Overview

This book analyzes the agricultural and pastoral infrastructure of the Mature and Late Harappan cultures (c. 2500-1700 BC) of northwest India. The economic role of drought-resistant millet crops is reconstructed using ethnographic studies of crop processing, palaeoethnobotany, and carbon isotope analysis. Reddy's results reveal that simply recovering crop seeds from archaeological contexts does not prove local crop cultivation, and she suggests how agricultural production of millet crops for human food and for animal fodder may have been economically interwoven in the Harappan civilization. This study demonstrates the interpretive strength of developing ethnographic models to distinguish local cultivation from the consumption of grain grown elsewhere, and new directions are provided for discerning archaeologically how pastoralism and agriculture may be integrated in complex economic systems.

Full Product Details

Author:   Seetha Narahari Reddy
Publisher:   International Monographs in Prehistory
Imprint:   International Monographs in Prehistory
Volume:   5
ISBN:  

9781879621367

ISBN 10:   1879621363
Pages:   175
Publication Date:   01 April 2003
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Plants, Past and Present: An Introduction Chapter 2. Archaeological Context and the Scope of Inquiry Chapter 3. The Living Past: Ethnographic Crop Processing Studies Chapter 4. The Search for Patterns: Ethnographic Modeling and Archaeological Relevance Chapter 5. Going Beyond Carbonized Seed Lists: Paleoethnobotanical Research Chapter 6. If the Threshing Floor Could Talk: Testing the Ethnographic Models Chapter 7. Modeling Animal Diet and Fodder Acquisition Chapter 8. Conclusion: Discerning Palates, Plant Usage and Subsistence Glossary References

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