A Geologic Provenance Study of Harappa's Rock and Mineral Assemblage

A Book by Randall William Law

New Introductory Paragraph by Randall Law, 2024

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Omar Khan for making my book entitled Inter-Regional Interaction and Urbanism in the Ancient Indus Valley: A Geologic Provenience Study of Harappa's Rock and Mineral Assemblage available to all on Harappa.com. The book’s title is a concise description of its subject matter and if it reads like a dissertation that’s because it is. Under the supervision of Prof. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, my PhD thesis of the same name was completed in 2008 at the Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This book, which is an updated and expanded version of that thesis, was published in 2011 by the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan as well as by Manohar Publishers & Distributors in New Delhi, India.

A large (420mb) pdf of the entire 830 page book can be downloaded via this link.

Here, the book has been divided into twelve sections with links to smaller, more manageable pdfs. The sections contain introductory and background materials, chapters focusing on individual material types, a summary and concluding statement, and extensive appendices and references.

Randall Law, March 2024

Inter-Regional Interaction and Urbanism in the Ancient Indus Valley

New! This over 800 page book on the Geologic Provenience Study of Harappa's Rock and Mineral Assemblage is presented in 12 sections, each with the PDFs of entire chapters, as well as figures, images and introductory comments for each chapter. New Introductory Paragraph by Randall Law, 2024 Presented in this section are the Table of Contents, introductory matters… >

Steatite Acquisition Networks

Steatite – a rock composed primarily of the mineral talc ( hydrous magnesium silicate) in its massive form, was undoubtedly a material of tremendous importance at Harappa. Artifacts made from it comprise nearly 40% of the site’s rock and mineral assemblage. >

Agate Acquisition Networks

The roughly 4700 finished objects (mostly ornaments but also the occasional stone weight) and pieces of raw material or manufacturing debris from Harappa that have been designated agate or jasper exhibit a bewildering range of macroscopic variability. >

Alabaster Acquisition Networks

The mineral gypsum – hydrated calcium sulfate (CaSO4•2H2O), is found in many forms at Indus Civilization sites. Transparent tabular crystals known as selenite have been recovered at Harappa. >

Appendices + References

All the books many detailed Appendices and definitions, including a discussion of "Provenance," by the author: "I have always understood the former term to mean a thing’s place of origin or source and the latter term to mean a thing’s history going back to and including it’s origin or source." >