Jonathan Mark Kenoyer's Deccan College Lecture on April 10 2021 goes into the earliest evidence of textiles in the greater Indus Valley, from Mehrgarh in 7000 BCE through Indus times, digging into the specific varieties of cotton, linen, flax and other plant fibers and even colours used.
An audio interview with Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer with Wisconsin Public Radio explores his work and discoveries at Harappa, where stone tools suggest the area was inhabited as early as 10,000 BCE. An fine hour of highlights and key finds around crops, animals and culture and evidence for the earliest curries and writing.
An exciting find, not only because this is the first foodstuff preserved in such excellent condition, but also for the continuity with today, is this Times of India article on multi-grain, high-protein laddos found at the 4MSR site in Rajasthan on the border with Pakistan.
The keynote lecture at the University of Kerala's March 2021 international webinar on Indus Civilization by Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (University of Wisconsin, Madison). An in-depth, fully illustrated look at ornamentation, ideology and its role across the wider Indus Valley, from the carnelian that comes from Gujarat that was worked on at sites like Harappa, to the steatite from Hazara that was worked on in areas far to the south.
A stunning VW Bug by the Pakistani folk artist Haider Ali in Sindh.
There are almost no concise, up-to-date accounts of the ancient Indus civilization, locating the latest facts and opinions within a larger intellectual context. Has the Indus script been deciphered? What can we say about the relationship of ancient Indus traditions and modern Hinduism? How did Indus society compare to contemporary Bronze Age Egypt and Mesopotamia? Why do so many questions remain open and so contentious?
An interesting paper which looks at the extensive finds of what are likely game pieces, boards and other related artifacts from Mohenjo-daro. The author tries to relate finds at the site with contexts, and while this is difficult given poor documentation from earlier excavations, it does seem as if game play was extensive.
"A detailed analysis of the animal bone assemblage at Gola Dhoro here throws light on the expansion of the Indus civilisation into Gujarat. A square fort, imposed on a settlement of livestock herders in the later third millennium BC, was shown to have contained people who introduced a broader diet of meat and seafood, and new ways of preparing it. These social and dietary changes were coincident with a surge in craft and trade."
An exciting new study that looks at food residues ancient Indus pots found in sites around Rakigarhi to decode the foodstuffs that once were in those pots. By examining the lipids or fatty acids that can be extracted from pots and pottery fragments, investigators were able to determine some of the foodstuffs in the pots.
Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer delivers the 23rd Gulestan and Rustom Billimoria Endowment Lecture at the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, Dec. 14, 2020. A deep exploration of the Indus script and its evolution in the context of Indus civilization and other neighbouring Bronze Age cultures and their writing systems. Profusely illustrated, and including the latest research by leading scholars.
