<論文>鉄器時代･古代の南アジアにおける土器変遷 --土器からみた北インドと周辺地域--

Abstract

This study examines the Iron Age - Early Historic ceramic evidence from various parts of South Asia, that is, the Northwest, North, West, Central, East, and South, to facilitate a better understanding of the interregional correlations between the ceramic sequences of these regions, and to establish how the ceramic styles interacted and developed during this period. In the Northwest, the distinctive ceramic style of the Gandhara Grave culture was gradually replaced by a new ceramic style under influences from the region to the west of Afghanistan and North India during the mid-first millennium BCE. By the early first millennium CE, the ceramic style of this region became more strongly associated with the North Indian ceramic style. In the North, the Black-Grey fine ware industry persisted until the late first millennium BCE, followed by the emergence of the Red ware industry from the last few centuries BCE onwards. In the West, the Deccan Chalcolithic ceramic tradition was succeeded by the Black-and-Red Ware (BRW) industry around the beginning of the first millennium BCE, followed by the penetration of the North Indian ceramic style during the late first millennium BCE, while a certain connection with the Central Indian ceramic style can be observed during the same period. In the Central part, the Megalithic ceramic tradition emerged by the end of the second millennium BCE and continued to the mid-first millennium BCE. This was gradually replaced with a new ceramic style displaying an influence from the North Indian ceramic style toward the mid-first millennium CE. In the East, there is limited ceramic evidence to explain the long-term change ; however, the available evidence exhibits that this region was connected to the northern, central, and southern parts of South Asia by the end of the first millennium BCE. The ceramic sequence in the South is characterized by the wide dispersals of the distinctive Megalithic BRW ceramics over the region during the early and mid-first millennium BCE, and by the emergence of a new ceramic style that partially includes North and Central Indian elements during the late first millennium BCE. While it has been argued by many scholars that the North Indian ceramic elements represented by the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) widely dispersed to different parts of the Indian Peninsula during the late first millennium BCE, it is also noteworthy that the elements of the Central Indian ceramic style became prominent in the surrounding regions such as the western, eastern, and southern parts of South Asia during the late first millennium BCE. It is also noticeable that certain elements of the South Indian ceramics, such as the Rouletted Ware, were widespread not only in the South but also in the adjacent regions, such as the Central and East, around the beginning of the Christian Era. Thus, broad stylistic examinations of the ceramic evidence from various regions, though the evidence available for examination is still limited in number, exhibit that different parts of South Asia strengthened their connections and interactions during the Iron - Early Historic period, reflecting the dynamic nature of the society during this period. Future study on ceramics must be oriented toward a better understanding of this dynamic interregional connection and interaction that led to the formation of the "South Asian" socio-cultural interaction sphere.