Archaeology of Coastal Bengal (Hardback)  | Released: 23 Oct 2018

Research work on coastal Bengal has mostly focused on maritime trading networks. In a clear departure from the existing scholarship, this volume questions the linearity of considering trade as the sole determinant of creation of settlement in the coastal regions. Focusing on settlement strategies, Chattopadhyay unravels how human societies, through successive generations, have adapted to the coastal environment and bioregime. First-hand data, procured through extensive fieldwork, forms the sound basis of this work. From structural remains, ceramic and bone implements, and stone tools, to terracotta figurines and inscriptions, a vast array of sources, including epigraphic and literary sources, is analysed. Significantly, the volume also highlights the interconnection between coastal geography and the hinterland. Chattopadhyay's meticulously researched work offers a geographical and temporal frame which allows the research on coastal Bengal to be viewed as an integral part of the archaeological developments in not only the subcontinent but also the adjoining region of the Southeast Asian countries.About the Author: Rupendra Chattopadhyay, Paresh Chandra Chatterjee Professor of History, Presidency University Rupendra Kumar Chattopadhyay is Paresh Chandra Chatterjee Professor of History, Presidency University, Kolkata, India. He has published widely in national and international journals on various issues related to the archaeology of the middle and lower Ganga valley, the eastern Indian plateau, and the eastern Indian littoral. He has also written on eastern Indian prehistory, protohistory, Indian religions, Indian art and iconography, the political history ofthe Satavahanas and the western Kshatrapas, and the ancient Indian caste system. His major publications include Bankura: A Study of Its Archaeological Sources (2010).