Connections and Complexity: New Approaches to the Archaeology of South Asia

TLDR

Trade in the ancient Middle Asian Interaction Sphere linked diverse cultural and political groups, and scholars have highlighted its elite focus while noting that production could elevate local economies into regional ones, as seen in Italian, Flemish, and Mesopotamian cloth trade. This chapter investigates how the circulation of ordinary perishable goods such as textiles helped establish and maintain long‑distance trade routes that also distributed elite goods once political hierarchies emerged. The authors explain that the movement of textiles facilitated the creation and upkeep of long‑distance trade networks, which in turn enabled the spread of elite goods across emerging political hierarchies. Archaeological evidence shows that the Indus civilization had sophisticated textile manufacture, with fabric impressions in faience vessels indicating the use of spinning wheels that produce finer thread than hand spinning.

Abstract

This chapter explains how circulation of ordinary perishable goods such as textiles contributed to establishment and maintenance of long-distance trade routes that also served to distribute small quantities of elite goods once political hierarchies emerged. Trade in ancient Middle Asian Interaction Sphere took place among distinct cultural and political groups, and scholars initially focused on its elite connotations. Mogens Larsen has discussed potential for production to transform local economies into regional ones, making a historical analogy that the Italian and Flemish cities built their wealth on trade in cloth and proposing that there was similar potential for as an important component of trade in Mesopotamian Bronze Age. Archaeological evidence suggests that Indus had a high level of sophistication in textile manufacture and use. Fabric impressions in faience vessels indicate use of spinning wheels which produce a much finer thread than hand spinning.