indus Script 356

Part 3 Current Assessment

Chapter 12 The Indus Civilization Today 385

The Emergence of Harappan Civilization 385

Theories on the Sociopolitical Organization of the Indus State 391

Indus Collapse 396

History of Discovery 423

Indus Antecedents 424

The Indus Civilization in South Asian Culture 424

Neighbors of the Indus Civilization 424

The End of the Indus Civilization and the Post-Harappan Period 425

Economy, Trade, and Foreign Relations 425

Industry, Technology, and Science 426

The Harappan People 426

Social and Political Organization 426

Settlement and Settlements 426

Language, Writing, and Seals 427

Useful Web Pages 428

Journals and Occasional Publications 428.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781576079072

1576079074

9781576079089

1576079082

OCLC:

144773528