Indus Civilization, Not Indus Valley Civilization

Blogged yesterday on the ArchaeoBlog page is a discussion of an article in the Hindustan Times by internationally recognized Cambridge University scholar Dilip Chakrabarti. In it, Dr. Chakrabarti points out that the term "Indus Valley Civilization" rather than simply Indus Civilization has socio-political ramifications that most of the west is either not aware of or is fully aware of but uses the term for political reasons. This is a first world vs third world archaeology problem, says Dr. Chakrabarti.

I personally have several pages on the Indus and know that I have used Indus Valley and Indus interchangeably. Dr. Chakrabarti's point, that the Indus Civilization extends well outside of Pakistan's Indus river valley is absolutely true. However, most beginning students seeking information about the Indus Civilization still call it "Indus Valley". For the moment, I've added a link to the opinion piece on my Indus Civilization page and will decide how to address the issue at a later date.

Scroll down in the ArchaeoBlog listed below to get comments by blogger Andrew Cagle.
ArchaeoBlog: Opinion piece: We suck

and here's Dr. Chakrabarti's opinion piece:
Dancing to whose tune?