Rita Wright

Associate Professor of Anthropology
Member, Center for the Study of Human Origins
Ph.D. 1984 (Anthropology/Archaeology) M.A. 1978 (Anthropology/Archaeology), Harvard University; B.A. 1975 (Anthropology), Wellesley College.

Since 1975 I have been conducting research in one of the most archaeologically rich areas of the world, first as a field hand on survey, then on excavations in the Near East and South Asia (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan). In addition, I have a research focus on southern Mesopotamia, employing secondary textual sources, and maintain a strong interest in cultural heritage and stewardship issues. Currently, I am Assistant Director of the Harappa Archaeological Research Project and Director of the Beas Valley Regional Survey.

My research has consistently focused on the development of complex societies, urbanism and states, and the negotiation of power relations as they manifest on the local level (gender, class, ethnicity, age) and regional and inter-regional levels (technology, social boundaries, trade and exchange). The work is broadly comparative and incorporates theoretical elements from marxism, political economies, and feminist archaeology; methodologically, it includes materials analysis, especially ceramics, and landscape studies.

Five Publications:
2006
Preserving the Cultural and National Heritages of Afghanistan: What has been and needs to be done.
Co-authored: Philip L. Kohl and Rita P. Wright. In N. Agnew and J. Bridgland, ed., Of the Past, for the future: Integrating archaeology and conservation.. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute: 251-258.

2005
The Emergence of Satellite Communities along the Beas Drainage: Preliminary Results from Lahoma Lal Tibba and Chak Purbane Syal. In C. Jarrige and V. Lefevre, eds., South Asia Archaeology 2001. Paris: Editions Recherce sur les Civilisations-ADPF . Co-authored with R. P. Wright, J. Schuldenrein, M. Afzal Khan, M. Rafique Mughal:327-335.

2004 Geoarchaeological Explorations on the Upper Beas Drainage: Landscape and Settlement in the Upper Indus Valley, Punjab. Pakistan.. Co-authored: J. Schuldenrein, R. P. Wright, M. Afzal Khan, M. Rafique Mughal. Journal of Archaeological Sciences, volume 31:777-792.

2002 Revisiting Interaction Spheres—Social Boundaries and Technologies on Inner and Outermost Frontiers.: Iranica Antiqua, vol. XXXVII:403-417.

2002
Prehistory of Urbanism. In Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures. Cities and Cultures around the World. Vol. 1 Melvin and Carol Ember, editors: 3-11. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier.

1998 Craft and Social Identity. With C. L. Costin, editors, Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association.

1996 Gender and Archaeology. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.

2000
Gender, Workplace and Society: Institutional Interventions in Textile Production in Lagash and Lowell. Knowledge and Society, Vol. 12:15-35.

Related Websites:
Course-related web sites - www.nyu.edu/classes/wright.html

For Introduction to Archaeology - www.nyu.edu/classes/wright/archweb/archaeologyhome.html

For the Near East/Egypt -
www.nyu.edu/classes/wright/fall1991/index.html

Both courses are routinely taught; more recent versions for the Near East/Egypt have been inadvertently removed from NYU web pages.

Research related - www.harappa.com. For information on the Harappa Archaeological Research Project and forthcoming on the Beas Regional Survey, two ongoing research projects.

COSWA Column, renamed COSWA Reports in 2001 - Society for American Archaeology at www.saa.org or go directly to the UCSB link www.anth.ucsb.edu/projects/saa/16.5/saa13.html.

Information on the book, Craft and Social Identity - www.ameranthassn.org/ad/craft.htm. And under Materielle Kultur - www.materielle-kultur.de.

http://www.US.cambridge.org/series/sSeries.asp?code=SES