Urban economies in early states: The Secondary Products Revolution in the Indus Civilization.

摘要

This archaeological project documents urban phenomena and subsistence economies at the site of Harappa (Pakistan), one of the first cities in South Asia and a major urban center of the Indus Civilization (3300--1700 B.C.). Research strategies document the Secondary Products Revolution in South Asia and explore zebu cattle (Bos indicus) and water buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis) secondary products, traction and dairying activities, in ancient urban economies. Its focus is research on processes of economic specialization and diversification in the urban subsistence economy, documenting the role pastoral production strategies played in economic and social differentiation as the site evolved from a village community to a large urban settlement.; Project methodologies are multi-disciplinary incorporating ethnoarchaeological, artifactual, and zooarchaeological analyses. Ethnoarchaeological components included the creation of a modern comparative collection of cattle and water buffalo skeletons with animal life histories for identifying osteological secondary products signatures. Modern herd demographics, regional pastoral economies, and secondary products exploitation were recorded in the Punjab, Pakistan. Zooarchaeological methods included construction of demographic profiles, osteometric, radiographic, and pathological analyses.; The project provides the earliest osteological evidence for traction exploitation at any Indus Civilization site. As demonstrated by zooarchaeological pathology and artifact patterns, traction activities have a long history at Harappa, occurring in the earliest occupation levels dated to 3300 B.C. Unique ecological conditions and cultural values in the Indus Valley promoted the development of distinct pastoral economies centered on cattle. This pattern differs from ancient urban civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt, an example of particularistic urban trajectories in South Asia. Water buffalo, though ideologically important, made few economic contributions to subsistence at Harappa.; Project results indicate that secondary products (dairying and traction activities) were vital in the regional agro-pastoral economy at Harappa, diversifying the subsistence base with renewable and storable products, allowing for the creation of economic surpluses, and extending local and long distance exchange networks. Faunal patterns document temporal shifts in animal exploitation strategies, an intensification of secondary products exploitation, and increasing specialization in pastoral production systems in the third millennium B.C. Subsistence choices influenced urbanization processes and settlement trends.