Materializing Harappan identities: Unity and diversity in the borderlands of the Indus Civilization

Chase, Brad; Ajithprasad, P.; Rajesh, S.; Patel, Ambika; Sharma, Bhanu

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2014.04.005

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The importance of pastoral activities for Anarta communities seems clear (Ajithprasad and Sonawane 2011 and references therein); however, the role of plant resources in their subsistence strategies remains poorly understood (Sonawane 2000:143). During the mid third millennium BC a series of walled urban settlements with characteristic Harappan material culture from the Indus Civilization (northwest South Asia) appear along trade and travel corridors throughout Gujarat (Chase et al 2014). Archaeobotanical research at Harappan (ca.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Millets and Herders: The Origins of Plant Cultivation in Semiarid North Gujarat (India)

García-Granero¹,

Lancelotti²,

Madella³

et al. 2016

Current Anthropology

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Botanical evidence suggests that North Gujarat (India) was a primary center of plant domestication during the mid-Holocene. However, lack of systematic archaeobotanical research and significant taphonomic processes have so far hampered the possibility of substantiating this hypothesis. This paper explores the role of plants in the subsistence strategies of early-middle Holocene populations in this semiarid region and the processes leading to plant cultivation. To do so, we carry out a multiproxy archaeobotanical study-integrating macro and microbotanical remains-at two hunter-gatherer and agropastoral occupations. The results show that the progressive weakening of the Indian summer monsoon ca. 7,000 years ago compelled human populations to adopt seminomadic pastoralism and plant cultivation, which resulted in the domestication of several small millet species, pulses, and sesame.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Millets and Herders: The Origins of Plant Cultivation in Semiarid North Gujarat (India)

García-Granero¹,

Lancelotti²,

Madella³

et al. 2016

Current Anthropology

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“…A preliminary study of twenty individual tooth samples suggests that most of the cattle and water-buffalo died at an older age, suggesting production of secondary products, whereas the majority of goat/sheep died when they were young, indicating their use primarily for meat; the sole sample identified as possibly sheep also died at an older age 54 . This preliminary study is based on a limited number of samples and may not be representative of the entire assemblage from the settlement; however, such a kill-off pattern is similar to those found at other contemporary settlements in the same region, where the majority of cattle/water-buffalo lived into adulthood and the majority of sheep/goats were slaughtered when young, with some kept alive to maintain herd numbers [16][17][18]22 . Such a pattern would not result from the exploitation of cattle/water-buffalo exclusively for dairy products.…”

Section: Animal Rearing At Kotada Bhadli and Its Possible Effect On Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compound specific isotope analysis of lipid residues provides the earliest direct evidence of dairy product processing in South Asia

Chakraborty

Slater

Miller

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The early evidence of domesticated animals and human–animal interaction in South Asia can be traced back to the seventh millennium BCE; however, our understanding of their use is incomplete and limited to the analysis of animal bones from archaeological sites. By the third millennium BCE with the emergence of the Indus Civilization, cattle and water-buffalo became the primary domesticates and outnumbered any other animals at the majority of the Indus settlements. Based on the analysis of skeletal remains and ethnographic data, a number of studies have suggested that cattle and water-buffalo were utilized for their meat, dairy, hides, and other labor-oriented jobs. While some of these claims are backed by empirical data, others are primarily discussed as hypotheses, for example, the exploitation of dairy. In this paper, by analyzing the absorbed lipid residues from fifty-nine ceramic sherds recovered from an agro-pastoral settlement that was occupied during the peak of the Indus period around mid- to late third millennium BCE, we provide the earliest direct evidence of dairy product processing, particularly from cattle and possibly from some water-buffalo. By providing direct evidence of animal product processing, we identify the use of primary domesticated animals and other resources in the diet during the Indus Civilization.

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“…On the basis of the material culture, the agro-pastoral groups can be broadly divided into 2a) Anarta communities, that developed a regional Chalcolithic pottery tradition between 5 and 3 kyr BP, and 2b) groups gravitating within the Indus Valley Civilisation (ca. 4 to 3 kyr BP, see Chase et al 2014;Rajesh and Krishnan, 2014). This scenario contrasts with the heterogeneous descriptions from archaeological gazetteers reporting surface surveys.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-proxy survey of open-air surface scatters in drylands: Archaeological and physico-chemical characterisation of fossilised dunes in North Gujarat (India)

Conesa

Lobo

Alcaina

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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This research aims at improving our understanding of open-air archaeological surface scatters in drylands, their extension and the intensity of human activities during their occupation. To do so, the study of physico-chemical proxies is integrated to that of archaeological artefacts by means of systematic field survey combined with laboratory sedimentary analyses and a robust statistical approach. In most dry regions, archaeological survey has traditionally aimed at the collection of artefacts. When present, the study of physical and geochemical samples has been limited to excavated archaeological levels. In this work, we evaluate the archaeological significance of physico-chemical proxies from surface samples collected within and around four mid and late-Holocene surface scatters in North Gujarat, a semi-arid region located at the south-west margin of the Thar Desert in India. The four archaeological scatters are found on top of fossilised sand dunes. Archaeologically, they represent subsistence strategies based on hunting and gathering, agro-pastoralism, or a succession/ mixture of the two. The four locations were systematically sampled across a linear transect. For each sampling unit, the archaeological materials were quantified and classified by means of a Linear Discriminant Analyses. Physio-chemical variables were ordinated in a PCA space and clustered through a Hierarchical Clustering. Results were displayed along the dune transect and integrated into a Correspondence Analysis. Significant differences are attested in the spatial distribution and content of Ca, P and grain size, allowing us to suggest a set of distinct cultural soilscapes that characterise the dunes of the study area: vertisols (agric horizons in interdunal lower slopes), aridisols (relict dune surfaces in the mid-slope), and anthrosols (top dune). The last show a strong correspondence with the presence of archaeological artefacts, and the different intensity of human footprint are discussed accordingly to potential past subsistence strategies and the intensity of human occupation.

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Materializing Harappan identities: Unity and diversity in the borderlands of the Indus Civilization

Cited by 34 publications

References 29 publications

Millets and Herders: The Origins of Plant Cultivation in Semiarid North Gujarat (India)

Millets and Herders: The Origins of Plant Cultivation in Semiarid North Gujarat (India)

Compound specific isotope analysis of lipid residues provides the earliest direct evidence of dairy product processing in South Asia

Multi-proxy survey of open-air surface scatters in drylands: Archaeological and physico-chemical characterisation of fossilised dunes in North Gujarat (India)

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