A Companion to South Asia in the Past

A Companion to South Asia in the Past provides a thorough description of research on South Asia s past, from the Pleistocene to the historic era in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka Bangladesh and Nepal. The chapters describe the peopling of South Asia, archaeological and bioarchaeological perspectives on human biocultural diversity in the subcontinent, and points of entry for understanding the meaning of complex phenomena observable in the South Asian context, from urbanism to monument–construction, economic exchange relationships to commodity cult. The authors cover the history of research, major theoretical concerns, current insights, and future challenges for the next generation of scholars working in this region.

Contributions are provided by a truly global range of experts more than 40 scholars from Bangladesh, Canada, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UK, and USA from a variety of sub–disciplinary backgrounds, including palaeoanthropology, archaeology, archaeogenetics, bioarchaeology, isotopic analysis, and history. The diversity of scholarly training represented in this volume provides fresh and sometimes critical perspectives on archaeology and anthropology in South Asia. The result is a volume that provides a unique and definitive resource for anthropologists, South Asianists, and students of these disciplines. 

Gwen Robbins Schug is an Associate Professor of biological anthropology at Appalachian State University (Boone, NC). She is the author of Bioarchaeology and Climate Change: A View from South Asian Prehistory (2011). Her research has been widely published in academic journals and covered in Science Magazine, National Geographic, Science Daily, The New Yorker Magazine, and The New York Times.

Subhash Walimbe was Professor of biological anthropology at Deccan College Post–Graduate Research Institute and the Head of Department at Pune University before retiring in 2010. He is the author of nine books and more than 80 research articles on South Asian prehistory. His research has been funded by National Geographic, Smithsonian Institution, and the Ford Foundation, among others. He serves on the advisory committee to several Indian Universities and the Government of India research establishments.