Book

The Indus civilization: a contemporary perspective

AltaMira PressWalnut Creek, CaPublished In 2002 • Pages:

By: Possehl, Gregory L..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This overview of the development of the Indus civilization shows continuities from one tradition into the next—from early village farming communities into the early Iron Age. Research was mainly carried out in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, India, but the various Indus domains or subregions are also covered. The document concentrates on the Mature Harappan or Mature Indus period from about 4600-3900 BP, especially at Mohenjo-Daro. The author posits that the Mature Indus arose due to a new ideology rejecting existing practices; an ideology emphasizing urbanization, technological innovation, and the importance of water both practically and symbolically, all of which are attributes of pre-state sociocultural complexity.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Culture summary
Sociocultural trends
Innovation
Cultural participation
Ethos
Cities
Form and rules of government
Ethnogeography
Purification and atonement
Chronologies and culture sequences
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Mature Indus
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2016
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
South Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry; 2015
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
not applicable
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
9000-2600 BP
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Pakistan and northwest India
NotesAdditional notes
Gregory L. Possehl
Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-267) and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
2002001960
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Indus civilization