Indus Valley Crafts Of Pakistan

A coffee-table book.

This is the third volume of a much larger project, Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History, which deals with the prehistory of Pakistan from the Stone Age to the end of the Harappan Civilization ca. 1500 BC. This particular volume, Harappan Civilization - The Material Culture, deals with the entire gambit of the urban phase of the Indus Civilization, from its beginning to its decay and the ultimate end. The books covers such topics as the origins, settlement pattern, subsistence economy, architecture, town planning, Indus seals, arts and crafts, metallurgy, decay, and the post-Harappan cultural landscape. Every chapter is profusely illustrated with colored sketches and colored photographs. An extensive bibliography is also provided.

"Already in Greek and Roman antiquity a vibrant series of exchange relationships existed between the Mediterranean regions and China, including the Indian subcontinents along well-defined routes we call the Silk Roads. Among the many goods that found their way from East to West and vice versa were glass, wine, spices, metals like iron, precious stones as well as textile raw materials and fabrics and silk, a luxury item that was in great demand in the Roman Empire. These collected papers connect research from different areas and disciplines dealing with exchange along the Silk Roads. These historical, philological and archaeological contributions highlight silk as a commodity, gift and tribute, and as a status symbol in varying cultural and chronological contexts between East and West, including technological aspects of silk production. The main period concerns Rome and China in antiquity, ending in the late fifth century CE, with the Roman Empire being transformed into the Byzantine Empire, while the Chinese chronology covers the Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Western and Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms, ending in 420 CE. In addition, both earlier and later epochs are also considered in order to gather an understanding of developments and changes in long-distance and longer-term relations that involved silk."

This volume, a compilation of original papers written to celebrate the outstanding contributions of Jonathan Mark Kenoyer to the archaeology of South Asia over the past forty years, highlights recent developments in the archaeological research of ancient South Asia, with specific reference to the Indus Civilization.