THE ANCIENT INDUS: URBANISM, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY, 9780521576529, Cambridge University Press

The Ancient Indus

Urbanism, Economy, and Society

Case Studies in Early Societies

• Published: January 2010 Cambridge University Press
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521576529
• length: 416 pages
• dimensions: 230 x 153 x 20 mm
• 55 b/w illus. 11 maps
• Genre: Archaeology / Prehistory

This early civilisation was erased from human memory until 1924, when it was rediscovered. Our understanding of the Indus has been partially advanced by textual sources from Mesopotamia that contain references to Meluhha, a land identified by cuneiform specialists as the Indus, with which the ancient Mesopotamians traded and engaged in battles. In this volume, Rita P. Wright uses both Mesopotamian texts but principally the results of archaeological excavations and surveys to draw a rich account of the Indus civilisation's well-planned cities, its sophisticated alterations to the landscape, and the complexities of its agrarian and craft-producing economy. She focuses principally on the social networks established between city and rural communities; farmers, pastoralists, and craft producers; and Indus merchants and traders and the symbolic imagery that the civilisation shared with contemporary cultures in Iran, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and the Persian Gulf region. Her study emphasises the interconnected nature of early societies.

Rita P. Wright is associate professor of anthropology at New York University. A John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow, she has conducted archaeological field research in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. She is the editor of Gender and Archaeology and coeditor, with Cathy L. Co" tin, of Graft and Social Identity.