Plants and Harappan subsistence: An example of stability and change from Rojdi.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Weber, Steven A. (Steven A.), 1954-2020.

Contributor:

Possehl, Gregory L., advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Archaeology.

0324.

Penn dissertations--Anthropology.

Anthropology--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Anthropology.

Anthropology--Penn dissertations.

0324.

Physical Description:

481 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 50-07A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

Understanding regional diversity in Harappan Civilization, and the common elements that make up the Harappan Cultural Tradition, has been a major task of archaeology in South Asia. This dissertation contributes to this project through the examination of the plant portion of Harappan subsistence, about which comparatively little is known. Information about subsistence is important since it formed the Harappans' most fundamental relationship with their environment, and was the basis of their socio-economic system.

A paleoethnobotanical project was designed for Rojdi, a Harappan site in Gujarat. Rojdi was inhabited during the Urban and Late Harappan Phases and its material culture contains both Harappan characteristics and regional variants. Analysis of findings from excavation, collection and identification of plant remains, and the study of the distribution of these remains throughout the site and in association with other archaeological features, led to the reconstruction of Rojdi subsistence for all phases of occupation. The findings from Rojdi were then compared with the archaeobotanical record for all other South Asian sites of the Harappan period.

The results of the Rojdi paleoethnobotanical investigation reveal that while some features of the general subsistence system remained unchanged, significant shifts in the plants and their distributions, chiefly in the form of altered dependence on existing taxa, can be observed throughout the occupation. These findings imply there was a broadening of the plant base and an intensification of plant-use strategies as the occupation advanced.

When compared with remains from other sites associated with the Harappan period, the Rojdi results bear out the perception that common elements of Harappan subsistence, namely the early establishment of a sophisticated cultivation strategy and diversification and intensification of subsistence strategies over time, co-existed with distinctive regional variation in the types of plants used and the expression of these general trends.

The paleoethnobotanical project at Rojdi was among the few in South Asia to have used advanced techniques of ecofact recovery and analysis. Its conclusions may be expressed as hypotheses about Harappan culture-wide uniformities and regional diversity in subsistence strategies that should be tested through implementation of similar projects in other sites.

Notes:

Thesis (Ph.D. in Anthropology) -- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 1989.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-07, Section: A, page: 2125.

Adviser: Gregory L. Possehl.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.