Walking with the Unicorn: Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia: Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Felicitation Volume

Walking with the Unicorn – Jonathan Mark Kenoyer Felicitation Volume' is an important contribution highlighting recent developments in the archaeological research of ancient South Asia, with specific reference to the Indus Civilization. As suggested by the title, it is 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. Many interpretations now commonly accepted in the study of the Indus Civilization are the results of Kenoyer’s original insights, which combine his instinctive knowledge of the indigenous culture with the groundbreaking application of ethnoarchaeology, experimental studies and instrumental analyses. The numerous contributions from international specialists cover central aspects of the archaeological research on Bronze Age South Asia, as well as of the neighboring regions. They include socio-economic implications of craft productions, the still undeciphered Indus script and related administrative technologies and procedures. The inter-regional exchanges that allowed the rooting of the Indus culture over a vaste territory, as well as the subtle regional variations in this ‘Harappan veneer’ are also studied.

Table of Contents:
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer and ISMEO – Occasions in Continuum (Adriano V. Rossi) ; Jonathan Mark Kenoyer – The Tale of Sikander and the Unicorn (Dennys Frenez, Gregg Jamison, Randall Law, Massimo Vidale and Richard H. Meadow) ; Jonathan Mark Kenoyer – Bibliography ; Fish Exploitation during the Harappan Period at Bagasra in Gujarat, India. An Ichthyoarchaeological Approach (Abhayan G. S., P. P. Joglekar, P. Ajithprasad, K. Krishnan, K. K. Bhan and S. V. Rajesh) ; The Sincerest Form of Flattery? Terracotta Seals as Evidence of Imitation and Agency in Bronze Age Middle Asia (Marta Ameri) ; Reflections on Fantastic Beasts of the Harappan World. A View from the West (Joan Aruz) ; Fish Symbolism and Fish Remains in Ancient South Asia (William R. Belcher) ; Some Important Aspects of Technology and Craft Production in the Indus Civilization with Specific Reference to Gujarat (Kuldeep K. Bhan) ; Chert Mines and Chert Miners. The Material Culture and Social Organization of the Indus Chipped Stone Workers, Artisans and Traders in the Indus Valley (Sindh, Pakistan) (Paolo Biagi, Elisabetta Starnini and Ryszard Michniak) ; Ceramic Analysis and the Indus Civilization. A Review (Alessandro Ceccarelli and Cameron A. Petrie) [Open Access: Download] ; Family Matters in Harappan Gujarat (Brad Chase) ; Revisiting the Ornament Styles of the Indus Figurines: Evidence from Harappa, Pakistan (Sharri R. Clark) ; The Harappan ‘Veneer’ and the Forging of Urban Identity (Mary A. Davis) ; Private Person or Public Persona? Use and Significance of Standard Indus Seals as Markers of Formal Socio-Economic Identities (Dennys Frenez) ; Lithic Blade Implements and their Role in the Harappan Chalcolithic Cultural Development in Gujarat (Charusmita Gadekar and P. Ajithprasad) ; Who Were the ‘Massacre Victims’ at Mohenjo-daro? A Craniometric Investigation (Brian E. Hemphill) ; Indus Copper and Bronze: Traditional Perspectives and New Interpretations (Brett C. Hoffman) ; A Short Note on Strontium Isotope Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains from the Site of Sarai Khola (Asma Ibrahim) ; The Organization of Indus Unicorn Seal Production. A Multi-faceted Investigation of Technology, Skill, and Style (Gregg M. Jamison) ; The Size of Indus Seals and its Significance (Ayumu Konasukawa and Manabu Koiso) ; The Art and Technology of Reserving a Slip. A Complex Side of Indus Ceramic Tradition (K. Krishnan and Sneh Pravinkumar Patel) ; The Art of the Harappan Microbead – Revisited (Randall W. Law) ; The North Gujarat Archaeological Project – NoGAP. A Multi-Proxy and Multi-Scale Study of Long-Term Socio-Ecological Dynamics (Marco Madella, P. Ajithprasad, Carla Lancelotti, J. J. García-Granero, F. C. Conesa, C. Gadekar and S. V. Rajesh) ; Toponyms, Directions and Tribal Names in the Indus Script (Iravatham Mahadevan and M. V. Bhaskar) ; Ganweriwala – A New Perspective (Farzand Masih) ; Personal Reflections on some Contributions of Jonathan Mark Kenoyer to the Archaeology of Northwestern South Asia (Richard H. Meadow) ; Invisible Value or Tactile Value? Steatite in the Faience Complexes of the Indus Valley Tradition (Heather M.-L. Miller and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer) ; What Makes a Pot Harappan (Heidi J. Miller) ; Dilmun-Meluhhan Relations Revisited in Light of Observations on Early Dilmun Seal Production during the City IIa-c Period (c. 2050-1800 BC) (Eric Olijdam and Hélène David-Cuny) ; Unicorn Bull and Victory Parade (Asko Parpola) ; Analytical Study of Harappan Copper Artifacts from Gujarat with Special Reference to Bagasra (Ambika Patel and P. Ajithprasad) ; Looking beneath the Veneer. Thoughts about Environmental and Cultural Diversity in the Indus Civilization (Cameron A. Petrie, Danika Parikh, Adam S. Green and Jennifer Bates) ; Decorated Carnelian Beads from the Indus Civilization Site of Dholavira (Great Rann of Kachchha, Gujarat) (V. N. Prabhakar) ; ‘Artifact Reuse and Mixed Archaeological Contexts at Chatrikhera, Rajasthan’ (Teresa P. Raczek, Namita S. Sugandhi, Prabodh Shirvalkar and Lalit Pandey) [Open Access: Download] ; Pre-Prabhas Assemblage in Gujarat. An Assessment based on the Material Culture from Somnath, Datrana and Janan (Rajesh S. V., Charusmita Gadekar, P. Ajithprasad, G. S. Abhayan, K. Krishnan and Marco Madella) ; The Indus Script and Economics. A Role for Indus Seals and Tablets in Rationing and Administration of Labor (Rajesh P. N. Rao) ; Beads of Possible Indus Origin with Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (Julian E. Reade and Jonathan Taylor) ; The Role of Archaeology in National Identity: Muslim Archaeology in Pakistan (Shakirullah) ; The Smallest Scale of Stone. Pebbles as a Diminutive Form of Nature (Monica L. Smith) ; Five Thousand Years of Shell Exploitation at Bandar Jissah, Sultanate of Oman (Christopher P. Thornton, Charlotte M. Cable, David Bosch and Leslie Bosch) [Open Access: Download] ; Indus Stone Beads in the Ghaggar Plain with a Focus on the Evidence from Farmana and Mitathal (Akinori Uesugi, Manmohan Kumar and Vivek Dangi) ; Locard’s Exchange Principle and the Bead-Making Industries of the 3rd Millennium BC (Massimo Vidale, Giuseppe Guida, Gianfranco Priori and Anna Siviero) ; Inscription Carving Technology of Early Historic South Asia. Results of Experimental Archaeology and Assessment of Minor Rock Edicts in Karnataka (Heather Walder) ; The Volumetric System of Harappa (Bryan K. Wells) ; An Harappan History of US Researchers in Pakistan. In Celebration of Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (Rita P. Wright) ;

About the Author :
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (born May 28th 1952 in Shillong, India) is one of the world’s leading experts on the ancient Indus Civilisation of Pakistan and India. Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, he has been excavating with the Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP) at the ancient Indus city of Harappa since 1986 and is currently involved in ongoing research in South Asia as well as in adjacent regions including the Oman Peninsula, Afghanistan and China. His particular interests include the origins and development of urbanism, writing and technologies. He has worked with craftspeople in Pakistan, India, China and the Sultanate of Oman, to replicate ancient pottery, jewellery, copper smelting and other manufacturing processes. He speaks fluently Urdu, Hindi and Bengali.