Mobility, Economic Strategies, and Social Networks: Investigating Movement in the Mewar Plain of Rajasthan

Abstract

Mobility is an important part of life for those who practice a variety of economic strategies including foraging, pastoralism, craft production, service provision, and performance. Studies of mobility can contribute to broader understandings of social networks, community formation, and social identity in South Asia during the first few millennia b.c ., a time of early social complexity. Previous ethnographic and archaeological research in the region shows a range of ways that mobile people form relationships with those who are more settled. In contrast to research that studies mobile people through the lens of sedentism, this study examines mobility directly, by focusing on the direction, range, and patterns of movement of the people who inhabited the site of Bagor (c. 5500 b.c. – a.d . 200) in Rajasthan, India. For much of its occupation, Bagor was used as a temporary camp by people with a high degree of mobility and a broad range of subsistence strategies. Although the links between Bagor and nearby permanent settlements have been clearly demonstrated, the direction, extent, and range of their movements during different time periods was previously unknown. This study examines the lithic raw materials from the 2001 re-excavations conducted by Deccan College (Pune) and pairs those results with a new survey of stone material sources in the region. Visual raw material analysis of the Bagor lithics indicate that local materials outnumber non-local materials and that approximately one-third of the Bagor chert artifacts may have come from regions to the south and southeast. In later time periods the use of non-local materials declines, which may reflect corresponding shifts in mobility. A comparison of the raw material distribution with the artifacts from Gilund, a contemporary sedentary settlement, shows a difference between their uses of raw material. Gilund utilized more local materials, and fewer non-local materials than Bagor.

6Chai and Conversation: Crafting Field Identities and Archaeological Practice in South Asia

“…The experiences presented here come from four separate research projects and span our graduate research and early careers (Raczek 2011;Sugandhi 2014;Sugandhi et al 2010). While we did not explicitly design all of these projects to be participatory or devoted to heritage work, they nevertheless included substantial community interactions that highlighted the importance of language and communication as critical to building trust among participants, establishing our field identities, and undertaking delicate conversations about heritage.…”

“…That capacity for engagement also varied a great deal between north and south India. Raczek's (2011) dissertation included a survey to identify stone raw material sources on the Mewar Plain in Rajasthan, North India. As she undertook this work, she recruited a small local crew and trained them in archaeological methods and general Indian prehistory.…”

Shikarpur lithic assemblage: New questions regarding Rohri chert blade production

“…Emphasis has been given on cores since blade cores have been considered formal technologies (Raczek 2007). It has also been suggested that blade cores are portable, efficient and highly suitable for the condition of mobility (Parry 1994, Raczek 2011.…”