Akinori Uesugi

Affiliation: Associate Professor, The Department of Cultural Properties, School of Literature, Tsurumi University
Job Class: Visiting Associate Professor
Specialty: South Asian Archaeology

Research Topic

I have been conducting archaeological research in different parts of South Asia, mainly in India and Pakistan, to better understand how the ‘South Asian cultural sphere’, characterized by cultural unity and diversity, made its shape in history. The time range of my research covers a long term between 4000 BCE and 1000 CE including the Chalcolithic, Bronze, Iron Ages, Early Historic and Early Medieval periods.

The Indus Civilization (2600 BCE – 1900 BCE), the earliest urban society in South Asia, the Ganga Civilization (1000 BCE – 600 CE), the Iron Age/Early Historic urbanization in North India, and the Iron Age culture in the Indian Peninsula are the focus of my ongoing projects. I am studying these historical entities in terms of the interregional interaction network that sustained the developments of those highly complex societies, using stylistic and technological approaches to their material culture. I am also running research projects in Bahrain to better understand the connections between South Asia and the Middle East.

Archaeological research in South Asia, encasing diverse ethnic groups and cultural traditions, can provide essential clues and insights to our understanding of ancient civilizations characterized by socio-cultural complexity and diversity.

Selected Publications

• Uesugi, A. 2020. Stone Beads from Taxila. Ancient Pakistan 30: 1-22.
• Uesugi, A., C. S. Ambily, Ajit Kumar, G. S. Abhayan and S. V. Rajesh 2019. Stone Beads from Megalithic Burial at Niramakulam, Kerala. In S. V. Rajesh, G. S. Abhayan, P. Nayar and E.R. Ilahi (eds.), Human and Heritage: An Archaeological Spectrum of Asiatic Countries (Felicitation to Professor Ajit Kumar), pp. 1-22. Delhi, New Bharatiya Book Corporation.
• Uesugi, A. 2019. A Note on the Interregional Interactions between the Indus Civilization and the Arabian Peninsula during the Third Millennium BCE. In S. Nakamura, T. Adachi and M. Abe (eds.), Decades in Deserts: Essays on Near Eastern Archaeology in Honour of Sumio Fujii, pp. 337-355. Tokyo, Rokuichi Syobou.
• Uesugi, A. (ed.) 2018. Current Research on Indus Archaeology. Osaka, Research Group for South Asian Archaeology, Archaeological Research Institute, Kansai University.