If any theme can be discerned in the long archaeological and historical record of South Asia, it may be that of simultaneous diversity and interconnection. Groups of people differently organized into (to name just a few possible dimensions of difference) linguistic and ethnic associations, classes, occupations, lifestyles, castes, and religious traditions have co-existed, sometimes very closely, over long expanses of time. One of the most striking examples of close interaction between groups of people organized in radically different social and economic forms must be the sets of relationships between specialized forager-traders, many living in upland environments, and agriculturalists, merchants, and states, many based in the lowlands. That these kinds of relationships have a long history is one of the primary points raised by all the chapters in part Ⅰ. However, in order to approach this world, in which foraging strategies, although important, came to constitute just part of a larger behavioral repertoire, it is necessary to consider them in the context of the long record of human habitation on the subcontinent.

In South Asia, humans and their ancestors have made a living by gathering and hunting for perhaps as long as two million and certainly as long as half a million years. However, that deep archaeological record incorporates a significant degree of diversity in lifestyles through time and across space.