Urbanism; state formation; gender relations; the ancient Near East, and South Asia.
Rita Wright
Professor Emerita of Anthropology
Member of the Center for the Study of Human Origins
Ph.D. 1984, Harvard, M.A. 1978, Harvard, 1975, B.A. Wellesley.
Sumerian and Akkadian Industries: Crafting Textiles (2013) - The Sumerian World, H. E.W. Crawford, ed., Routledge Press.
Gender in Southwest Asian Prehistory (2013) (with Diane Bolger) - Companion to Gender Prehistory, D. Bolger, ed., Wiley-Blackwell.
Commodities and Things – The Kulli in Context (2013) - Connections and Complexities: New Approaches to the Archaeology of South and Central Asia, S. Abraham, P. Gulpalli, T.Raczek, U. Rizvi, ed., Left Coast Press.
The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy and Society (2010) - Cambridge University Press
Third Millennium Changing Times (2009) - Archaeological Dialogues 16(2):142-148.
Gendered relations in Ur III Mesopotamia: Kinship, Property and Labor. In D. Bolger, ed., Gender through Time. (2008) Altamira Press:247-279.
Water Supply and History: Harappa and the Beas Settlement Survey (2008). Co-authoried, R. Wright, R. Bryson and J. Schuldenrein. Antiquity, Vol. 82, 315:37-48.
Prehistory of Urbanism (2002) - Encyclopedia of Urbanism, M. and C. Ember, ed., Grolier Press.
Craft and Social Identity (1998) (with Cathy L. Costin, eds.). Washington D.C. American Anthropological Association, Archaeology Division Monograph 8.
Gender and Archaeology (1996) (editor) - University of Pennsylvania Press.
Field Projects on the Web
Beas Landscape and Settlement Survey
Updated February 2018
During 2017 I continued to conduct research on Near Eastern and South Asian topics, conceptualized in studies of technology, climate change, and gender. In the Near East, Queen Pu-abi’s textiles led me to a new weaving technology (earlier jute and wool), this time linen, worn and favored by royalty in 3rd Millennium Mesopotamia. A long-term study of the water technologies in urban environments led me back to Mohenjo-daro and the Indus (University of Colorado Press, co-authored with Zenobie Garrett) while other topics took me to variable landscapes and climate change with comments in Current Anthropology (2016);a volume on state formation on variable ecologies and water management in the Indus at Cambridge University Press; followed by research on agro-ecologies and water management in the Indus for the Journal of Ethnobiology. (co-authored with Sneh-Patel). Another paper on the Indus reported evidence for connectivity between Iranian and Pakistani sites in the Indus, and limitations on political strategies, a comparative study on the Indus and Near Eastern states (Cambridge University Press). Finally, gender research on specialized economies was published at the University of Colorado Press. I was invited to two conferences out of country –an international symposium at Teotihuacan, Mexico and a Conference at Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan. Both wonderful experiences
My major focus throughout, however, has been preparation of an archive and publication of the Beas Landscape and Settlement Survey about which I have published short papers. In 2015 the project made the internet. Login to https://www.harappa.com/Beas/Beas-landscape-and-settlement-survey, where you will find a broad synthesis, as well as maps and other illustrations. With a grant from the Rust Family Foundation, completion of our GIS mapping project and illustrations and archival materials, are nearing completion!