Harappan Society

http://www.harappa.com/har/har0.html

Read the introduction and then click on the slide show. Examine the slides in correlation with the accompanying essay. What were the geographic boundaries of the Harappan society? From where did its population come? Since researchers have not yet deciphered the Harappan written language, from what sources do they derive the information they have about this ancient culture? How credible do you find these sources? How much do you think the inability to understand the language has hindered researchers' efforts compared to the investigators of Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures?

The Lawbook of Manu

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/manu-full.html

Browse through the laws of the Lawbook of Manu. What are the particular points of emphasis in this legal code? How is it similar to the Code of Hammurabi? How is it different? What do these laws tell us about the society from which it emerged?

Chinese Archaeology

http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt1.htm

Click on each of the four artifacts shown on this page; examine the photographs and read the explanations. What features of these artifacts do archaeologists find most helpful in their efforts to unlock the meanings these objects held within the ancient Chinese cultures that created them? Do the approaches utilized in interpreting these Chinese artifacts differ from those used in interpreting other ancient cultures? If so, how?

Now examine the artifacts highlighted in the section on Bronze Age China:

http://www.nga.gov/education/chinatp_pt2.htm

What are the crucial differences between these artifacts and those of the earlier period? What do these changes tell us about the transformations within Chinese civilizations?

Chinese Writing

http://www.logoi.com/notes/chinese_origins.html

http://www.logoi.com/notes/ancient_characters.html

These two documents discuss the origins and trace the development of the Chinese practice of writing. What do you think the changes in writing from oracle bones to bronze to bamboo tells us about developments in Chinese culture?

According to this site, what is the primary distinction between characters in the Chinese language and those in Western languages such as English? How did this difference affect the development of Chinese writing symbols in comparison to Western symbols?