Master of Animals and Animal Masters in the Iconography of the Indus Tradition
A brief introduction to the Indus Tradition and then focuses on the range of images relating to human and animal interactions that were used in the greater Indus region.
Articles focused on topics of anthropological or socio-cultural significance including family dynamics, gender, social relations, religion, daily life, ideologies and social stratification in the ancient Indus Valley civilization.
A "Priest-King" at Shahr-i Sokhta?
"A small showcase of the Zahedan Museum keeps, among other finds, the fragmentary headless torso of a small statuette in a buff-grey limestone, with a strongly weathered surface. Without opening the showcase, I was allowed to take several pictures of the fragment, from various angles," writes the author.
Shell Working Industries of the Indus Civilization: A Summary
Major species of marine mollusca used in the shell industry are discussed in detail and possible ancient shell source areas are identified. Variations in shell artifacts within and between various urban, rural and coastal sites are presented as evidence for specialized production, hierarchical internal trade networks and regional interaction spheres.
Stone Sculptures from the Protohistoric Helmand Civilization, Afghanistan
The eminent archaeologist George F. Dales (1927-1992, author of Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan: The Pottery) looks at a "creamy buff soft stone" sculpture, just under 10 centimeters in height, that he was shown and photographed in Afghanistan in the early 1970s.
South Asian Cooking
Curry is the anglicization of the common Hindustani word tarkiiri,, meaning "green vegetable." Cooked vegetables (and some times even meat) are occasionally called tarkari, but this word never appears on an Indian menu.
Material Culture and Childhood in Harappan South Asia
A comprehensive roundup of all that we seem to know about toys in the ancient Indus Valley from The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Childhood
The Indus Valley Tradition of Pakistan and Western India
The origins and character of the Indus urban phenomenon, presenting current interpretations but not burdening the nonspecialist with ceramic sequences and other details.
Guabba, the Meluhhan Village in Mesopotamia
Until Dr. Vermaak's paper (2008), no one had connected the known existence of a Meluhhan village in the Girsu/Lagash area with Guabba; the availability of more texts since the first connections were made by scholars like Asko Parpola allowed him to both locate it more precisely and tease out a number of other references that give us some sense of what these people did and were known for.
Summaries of Five Seasons of Research at Harappa: 1986-1990
A 78 page overview of how 5 seasons of excavations at Harappa proceeded.
Harappa 1989: Summary of the Fourth Season
In addition to the overall objective of obtaining new information on the cultural and structural development of Harappa, other specific questions investigated include the development of civic organization and control, occupational specialization, and social stratification.