The ‘High-West: Low-East’ Dichotomy of Indus Cities: A Dravidian Paradigm
A fascinating, well-documented article on Indus city layouts and linguistic paradigms.
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.
Beginnings of Indian Astronomy with Reference to a Parallel Development in China
An impressive paper by one of the Indus script's most important interpreters and theorists looks at the origins of astronomy in the subcontinent.
Aspects of Palace Life at Mohenjo-Daro
This article examines the social implications associated with historical architecture. The presence of centralized "palaces" suggests a social stratification including an elite class.
On the Development of Indus Technical Virtuosity and Its Relation to Social Structure
Indus craftsmanship of small objects and articles and the patterns of intricacies and experimentation in their production -- or Indus Valley technical virtuosity. The paper covers a thorough classification of artifacts and trends in their production over time.
Ornament Styles of the Indus Valley Tradition
A brief discussion of the methodologies needed for the study of Indus ornaments is presented along with examples of how Indus artisans combined precious metals, stone beads, shell and faience to form elaborate ornaments.
‘We are inheritors of a rural civilisation’: rural complexity and the ceramic economy in the Indus Civilisation in northwest India
The relationship between ancient Indus centers - which we know best and consider a hallmark of the civilization - and the vast rural "hinterland" that surrounded them is the subject of this lucid paper.
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.
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.