Description

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'There are many missing pieces in the jigsaw puzzle that is ancient India, but those we have yield a rich tapestry.' The oldest surviving love graffiti on a cave wall immortalizing an intimate bond in the third century BCE; charred seeds and chewed animal bones that provide evidence of a peoples' food obsessions; architectural minutiae that point to the alarming regression of a civilization's potty habits; intriguing sculptures that reveal myriad facets of the human-animal relationship... In Time Pieces, award-winning historian Nayanjot Lahiri whimsically sifts through intricate clues left behind by the early inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent - in plaques and inscriptions, fragments of jewelry, bones and tools, poetry, art and pottery - to reveal to us our ancient land in all its variety, splendor, complexity and contradictions. Sparkling with wit and reflective of a scholar's keen and curious energy, this delightful volume seamlessly connects the past to the present and a civilization to the world beyond.

About the Author

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Nayanjot Lahiri is Professor of History at Ashoka University. The recipient of the 2013 Infosys Prize in Humanities (Archaeology), she is the author of many books including the award-winning Ashoka in Ancient India (2015). Her most recent book is Monuments Matter: India's Archaeological Heritage since Independence (2017).