Archaeology of the Ganga Basin: Paradigm Shift, Vols. I and II

Contents: Vol. I. Foreword. Preface. 1. The Ganga civilization: a processual perspective/M.K. Dhavalikar. 2. Archaeology of the Ganga Plain: need for a paradigm shift/Vibha Tripathi. 3. Problems and perspective of the Ganga Plain archaeology/Dilip K. Chakrabarti. 4. From cultivation of food resources to the cultivation of social relationships: a critique of near Eastern Neolithic narratives in the light of archaeological evidence from the Vindhya-Gangetic complex/Umesh C. Chattopadhyaya. 5. Late quaternary formations in the Ganga Valley/R.P. Pandey. 6. Descent of man in the middle Ganga plain/V.D. Misra. 7. Neolithic culture of the Ganga Valley: a new perspective/M.D.N. Sahi. 8. Neolithic culture of the middle Ganga valley/V.D. Misra and Pragya Misra. 9. Early farming culture of the middle Ganga Plain: Origin, evolution, chronology and main features/J.N. Pal.  10.  The Neolithic culture of the Saryupar region/Mohd. Naseem. 11. Agricultural background of the early farming communities in the middle ganga plain/K.S. Saraswat. 12. Beginning of agriculture in the Ganga Plain/Ranjit Pratap Singh. 13. Exploring the highlands South of Ganga Valley: the case of Rajmahal Hills, Santhal Parganas, Jharkhand/Ajay Pratap. 14. New copper hoard in Upper Ganga Plain/D.P. Sharma, Madhuri Sharma and Ajit Kumar Choudhary. 15. Recent archaeological discoveries at Ahichchhatra: an appraisal/D.N. Dimri. 16. Archaeological investigations in Deoha River Valley with special reference to excavations at Abhaipur, District Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh/Anup Mishra. 17. Archaeological exploration in Western Uttar Pradesh: a brief report/G.K. Lama. 18. Chalcolithic culture of the middle Ganga Plain/Purushottam Singh. 19. Changing dimensions of pre-iron age cultures of the middle Ganga Plain/Rakesh Tewari.

Vol. II. 1. Impact of iron technology on economic growth in Eastern India (Proto-historic period) - an overview/Asok Datta. 2. Archaeology of the lower Ganga Valley: some aspects of cultural sequence/Rupendra K. Chattopadhyay, Goutami Bhattacharya and Paromita Bose. 3. Megalithic culture of southern Uttar Pradesh: an appraisal/Sunil Kumar. 4. Researches in the middle Gomati Basin: scope for further investigations/Ravindra Kumar. 5. Interaction of knowledge systems and Ganga Valley urbanisation/D.P. Agrawal and Vasudha Pant. 6. Process of urbanization in the Gangetic Valley: archaeological perspective/Naina Pandey. 7. Kushans in Ganga plains: confirmatory evidence and impacts/B.R. Mani. 8. A fresh paradigm for interpreting settlements of the Ganga plain with special reference to Anai excavations/Vibha Tripathi, Prabhakar Upadhyay and Surendra Kumar Yadav. 9. Bankat - a satellite settlement in the Kausambi region/Nidhi Pandey. 10. Merchant community and the state in Bengal during the Gupta era/Shahnaj Husne Jahan. 11. Mineral resource for ancient cultures of the middle Ganga Plains: a brief investigation of the potential areas/Prabhakar Upadhyay. 12. Beads of Varanasi with special reference to Rajghat and Sarnath/Niharika. 13. Antiquity of glass in India: excavations at Kopia/A.K. Kanungo. 14. Artisans of old copper alloy craft tradition in Lower Ganga Valley (Early historic to early medieval period)/Nupur Dasgupta and Pranab K. Chattopadhyay. 15. Art of clay-modelling in the early historic sites of Central Ganga Valley - a study of some representative type of decorated plaques/C. Margabandhu. 16. Identification of Kumbhanda figures in early terracottas of the Gangetic plain/P.K. Agrawala. 17. Buddha in Sambodhi - in the context of Sarnath School/Usha Rani Tiwari and Durga Nandan Tiwari. 18. Some master pieces of Sarnath Museum/Ajay Srivastava. 19. Architecture of early Buddhist monasteries in the middle Ganga Plain/Amar Singh. 20. Panchala coins: sovereigns, symbols and significance/Devendra Handa. 21. Gangasagarasangama: a pilgrim center of the lower gangetic region/Pranabananda Jash. 22. A palaeographical study of the Middle Ganga Valley region/Suman Jain. 23. Rediscovering an old river Aruna in Kashi: ecological and archaeological perspective/Surendra Kumar Yadav. 24. The materialistic leanings of some Upanishadic philosophers/A.K. Sinha.

"The archaeology of Ganga plain has come a long way with extensive explorations and excavations going on regularly over the decades in the region. New models of understanding cultures with processual, and post-processual archaeology have placed greater challenges before investigators. In light of these new conceptual frameworks, the excavations need to be re-planned and research schemes re-oriented. With new ideas and theories, the role of scientifically discovered material and their interpretation assume greater significance today than ever before. Our main concern now is to review and re-examine material remains with fresh angle. The emphasis has to be now on a more holistic reconstruction of cultures using multi-pronged approach. We have a clear idea of cultural sequence. The gaps that presumably existed between different cultural periods are now nearly filled up. These facets of the archaeology of the Ganga plain call for a paradigm shift in approach to study of material remains coming forth from sites of the region. New models and approaches are called for to reconstruct the personality of cultures of the Ganga plain. It is with application of a holistic approach that we can re-write the history of Ganga plain termed by Mortimer Wheeler as the ‘Ganges Civilization’. The book contains contributions of scholars who have worked in the field on various aspects of the culture of the Ganga plain. The volumes must be of interest to scholars and serious readers alike providing the latest information available on the subject."