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THE FORGOTTEN an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts Elke Rogersdotter

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THE FORGOTTEN an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts Elke Rogersdotter ARCHAEOLOGYARCHAEOLOGY and and ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT 20 20 ARCHAEOLOGY and ENVIRONMENT 20 THE FORGOTTEN an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts Elke Rogersdotter Toy Approach on Harappan THE FORGOTTEN an ARCHAEOLOGY and ENVIRONMENT 20 ARCHAEOLOGYARCHAEOLOGY and and ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT 20 20 THETHE FORGOTTEN Elke Rogersdotter FORGOTTEN an Approach The Forgotten an Approach an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts on Harappan Toyon Artefacts Harappan Elke Rogersdotter The Forgotten: ToyTHE THEArtefacts If artefacts,an Approach traditionally on Harappan interpreted Toy as Artefacts toys, would show FORGOTTENFORGOTTEN upIf traditionallyas not being toy identifiedrandomly artefacts scattered would around show upbut as not being randomly scattered around but regulated, possibly regulated and possibly indicating visible patterns, would anan Approach Approach indicating visible patterns,Elke wouldRogersdotter these finds be able to tell these finds be able to tell archaeology something of onon Harappan Harappan relevance?archaeology something of relevance? ToyToy Artefacts Artefacts In Inthis this study, study, more more than thanThe 4,000 4,000 Forgotten year year old old fragments fragments of toyof toy interpretedinterpretedan Approachterracotta terracotta cartscarts on Harappanandand potterypottery discs Toydiscs will Artefactswill be invitedbe invitedto tell to their tell stories.their stories. BasedBased on on anan analysisanalysis ofof toy selected interpreted toy materials interpreted from a materialscoastal Harappanfrom the settlementcoastal Harappan in Gujarat, settlementIndia, this studyat If artefacts,Bagasradeals traditionally within Gujarat,a neglected interpreted India, field this of researchasstudy toys, deals in would archaeology, with showa up as notneglectedexploring being field a way ofrandomly ofresearch approaching in scatteredarchaeology, this kind of objectsexploringaround without a but way of approaching this kind of objects without being regulated andbeing possibly forced to abandon indicating their toy visible identifications. patterns, Placing would them forcedwithin to a abandonsocially emphasized their toy identifications. framework, the Placingartefacts them suggest these findswithina diversebe a sociallyable social to emphasized significance tell archaeology framework,due to their somethingthe supposed artefacts role of relevance?suggestas toys. a Successively,diverse social they significance will emerge asdue items to partakingtheir supposedin daily practices,role as toys.contributing Successively, to an ongoing and in regulation various of In this study,ways, morethey will than emerge 4,000 as yearphysical old items fragments partaking of in toy relationships between adults and children as well. interpreteddaily terracotta practices, contributing carts and to anpottery ongoing discsregulation will of be tense relationships between adults and children as well. invited to tellWith their this, stories.a way into an elusive, yet essential, children’s Withworld this, seems a way possible; into an elusive,a realm thatyet essential,indeed appears children’s to hold Based onworld a keyan seems toanalysis the possible;complex of simultaneitya realmselected that of indeedchange toy appearsandinterpreted continuity to Elke materialshold fromwithin a key socialthe to structures.thecoastal complex Harappansimultaneity ofsettlement change and at RogersdotterElke continuity within social structures. Rogersdotter Bagasra in Gujarat, India, this study deals with a ElkeElke Rogersdotter neglected field of research in archaeology, exploring a 20 Arch. Envir. Rogersdotter way of approaching this kind of objects without being forced to abandon their toy identifications. Placing them within a socially emphasized framework, the artefacts suggest a diverse social significance due to their UNIVERSITY OF UMEÅ DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND SAMI STUDIES supposed role as toys. Successively,ISBN 91-7264-043-X and in various UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF OF OFUMEÅ UMEÅ UMEÅ DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND SAMI STUDIES ways, they will emerge as physicalISSN items 0281-5877 partaking in DEPARTMENTDEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND AND SAMI SAMI STUDIESSTUDIES daily practices, contributing to an ongoing regulation of tense relationships between adults and children as well. Avh omslag Rogersdotter.indd 1 2006-03-02 15:55:39 With this, a way into an elusive, yet essential, children’s world seems possible; a realm that indeed appears to hold a key to the complex simultaneity of change and continuity within social structures. ISBN 91-7264-043-X ISSN 0281-5877 ARCHAEOLOGY and ENVIRONMENT Published by the Department of Archaeology and Sami Studies University of Umeå, Sweden EDITORS: Roger Engelmark & Thomas B. Larsson 1. Ramqvist, Per H: Gene. On the origin, function and development of sedantary Iron Age settlement in Northern Sweden. 1983. 2. Baudou, Evert. (ed): Papers in Northern Archaeology. 1984. 3. Zachrisson, Inger: De samiska metalldepåerna år 1000-1350 i ljuset av fyndet från Mörtträsket, Lappland (The Saami Metal Deposits A.D.1000-1350 in the light of the find from Mörtträsket, Lapland). 1984. 4. Backe, Margareta. et al. (eds) In Honorem Evert Baudou. 1985. 5. Forsberg, Lars: Site Variability and Settlement Patterns. An analysis of the hunter-gatherer settlement system in the Lule River Valley, 1500 B.C.- B.C./A.D. 1985. 6. Larsson, Thomas B: The Bronze Age Metalwork in Southern Sweden. Aspects of social and spatial organization 1800-500 B.C. 1986. 7. Segerström, Ulf: The Post-Glacial History of Vegetation and Agriculture in the Luleälv River Valley. 1990. 8. Hulthén, Birgitta: On Ceramic Ware in Northern Scandinavia During the Neolithic Bronze and Early Iron Age. A Ceramic-Ecological Study. 1991. 9. Nockert, Margareta: Högom. Part II. The Högom find and other Migration Period textiles and costumes in Scandinavia. 1991. 10. Aronsson, Kjell-Åke: Forest Reindeer Herding A.D. 1-1800. An archaeological and palaeoecological study in Northern Sweden. 1991. 11. Baudou, Evert (ed.): Nordic TAG. Report from the 2nd Nordic TAG conference, Umeå 1987. 1991. 12. Holm, Lena: The Use of Stone and Hunting of Reindeer. A study of stone tool manufacture and hunting of large mammals in the central Scandes c. 6000 - 1 BC. 1992. 13. Ramqvist, Per H: Högom. Part I. The excavations 1949-1984. 1992. 14. Viklund, Karin. Cerals,Weeds and Crop Processing in Iron Age Sweden. 1998. 15. Viklund, Karin (ed.). Nordic Archaeobotany - NAG 2000. 2002. 16. Olofsson, Anders. Pioneer Settlement in the Mesolithic of Northern Sweden. 2003. 17. Hulthén, Birgitta & Larsson, Thomas B: Vistad ’88 Revisited. Ceramological Analyses and Lusatian Connections. 2004. 18. Loeffler, David: Contested landscapes/Contested Heritage. History and heritage in Sweden and their archaeological implications concerning the interpretation of the Norrlandian past. 2005. 19. Engelmark, Roger, Larsson, Thomas B & Rahtje, Lillian (redaktörer). en lång historia...festskrift till Evert Baudou på 80-årsdagen. 2005. 20. Rogersdotter, Elke: The Forgotten: an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts. 2006. ARCHAEOLOGY and ENVIRONMENT 20 Elke Rogersdotter The Forgotten an Approach on Harappan Toy Artefacts Abstract This thesis proposes an alternative perspective to the general neglect of toy materials from deeper analysis in archaeology. Based on a study of selected toy artefacts from the Classical Harappan settlement at Bagasra, Gujarat, it suggests a viable way of approaching the objects when considering them within a theoretical framework highlighting their social aspects. The study agrees with objections in e.g. parts of gender archaeology and research on children in archaeology to the extrapolating from the marginalized child of the West onto past social structures. Departing from revised toy definitions formulated in disciplines outside archaeology, it proceeds with the objects’ toy identifications while rejecting a ‘transforming’ of these into other interpretations. Thus entering a quite unexplored research field, grounded theory is used as working method. As the items indicate a regulated pattern, the opinion on toy artefacts as randomly scattered around becomes questioned. Using among others the capital concept by Bourdieu, the notion of micropower by Foucault and parts of the newly developed ideas of microarchaeology, the toy-role of the artefacts is emphasized as crucial, enabling the items to express diverse social uses in addition to their possible function as children’s (play)things. With this, the notion of the limiting connection of toys to playing children becomes unravelled, opening for a discussion on enlarged dimensions of the toys and a possible re-naming of them as the materialities of next generation. While suggesting the items to indicate various social strategies and structurating practices, the need for traditional boundaries and separated entities successively becomes eliminated. The traditionally stated toy obstacles with cultural loading and elusive distinctions can with this be proposed as constructions, possible to avoid. The toy concept simultaneously emerges as particularly useful in highlighting the notion of change and continuity within the social structure and children’s roles in this. Key words: South Asia, Indus Civilization, toys, children, social theory, microarchaeology, change-continuity Elke Rogersdotter, Department of Archaeology and Sami Studies, University of Umeå, S-90187 Umeå, Sweden. Umeå 2006 ISBN 91-7264-043-X ISSN 0281-5877 ix +115 pp.+
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