Relating History to the Land: Urban Centers, Geographical Units, and Trade Routes in the Gangetic and Central India of circa 200 BCE

2006 ◽  
pp. 4-31
Author(s):  
Dilip K. Chakrabarti
Keyword(s):  
Central India ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Geographical Units

Working of Gem Materials: Consequences of the Indian and Sri Lankan Sea Trade

1988 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giraud V. Foster
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Central India ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Solid Surfaces ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Dark Blue

AbstractThe major events that promoted gemstone jewelry production in ancient Rome included: the separation of gold from silver, the expansion of land trade routes to the east, and presentations of treasure during Roman triumphs that popularized eastern jewelry. In this paper a fourth event is studied, namely the development of the sea trade to India and Sri Lanka that made possible the importation of sapphires and diamond technology. Classical references were reviewed, methods of identifying Sri Lankan sapphires were explored, and experimental studies were undertaken to test various bow drills, abrasives, and methods of securing stones and abrasive onto solid surfaces. From these studies it is concluded that (1) opaque dark blue sapphires were imported from central India around the first or second century A.D. and pale blue transparent stones from Sri Lanka by the fourth century A.D., (2) with the importation of sapphires, industrial diamonds and lac technology was also brought to the west, and (3) a wide variety of bow drills were probably employed, however, for hard stones, the horizontal bow driven lathe was probably preferred because of the relative ease with which stones could be worked against it.

Social Typology and the Tropical Forest Civilizations

1961 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Coe
Keyword(s):  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Difficult Terrain ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Social Orders ◽  
Large Groups

1. The Classic Khmer and the Classic Maya civilizations had cult centers but not true cities. They both arose in areas which were regionally undifferentiated.2. Easy transportation and heavy trade were lacking because of the areawide uniformity of crops and the difficult terrain. Consequently, urban centers were not and could not be supported.3. Both areas did produce a surplus and therefore could support civilized life. The social orders of each were so set up that through religious sanctions this surplus, which included labor, could be utilized for the creation and support of huge cult centers. Such a kind of organization might be considered as unilateral (mechanical) in the Durkheimian sense.4. In contrast, true cities arose in productive agricultural areas which were regionally specialized, with symbiotic interdependence of a Maussian nature. Trade and trade routes were highly developed so that commodity prices were sufficiently low to enable large groups of persons engaged in commerce to live together and yet make a profit on their activities. Internally specialized civilizations of this sort have been termed organic.5. It is suggested that among the organic civilizations, the state may have had its origin in the regulation of trade; among the unilateral civilizations, in the compulsion of tribute and corvee labor.

The value, costs, and meaning of transnational migration in rural Oaxaca, Mexico

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey H. Cohen ◽  
Bernardo Rios ◽  
Lise Byars
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Transnational Migration ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Shared Identity ◽  
The Social

Rural Oaxacan migrants are defined as quintessential transnational movers, people who access rich social networks as they move between rural hometowns in southern Mexico and the urban centers of southern California.  The social and cultural ties that characterize Oaxacan movers are critical to successful migrations, lead to jobs and create a sense of belonging and shared identity.  Nevertheless, migration has socio-cultural, economic and psychological costs.  To move the discussion away from a framework that emphasizes the positive transnational qualities of movement we focus on the costs of migration for Oaxacans from the state’s central valleys and Sierra regions.   

Socio-Economic Characteristics of Immigrants in Western Greece Region: Urban – Rural Continuum or Divide?

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodoros Iosifides ◽  
Thanasis Kizos ◽  
Elektra Petracou ◽  
Ekaterini Malliotaki ◽  
Konstantina Katsimantou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Spatial Factors ◽  
Limited Role ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
Western Greece

This paper aims at an investigation of factors of differentiation of basic social and economic characteristics of foreign immigrants in the Region of Western Greece. The paper explores whether the thesis of urban-rural divide is relevant for the differentiation of immigrants’ socio-economic characteristics in a typical Region of Greece, where there is a strong interplay between major urban centers and large rural areas. Findings show that spatial factors play a very limited role in the differentiation of socio-economic characteristics of immigrants and indicate that other factors are more important. Thus, and as regards socio-economic characteristics of immigrants, the overall picture is that of urban-rural continuum rather than divide. 

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