Robert H. Dyson

"R. Dyson (1993) remarks, in his discussion of changes taking place in the field, that the invasion thesis "becomes a paradigm of limited usefulness" (576). He proposes that "by freeing themselves from this hypothesis drawn from earlier linguistic studies, archaeologists may now focus their attention on the archaeological evidence in its own terms" (576). Commenting on the "continuing lack of agreement over the criteria by which the presence of the Indo-Aryans can be demonstrated," he outlines the alternative paradigm taking shape in the archaeology of the whole region I have been discussing: "The suggestion of an indigenous Indo-Aryan population going far back into pre-history in Northeastern Iran and nearby Turkmenia is now taken quite seriously." With this trend in mind, he finds it interesting that the discussion between contributors of Possehl's Harappan Civilization "indicated a parallel trend" (577)."