Harappan Civilization and Rojdi

by Gregory L. Possehl and M.H. Raval

The Harappan town of Rojdi has been known to archaeologists for several decades and has been the subject of extensive excavation. The present book is the first substantial publication on the site and presents three new insights into the nature of the Harappan Civilization. The first of these is evidence for the "Sorath Harappan," a new regional manifestation of ancient India's oldest period of urbanization. The second insight from the work at Rojdi comes in the form a very large corpus of palaeobotanical materials. The flotation system that was employed at the site produced approximately 10,000 botanical specimens from some 70 different plants, many of which are cultivars. Third and finally, the excavation program developed a very large exposure of architecture on the site. This building phase falls within the final period of occupation at Rojdi, attributable to the initial decades of the Post-urban Harappan. This architectural plan of a Post-urban settlement is the largest and most significant for the region at this critical time in ancient Indian history. Harappan Civilization and Rojdi is copiously illustrated and will give the reader a comprehensive view of this important ancient town as well as a new perspective on the Harappan Civilization.