The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective

Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: Gregory Possehl has planned a series of voluminous books to illuminate the Indus Valley Civilization. Some volumes have appeared, and others are in preparation. This particular book purports to be a summary of the volumes that have appeared and are going to appear. It is a sort of a preview of the entire series.
The book turned out to be a big disappointment, given the excellence of the large volumes by Possehl. While it claims to be a 'contemporary' perspective, many of the theories are hackneyed, and do not go a step beyond the 'received wisdon' of old colonial understanding and framework of Indian past, which is being propagaged with great aplomb by certain Eurocentric Vedicists even today and which seems to have been accepted without hesitation by Possehl.
The book often makes a tedious reading, and compares infavorably with its competing titles, such as Jane McIntosh's 'Indus- A Peaceful Realm' (2002), or even Jonathan Mark Kenoyer's beautifully illustrated 'Ancient Cities of the Indus Civilization' (1998).
There is no doubt that Possehl has given a short shrift to many new ideas and views that are being advocated by Indian archaeologists these days, and in certain cases (e.g. the knowledge of horse in IVC), he seems to be a 'believer' of certain dogmatic scholars who have doggedly refused to come to terms with evidence that runs counter to their long cherished notions.
His dating of the Vedic literature is too late, which would be considered with askance by even eurocentric Vedicists. One wonders who he consulted for his statements to this effect.
It appears that the book was actually written several years ago, but is being published quickly for some unknown reason. His massive volumes being published one by one often contain more current information, a more reasonable analysis.
Having dwelt on the negatives, I must emphasize that an author like Possehl cannot really write a 'bad' book. This book is a big disappoint merely because one expected better from him. I would not spend money on it.