An Ancient Communist Utopia? The Indus Valley Civilization

Was the Indus Valley Civilization a peaceful, egalitarian society? I'm skeptical.

Thanks as always to my amazing patreons!

Thumbnail by Ettore Mazza:

Thanks to Anna from The Dirt for doing the voiceovers!

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Disclaimer: Use my videos as a rough guide to a topic. I am not an expert, I may get things wrong. This is why I always post my sources so you can critique my work and verify things for yourselves. Of course I aim to be as accurate as possible which is why you will only find reputable sources in my videos. Secondly, information is always subject to changes as new information is uncovered by archaeologists.

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Sources:

1 - Cork, Edward. “Peaceful Harappans? Reviewing the Evidence for the Absence of Warfare in the Indus Civilisation of North-West India and Pakistan (c. 2500-1900 BC).” Antiquity, vol. 79, no. 304, 2005, pp. 411–423., doi:10.1017/s0003598x0011419x.

2 - Possehl, Gregory L. The Indus Civilization: a Contemporary Perspective. Vistaar Publications, 2009.

3 - CONINGHAM, ROBIN. ARCHAEOLOGY OF SOUTH ASIA: from the Indus to Asoka, C.6500 Bce-200 Ce. CAMBRIDGE UNIV Press, 2018.

4 - McIntosh, Jane. A Peaceful Realm the Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization. Westview Press, 2001.

5 - Jansen, M., 1994. Mohenjo-daro, type site of the earliest urbanization process in South Asia: ten years of research at Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, and an attempt at synopsis, in A. Parpola and P. Koskikallio (eds), South

Asian Archaeology 1993. Helsinki:Suomalainen Tiedeaketemia, 263-280.

6 - Petersen, M. C., Aggressive architecture: fortification of the Indus valley in the mature Harappan phase. PhD thesis, Leiden University, 2012, p. 77.

7 - Nigam, R., et al. “Ancient Indians (Harappan Settlement) Were Aware of Tsunami/Storm Protection Measures:A New Interpretation of Thick Walls at Dholavira, Gujarat, India.” Current Science, vol. 111, no. 12, 2016, p. 2040., doi:10.18520/cs/v111/i12/2040-2043.

10 - Vidale, Massimo. “A ‘Priest King’ at Shahr-i Sokhta?” Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 15, 2018, pp. 110–115., doi:10.1016/j.ara.2017.12.001.

11 - Prabhakar, V. N. “Decorated Carnelian Beads from the Indus Civilization Site of Dholavira (Great Rann of Kachchha, Gujarat).” Walking with the Unicorn: Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia, 2018, pp. 475–485., doi:10.2307/j.ctv19vbgkc.35.

12 - Green, Adam S. “Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization.” Journal of Archaeological Research, 2020, doi:10.1007/s10814-020-09147-9.

13 - Rissman, Paul. “Public Displays and Private Values: A Guide to Buried Wealth in Harappan Archaeology.” World Archaeology, vol. 20, no. 2, 1988, pp. 209–228., doi:10.1080/00438243.1988.9980068.

14 - Frenez, Dennys. “Private Person or Public Persona?” Walking with the Unicorn: Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia, 2018, pp. 166–193., doi:10.2307/j.ctv19vbgkc.16.

15 - Rao, Rajesh P. N. “The Indus Script and Economics.” Walking with the Unicorn: Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia, 2018, pp. 518–525., doi:10.2307/j.ctv19vbgkc.38.

16 - Wankowski, Jacek. “The Distribution and Role of Harappan ‘Headdress’ Figurines and Harappan Socio-Political Organisation.”

17 - Frayne, Douglas R. Sargonic and Gutian Periods: 2334-2113 BC. Univ. of Toronto Press, 1993.

18 - Schug, Gwen Robbins, et al. “A Peaceful Realm? Trauma and Social Differentiation at Harappa.” International Journal of Paleopathology, vol. 2, no. 2-3, 2012, pp. 136–147., doi:10.1016/j.ijpp.2012.09.012.

19 - Lee, Hyejin, et al. “Traumatic Injury in a Cranium Found at Rakhigarhi Cemetery of Harappan Civilization as Anthropological Evidence of Interpersonal Violence.” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 23, 2019, pp. 362–367., doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.11.001