Archaeology of Food, Trade, and Power in South India
ARHA 292
Fall 2012 not offered
|
| Crosslisting:
ARCP 292, ENVS 292 |
| Certificates: Environmental Studies, South Asia Studies, Environmental Studies |
This course examines patterns of life in premodern South India, focusing on the millennium from about 600 to 1600 AD. It explores the persistent practices and institutions that structured social life--agricultural regimes of food production, patterns of local and long-distance trade, and elite discourses of power and authority--as well as as historical events and processes that brought change to those patterns. The course capitalizes on South India's rich array of archaeological evidence, from surface remains and excavated finds to standing architectural monuments, donative inscriptions on stone and copper plates, and various forms of coinage and coin hoards informing on economic life. Specific topics investigated include the articulation of cultural space and landscapes; food, subsistence, and modes of agricultural production; domestic architecture and habitation; trade, markets, and monetary systems; and the roles of religion and ritual in legitimating political power. There is an explicit emphasis on methods and their application, including those of epigraphy (the analysis of inscriptions), numismatics (the materially based study of coinage and monetary systems), surface archaeology (survey, documentation, and analysis of exposed surface remains), and the archaeology of buildings. Many class sessions will be devoted to active discussion and analysis of data. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ART |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (ARCP-MN)(ARCP)(ARHA-MN)(ARHA)(ARST)(ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(GSAS-MN) |
|
|
|