Ethnoarchaeology of Yamuna Valley

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgement. List of illustrations. 1. Introduction. 2. Ethnoarchaeology: conceptual framework. 3. Archaeological and historical review. 4. Yamuna Valley: an ethnographic profile. 5. Discussion and conclusion. Bibliography.

"Ethnoarchaeology is emerging as a new branch of archaeology to study the socio-cultural behavior of living societies with their material culture for studying the past. The present book tries to bring out the genesis of various cultural trends, artistic activities, settlement pattern and religious beliefs of the people of Yamuna Valley on the basis of the ethnoarchaeological evidence in an inter disciplinary perspective.

The present study has investigated the present day traditional practices of the ethnic communities of the Yamuna Valley from an ethnoarchaeological perspective and discussed all the major practices prevailing in this polyandrous zone like Transhumance Pastroralism, Chhans, houses, agricultural practices, exploitation of biological resources, Pottery Traditions, Folk Deities and wooden images, which gives an overview of the ethnoarchaeological study in the Yamuna Valley.

The present work is a first complete systematic documentation on the ethnoarchaeological of the Yamuna Valley. In this study all the archaeological, historical cultural data are interpreted in an ethnographic framework.

The present book which is an attempt to study the ethnoarchaeology of the Yamuna Valley in detail, discussing all the aspect of life and cultural of the region from past to present and enables in tracing out the continuation of ancient tradition in the region. The work in this new branch of archaeology is only of its kind in the subject as far as ethnoarchaeological research in Uttarakhand is concerned." (jacket)