We are inheritors of a rural civilisation

Rural complexity and the ceramic economy in the Indus Civilisation in northwest India

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3919686
AutoresDanika Parikh (0000-0003-2805-2884, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, autor correspondente), C A Petrie (0000-0002-2926-7230, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK)
Ano2019
Volume51
Fascículo2
Páginas252-272
Data de publicação2019-03-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438243.2019.1601463
PMID33223574
OpenAlexW2951930283
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas15
Referências citadas31

What role do villages play in 'an urban civilisation'? Although it is likely that most of the populations of South Asia's ancient Indus Civilisation would not have lived in cities, it is not clear what their rural way of life would have encompassed. Using ceramic assemblages excavated from Indus-period villages in northwest India, alongside ethnographic records on village organization and rural craft production, this paper argues that Indus villages were characterized by rural complexity. This comprised a range of activities, including craft production, as well as short- and long-distance socio-economic links. Drawing on historical narratives, we show how South Asian villages have been essentialized and presented as either ideal or conservative extremes. We argue for the importance of a better understanding of the breadth and nuances of the rural sphere, and for a greater research focus on village life in the Indus context

Ancient history · Archaeology · Civilization · Context (archaeology · Craft · Geography · Indus · Narrative · Political science · Rural area · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies