The origin, development and importance of Memorial-stones in India (4)

The origin, development and importance of Memorial-stones in India (4)

Sind / Sindh had been part of India / Bhart for centuries, till Arabs invaded and tried to Islamize……

The warriors of Sindh were resisting them with their valour……

However, they could not match with the cunningness of their enemies, when they were following the code of conduct of war etc…..

In 712, the invasion started, within 300 – 400 years, Sindh was Islamized……

and slowly, all the monuments, temples, sculptures etc., started disappearing, as the iconoclasts were destroying them regularly……

now the condition of Hro-stones are like this…….

Hero-stones in Sind: Lower Sindh in southern Pakistan is dotted with many ancient cemeteries boasting the tombs of fallen heroes, and stones erected in memory of their heroism and chivalry (Hero stones). Most of the tombstones bear weaponry depictions symbolizing death in the line of action or at least participation in battle. They are found at Oongar in the district of Thatta, province of Sindh and , a Jats burial site, is located fifty kilometres from the city of Hyderabad, close to the Buddhist stupa of Sudheran in the district of Tando Muhammad Khan, also in Sindh[1]. One finds inscriptional slabs lying all over the site at the cemetery of the Jats but it is difficult to find any inscriptions at all at the Oongar necropolis since all of the chaukhandis have disintegrated and not a single tombstone is in its original condition[2]. In other words, they were destroyed and only parts are available there now. Hero-stones and sati stones found in the Sind province of present Pakistan has been pointed out by many and also noted that they are disappearing[3]. Central Asian and Bactrian areas exhibit broken sculptures of many panels and they are identified and interpreted differently. As the Indian kings / people were massacred there, it is mentioned as Hindu-kush = Hindus blood i.e,  the Hindus were  completely routed and eliminated there, and hence, memorial stones must have been erected. Till “Hindu-kush” occurred incidence at that area, they were there struggling with invading groups. Thus, only left out monuments have been recorded by Auriel Stein during his exploration. After Talibanization, even sculptures in the museums were destroyed and therefore, the fate of the sculptures and paintings found at the sites cannot be imagined.

Memorial stones in Cambodia / Siam / Thailand: In the Siamese culture, schools pointed out about the bloody sacrifice to the Earth Goddess offered at the Door of the Underworld, an ancient tree, a termite mound, a cave, a ring of stones[4]. At the time of the Buddhist ordination ceremony and its site, the Uposatha hall was surrounded by a ring of stones. Michael Wright noted that, “There is no evidence that these stones were developed from anything in India or Lanka, whereas scholars have proposed an affinity with prehistoric circles of rough-hewn stones found in the Northeast.” However, as the South Indian merchant guilds were having close contacts with these areas, there were possibilities that some sailors, merchants and other crew members might have died there and they might have erected memorial stones for them. Stone circles are considered as memorial stones, as noted above. Here, in the Siamese tradition, as there had been mixture of several peoples, the changes noted would be appreciable. Whether such circle stones were used for good or bad purposes – is also difficult to ascertain now. In any case, they were associated with sacrifice / death only.

Interpreting death, last rites and memorial stones in the context of race, language etc., by the colonial and other ideologists: Indians must have had their territory touching the other dominant civilizations like Sumerian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Chinese. Thus, their influence on the other cultures has been appreciable. That is why most of the people of the ancient civilizations wanted to come to India.  Indologists were pointing out such similarities and facts during last 150-300 years, but, suddenly changed their attitude. Thus, they changed their theory of the origin of race from the Ganges valley to other places[5]. The historiography was also changed accordingly. The glorification of Indian civilization turned to criticizing even disparaging. This attitude could be noted from the works of William Jones also. With the history writing of Vincent Smith, the Indian history was reduced to 2000 years starting with the Alexander’s invasion / Asokan script. About philosophy, initially, the world scholars accepted that India was the origin of philosophy, thus, every book of philosophy started with Indian philosophy. Thus, the fight started between India and Greece and Indian history has been made to start after Alexander’s invasion, the “sheet anchor of” Indian history. Then, “Aryan-Dravidian” race theory was introduced to dive, but the underlying concepts (rites conducted from birth to death) match with each other. However, the comprehensive and holistic study of Hero-stones gives a different picture. Again, one could note the commonality, in spite of the fact that such practices were carried on far and wide and even chronologically varied from Bronze Age to Modern Age.

Conclusion: Only few examples have been given for each area and state for illustrative purposes. An exhaustive study can also be made incorporating all details after conducting field study and reading local literature. Thus, with limited study and the above discussion, the following points are noted as conclusion:

• The belief in soul, transmigration of soul, karma, life after death, rebirth, cycle of birth and death, etc., have been the basis for the creation of the memorial stone.
• Even during the Bronze Age period, Indian Hero-stones were found in the Central Asia, but, portions were destroyed.
• There is difficult in connecting protohistory with historic narratives in the Indian context, as historians have such thumb rule.
• Logically, scientifically and technologically, such restriction appears to be artificial, inconsistent and redundant considering many other archaeological, material and scientific evidences.
• After the Mahabharat War around 3102 BCE, the participant armies with warriors dispersed and started moving to their destination[6]. However, as some could not reach, they settled down on the way and they became new dynasties and people groups. However, many commonalities could be noted among these people groups[7].  Jains – essences, gymnosophists (people wearing no dress or white dress); Rajaputs – Scythians, etc[8].
• The Hero-stones were found in the areas of Central Asia, Gandhara, Sind and other provinces on the west and Burma, Siam, Kedah etc., on the East.
• That Indic / Hindu / Vedic / Sanatana believing people were living in many parts of the world, at a particular time can also be understood and known from the prevalent of memorial stones and related philosophy.
• Thus, the memorial stone erection had been an Indian practice found from the Bronze Age to 18^th century.
• The dichotomy of dividing Indians based on race, language etc., is also cleared considering the prevalence of memorial stones in different places as pointed out, as “karma” continues!

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

09-05-2024

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[1] Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali. “Memorial Stones of Sindh, Pakistan: Typology and Iconography.” Puralokbarta 1 (2015): 285-298.

[2] . According to the notables of Oongar, village people have purportedly removed many of the decorative slabs either to sell in the lucrative markets in such items or simply in order to decorate their drawing rooms with these valuable pieces of art. Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali. “Vanishing Visual Heritage: Sati and Hero-stones in Nagarparkar, Sindh.” P.54

[3] Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali. “Vanishing Visual Heritage: Sati and Hero-stones in Nagarparkar, Sindh.” Journal of Indian Society of Oriental Art 27 (2010): 232-238.

[4] Wright, Michael. “Sacrifice and the underworld: death and fertility in Siamese myth and ritual.” Journal of the Siam Society 78.part 1 (1990).

[5] Léon Poliakov. The Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalist Ideas in Europe. New York, 1974.

As the European Indologists were using the expression “Aryan,” perhaps, even the Sanskrit scholar like B.G. Tilak was misled and tried to locate the Aryan origin to “Arctic region.”

[6]  Even the Greeks were mentioned as “degraded khastriyas,” by old Indologists, but, such details were suppressed later in 20^th century itself.

[7] Pococke, Edward. India in Greece; Or, Truth in Mythology... Griffin, 1856.

[8]  These are discussed by Richrd Garbe, Col. Tod and others linking Christianity with India, lost tribes etc.

Why Indian ancient scripts are disappearing, classical languages ignored and inscriptions abandoned?

Why Indian ancient scripts are disappearing, classical languages ignored and inscriptions abandoned?

Many Indian languages and scripts disappearing: Vaani (dialect) changes every 4 kos – roughly 12 km – and paani (water) after every 8 kos[1]. This is a famous saying in Bihar, which is struggling to keep its many languages and scripts alive, with some now listed as endangered[2]. In September 2022, the Bihar government pledged institutional support to eight languages[3]: Sanskrit, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Angika, Bajjika, Bangla and Surjapuri. However, experts say a language needs care, and political and social patronage, to develop and flourish[4]. “If my language is looked down upon by society, how will I feel proud of it? If there is no job opportunity in linguistics, why should one opt for a language?,” asks Sweta Sinha of IIT-Patna. “In the Hindi belt, most people list Hindi as their mother tongue, not Bhojpuri or Magahi.” The 2011 Census listed 1,369 mother tongues in the country. But many such languages and scripts are either no longer spoken or are slowly going extinct. “The state government created various academies for the development of languages. But the academies’ directorships became political posts,” says Subhash Sharma, former development commissioner of Bihar and author of Bhasha Aur Lipi Ka Itihaas.

Buddha’s language: Pali is the language of Buddha’s sermons. It is taught in Allahabad, Magadh and Patna universities. Till 2013, UPSC aspirants could opt for it as a subject. “The good news for Pali is that the language is not yet dead. At least one lakh people speak Pali across the country. It is now being taught at Fergusson College, Pune, and several other universities in Maharashtra. But there is a need to do more for this language,” says Dinkar Prasad, additional commissioner (admin), Darbhanga Division. He is a PhD in Pali with a gold medal from Delhi University and has taught the language to many UPSC aspirants. “The governments of UP and Bihar should at least introduce this language in Class 12, if not for PG and graduation. Buddha was born, found enlightenment, gave his first sermon and attained Mahaparinirvana in these two states. Most of his sermons are in Pali… It must be reintroduced in UPSC as an option,” Prasad adds.

Importance of language and literature: Ambedkar gave importance to “Pali,” and thus, his compiled work has been aptly titled, “Pali and Other Sources of the Buddha and His Dhamma with an Index – Supplement” Vol.II, thus, Indians must have given more importance to Pali than the politicization of Ambedkar and Buddha. The preservation and conservation of language protects the literature of it and the literature the history. At least, at school and college levels, they should have been included in the syllabi, particularly, where, the subjects like ancient languages, religion, history, archaeology, epigraphy and similar subjects are taught. By going on reading the translations, producing interpreted versions of discourses and printed narratives would not give the true facts containing the original language and literature. No expert, researcher or scholar can be biased in learning and teaching the subjects lke epigraphy, linguistics, archaeology, history etc., and with the expertise of the ancient languages, they cannot read any inscriptions.

Old documents in Kaithi: Bihar government offices used the Kaithi script till the early 1900s. Now, it isn’t easy to find people who understand it. “In Bihar, most court cases are related to land disputes and many old land documents are written in Kaithi,” says Bhairab Lal Das, author of a book on the history of the Kaithi script. Jayant Kumar, a professor at NIFT, Patna, has been working on developing key fonts in the Kaithi script. “The state government recently organised a crash course on Kaithi in Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University with 30-40 participants. This is a very good sign. For the development of any language or script, it must be used in regular writing or reading in society,” he says.

Only official native language: Maithili is the only native language of Bihar in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which lists India’s official languages. Its script known as Mithilakshar or Tiruhata is one of the oldest scripts in which Sanskrit is written. After a long-drawn agitation in the Mithilanchal region, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule in 2003. It was also included as an optional subject in UPSC. However, Bihar Public Service Commission is yet to include it as an optional subject in exams, says Aruna Chaudhary, head of Maithili department at Patna University. “Moreover, teaching this language has been discontinued in most Patna University colleges as there are few takers,” she adds. Madan Mohan Jha, a Maithili-speaking schoolteacher, says: “I am from Mithilanchal. I speak Maithili with my mother and wife. But my kids don’t want to speak it.”

Inferiority complex: Nearly 30km east of Patna, at Pali village, people speak Magahi in a dialect different from Patna’s. And if you travel 50km west from Patna, people in Jehanabad, speak it differently. Similarly, Bhojpuri, prevalent in Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur, Rohtas, Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj, is spoken differently in Chhapra, Ara and Sasaram. “Bhojpuri is limited to villages or the downtrodden people. If you speak Bhojpuri or Magahi in Patna, people look down upon you. You will seldom find two Bhojpuri or Magahi-speaking people talking in their mother tongue. Maithili is the only language people can be heard talking in. That’s why Maithili is placed better than other Bihar languages… My kids don’t want to speak Bhojpuri because they have an inferiority complex about the language,” says Vishnu Kant Tiwari, a Bhojpuri speaker.
(With inputs from B K Mishra and Abhay Singh).

The problems in the epigraphy and the job of epigraphists[5]: Just like getting a diploma and becoming “archaka,” anybody with a “diploma in epigraphy” can apply and get the job of “epigraphist.” The following points have to be considered seriously in the context[6]:

• Under the guise of protecting and preserving “classical languages,” much controversies and issues are created than real research useful for the furtherance of the languages.
• Day by day, the learned epigraphists have also been disappearing and the required strength is not filled up. By promotion or by recruitment, new epigraphists may come and occupy the posts, but, most of them are not in a position to decipher and read the inscriptions.
• Just because, funds are received, many govt and non-govt. agencies have started epigraphy cources part time/ full time, one month / one year, on-line / off-line and of different varieties. They may get a certificate and apply for the post of “epigraphist” and get also, but, what they can contribute to the Indian epigraphy is not known.
• As otherwise, none need to worry or lament about the disappearance of script, language and literature. The real faith lies in the practice, propagation and continuance of them, so that such expertise is passed on from one generation to generation.

Government allocates funds for epigraphy: The finance minister in her Budget Speech made an announcement to set up Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions (BharatSHRI), a digital epigraphy museum, with digitization of one lakh ancient inscriptions in the first stage[7]. The BharatSHRI will be set up by the Archaeological Survey of India at Hyderabad[8]. The Epigraphy Branch conducts Epigraphical survey, copies the inscriptions, deciphers them and publishes the gist in its Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy and publishes the texts in other epigraphical publications like South Indian Inscriptions, Epigraphica Indica, etc. Whenever, the Epigraphy Branch gets any information on newly discovered inscriptions either from Excavation Branch of ASI or any State Govt. Agency, immediate action is taken to copy and decipher them. Thus, though, many activities have been going on, yet, the persons capable of reading inscriptions have been dwindling down. The seriousness of such conditions is not discussed, but, protests and demonstrations are carried on by the Epigraphy department for fringe issues. Real expertise, wisdom and knowledge are not used for the decipherment, translation and publication of the existing inscriptions. The requirement for such expertise for the future is also not anticipated, persons trained and kept ready to continue the work.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

15-01-2024

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[1] Times of India, Buddha’s language is fighting extinction, and it’s not alone, Rakesh Roshan / TNN / Jan 14, 2024, 08:09 IST.

[2] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/buddhas-language-is-fighting-extinction-and-its-not-alone/articleshow/106826168.cms?from=mdr

[3] News NBS.24, Buddha’s language is fighting extinction, and it’s not alone, Rakesh Roshan / TNN / Jan 14, 2024

[4] https://news.nbs24.org/2024/01/14/972775/

[5]  K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, What is the real problem with Indian Epigraphy department, Epigraphists – Cadre Restructure, Niti Ayog Report or change of Act and Rules!, Posted on July 31, 2021.

[6] https://kvramakrishnarao.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/what-is-the-real-problem-with-indian-epigraphy-department-epigraphists-cadre-restructure-niti-ayog-report-or-change-of-act-and-rules/

[7]  PIB, The annual outlay for Ministry of Culture in FY 2023-24 increased by 12.97% to Rs. 3,399.65 Crore, Posted On: 01 FEB 2023 7:03PM by PIB Delhi

[8] https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1895497

History, Science and Technology of South Asian Ceramics – The Proceedings of the Third International Conference in Commemoration of Iravatham Mahadevan 2024 (5)

History, Science and Technology of South Asian Ceramics – The Proceedings of the Third International Conference in Commemoration of Iravatham Mahadevan 2024 (5)

Today, the last day of the conference had two sessions VII and VIII with the following papers.

09.01.2024, Tuesday – 10.00-11.30 AM Session – VII: Microscopy and compositional study:  this session was chaired by Dr. Mudit Trivedi and the following papers were presented.

Scientific Analysis of Archaeological Ceramics – K. Krishnan: The first compositional analysis of ceramics from the Indian sub-continent dates back to the 1920s. Those were wet chemical analyses that led to the identification of the elemental composition. The 1960s witnessed the application of petrographic methods to study ceramics. However, interpreting those results was difficult and offered many challenges. Therefore, the results of those early studies were presented as additional information in the respective excavation reports or as research notes. Though isolated, problem-oriented studies on ceramics using scientific techniques in recent years have brought out several interesting results that benefitted the scientific discipline and archaeological studies. This paper will present the applications and limitations of scientific analyses of pottery and its relevance to cultural studies through reviews and case studies. For this, studies on ceramics from different Harappan settlements in Gujarat will be presented. He focussed on understanding general issues such as provenance and clay paste preparation techniques. He also elaborated on the applications and limitations of the methods employed and how a balancing interpretation was made to satisfy the archaeological goals

Northern Black Polished Ware: An Ancient Science  – Alok Kumar Kanungo: Ancient sciences often denote to traditional knowledge systems, when the practices involved in the production cycle of the artefact are situated and contextualized to particular geo-cultural zone. When a knowledge system stands apart from its contemporary and remains in action only for a particular time period, that leaves behind more questions than answers. Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) is one such pottery type of India. The paper will deal with this ware’s history, science and technology by mapping the distribution trends of NBPW, and microscopic and elemental composition analyses of a selected sherds.

Some Aspects of NBPW Manufacturing Technologies  – Sidharth Shankar Rai: Potteries are the most fascinating artefacts for archaeometric investigation because separate pottery tradition represents distinct cultural tradition and the development of pottery manufacturing technology indicates societal innovation for producing a better product. Ancient Indian Glazed ware commonly known as Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) in archaeological literature is the iconic black glazed pottery produced in early Historic India from 7th century BCE to 1st century CE in the Ganga Valley. The NBPW has been manufactured in such a way that the gloss of this pottery has remained unaffected after passage of more than 2,500 years. . The production of glaze is a major achievement of ancient craftsmen. It is a result of different processes including the melting and solidification of a variety of vitreous compounds. Seven black coloured NBPW sherds and one ancient brick sample from archaeological site of Kausambi are analysed in order to understand the composition of clay, firing process and nature of the surface of the pottery. The samples are analysed through SEM, EDS and XRD. It is reported that locally available clay is used for pottery manufacturing and pyrolysis of clay minerals is responsible for the sparkling beauty of the NBPW.

From the East to the West: Investigating the Presence of South China Sea Ceramics in South Asia – Aude Favereau: Research on the movement of people and goods from the Mediterranean world to China via South- and South-East Asia aroused a great deal of interest, particularly on cultural exchanges that occurred by the end of the 1st millennium BCE and the beginning of the 1st millennium CE. Evidence of contact between communities in the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea basins during this period highlighted complex cultural interactions involving the exchange of artefacts but also the dissemination of technologies and styles. But what about the circulations from East- and South-East Asia to South Asia? Were there imported ceramics or vessels used to carry commodities? Are South China Sea ceramics known in South Asia? This paper proposes (1) to review the ceramics of South Asia reported in the literature as being potentially linked to the East and to assess what is known about these vessels in South-East Asia; (2) to introduce a selection of ceramic types that circulated widely in the South China Sea and that are also found at sites facing the Bay of Bengal in Myanmar to question whether these types travelled up to South Asia; and (3) to make inferences about interactions and exchange activities during pre- and protohistoric times.

Provenience Unveiled: Exploring Torpedo Jars through Geochemical and Petrographic Analysis – Ritvik Balvally: The regions of West Asia, Arabia, Eastern Africa, and Roman-Byzantine territories had trade connections with China, and India in the 1st millennium CE. Western India was a hub for Indian Ocean trade, especially between 3rd to 10th centuries CE and ceramics; glazed and un-glazed were a major part of this exchange. Torpedo Jars are West Asian transport vessels used for overseas exchange during this period lined with bitumen. But the provenience of these ceramics has so far eluded us. Although attempts have been made to study the bitumen and petrographic analysis of Torpedo Jars separately, the picture is still unclear as to where the Torpedo Jars are exactly manufactured. Thus, this study emphasises a two-pronged approach to bolster data further and infer it to understand the provenience of these ceramics. The geochemical data comprising biomarker and carbon isotopes on chromatographic fractions of the bitumen lining of these Torpedo Jars is compared to oil seep references from different areas in southern and southwest Iran. Data on bitumen collected from numerous Iranian archaeological sites has been used as proxies to complete the investigation. On the other hand, thin-section petrographic studies would help in determining the petro-mineral profile of the ceramics.

The Elemental Composition of Late Medieval Glaze on Ceramics from the West Coast India – Laure Dussubieux: Glaze is a thin layer of a vitreous material fused at the surface of a ceramic. It is applied either for decorative purposes, adding colours and shine to the ceramic paste, or for practical reasons, as it improves the impermeability of the ceramics to liquids. Glazes often have compositions very similar to glass and are either silica or lead-based, with the addition of different alkali or alkali-earth rich ingredients depending on when and where it was produced. Metals and oxides are added to modify the colour or opacity of the glazes. Being able to determine the elemental composition of the glaze is important as it is a way to obtain information about the dating and provenance of the ceramics. In west coast of India, there are several medieval sites which have given evidence of glazed ware of Monochrome variety, and the epicenter of production evidence comes from the Gulf of Khambhat during 14-16th c. CE. This paper will illustrate the study of glaze on ceramics with the case of artefacts found at the site of Bhagatrav in Gujarat, dating from the 14th to 17th c. CE. Several types of glazes were identified based on their compositions: a Celadon from China, two samples possibly manufactured at or around Bhagatrav, two samples possibly produced in Khambhat, Gujarat and two samples with a likely Indian origin, although a more precise place of manufacture cannot be proposed. These results indicate a connection of Bhagatrav with the long-distance trade of the Indian Ocean as revealed by the presence of a ceramic sherd from China, contrasting with more local or regional exchange networks that connected Bhagatrav to Khambhat and possibly other localities nearby.

India was not depicted properly in her slides….

Marine Seismics and its use in Marine Archaeology  – Rajesh Nair: Marine seismic technology is pivotal in underwater archaeology, particularly in exploring submerged ancient civilizations resulting from historical climatic shifts. Given that more than two-thirds of our planet’s surface is covered by vast water bodies, traditional survey methods prove inadequate for visualizing sedimentary layers, human-built structures, and lost cities concealed beneath. Fusing marine seismics with sophisticated seismic interpretation techniques yields a profound advancement in marine archaeology. Seismic attribute analysis adeptly identifies nuanced data variations, hinting at the presence of shipwrecks, submerged edifices, and artefacts. Seismic inversion, in turn, refines data, offering insights into the archaeological site’s age and the preservation status of its relics. Incorporating 3D visualization provides multifaceted perspectives, facilitating meticulous excavation planning. The amalgamation of seismic inversion methodologies with multi-point geostatistics, as exemplified in the Mumbai offshore region (Ambati et al., GGGG, 2021), serves to model subsurface structures and pinpoint anomalies in sedimentary deposits. This comprehensive approach fosters non-invasive investigations, mitigating the need for destructive physical excavations. Not only does it unearth archaeological features, but it also supplies vital information about their attributes and geological context.

Discussion: The questions may be written down and sent to the paper presenters, s announced by the organizers. . In the slides shown by Laure Dussubieux, India was depicted in the truncated form. The organizers could have noted to avoid such depictions. When asked about the holes found in the tripod type ceramics, the paper presenter could not answer, but explained away mentioning that was only hypothesis. In fact, she went to teacher / guide telling that she would better explain. Suggestion was also made to compare the tripod pottery with that of South India. Perhaps, the Thailand researchers my not be knowing about the tripod ceramic potteries fund in the South India.

2.30-4.00 PM Session VIII: Pyrotechnology: The session was chaired by Prof. Ajithprasad P.

Chemical-technological Analysis of the Li People Ceramics of Hainan Island: The Problem of Preserving Pottery Traditions  – Ekaterina Girchenko and Oleg Kardash: This paper investigates the pottery traditions of the Li people of Hainan island in southern China. The Li people till recently, lived isolated in mountainous areas for a long time, so they have preserved many ancient traditions up to the present day. It is a matter of principle for our respondents from the Donghe village not to use modern tools and containers in the ceramic crafts, but to make all the necessary attributes from bamboo, wood and shells. All stages of pottery-making were recorded in the study. Eight samples of clays and ceramic fragments, both fired and unfired, were selected for Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence analysis, in order to reconstruct the structure, mineral composition and chemical properties of clays that according to potters were suitable and unsuitable for pottery-making. The chemical research has made it possible to establish temperatures that are quite high for firing over an open fire, which means that the complex structure of the fire pit with coconut shells and branches made it possible to achieve reducing roasting parameters for ceramics over an open fire as if they were fired in a kiln. The results of the experiments are correlated with the archaeological materials, so it is possible to recreate the specific characteristics of ancient pottery.

More ideas on Harappan Stoneware Bangles  – Massimo Vidale: The presentation summarizes what is presently known about the complicated pyrotechnology of Harappan stoneware bangles based on discoveries at Mohenjo-Daro and following important experimental studies during the excavation at Harappa. He went into the technical details of how the bangles were manufactured with the furnace etc. We propose critical considerations of what has been published so far and some new possible interpretations about the firing technology of this amazing and unique class of personal ornaments. He has already published papers and books on the topic individually and also with his colleagues.

On the importance of Technical Ceramics: Archaeometric Analyses and Historical Interpretation of Crucibles, Furnaces, Moulds and Tuyères and a Case Study from Southern Thailand  – Thomas Oliver Pryce: In a traditionally constituted archaeological team, ceramic artefacts fall under the purview of the ceramicist, while metal artefacts lie within that of the metallurgist. However, while the former is usually chiefly concerned with huge amounts of pottery, the latter is often asked to consider technical ceramics, or all ceramics that are not pottery or fragments thereof. This category can include materials from a wide variety of sources: ceramic building materials like adobe, bricks, clay flooring, cob and tile, as well as crucibles, furnaces, hearths, moulds and tuyères from a range of high-temperature industries. Of course, such division of specialist labour is rarely planned as such, and rather it results from the uncertainties implicit in discoloured, degraded, fragmentary and/or vitrified artefacts as they come out of the ground.

And such evaluation must be initiated as they are excavated, as passage via the pot wash can destroy vital information. With this paper, I will give the case study of Khao Sam Kaeo, a 4th-1st c. BCE entrepot and proto-city state in peninsular Thailand, which has produced exceptional evidence for exchanges of raw materials, techniques and even artisans across the Bay of Bengal. In Southeast Asia, there is a class of metal artefacts called ‘Indian high-tin bronze bowls’, due to comparators from the subcontinent with a particular configuration of typo-stylistic, technological, elemental and lead isotopic characteristics. Applying a ‘technological approach’ to these bowls, demonstrating how, where and by whom these artefacts were produced depends upon the associated technical ceramics, in particular vitrified and slagged fragments and globular vessels with a nippled base.

Live potters (Handmade Naga Pottery and Black Pottery of Azamgarh) workshops and kilns for hands-on experiments will be available throughout the conference at KV Ground, adjacent to TTJ Auditorium. Nagaland  – Mrs. Chahang Phom and Ali Phom with Interpreter Mr. Pangtuk Phom and Uttar Pradesh  – Mr. Ramjatan Prajapati and Sohit Kumar Prajapati explained the process. The participants and delegates carefully noted the manufacturing activities carried on for the purpose. The artisans came here for the purpose.

After the paper presentation, the certificates were distributed to some of the participants ad delegates. Alok Kumar Kanungo thanked all who participated and attended the conference and as well as the organizations helped them accommodating to host by providing all facilities. Rajan also thanked all hoping to meet again on some other conference. The Five-day deliberations concluded with the National Anthem.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

09-01-2024

History, Science and Technology of South Asian Ceramics – The Proceedings of the Third International Conference in Commemoration of Iravatham Mahadevan 2024 (4)

History, Science and Technology of South Asian Ceramics – The Proceedings of the Third International Conference in Commemoration of Iravatham Mahadevan 2024 (4)

Today, it was raining from the early morning and it continued thereafter also…….

08.01.2024, Monday -10.00-11.30 AM SESSION V: Ethnoarchaeology and Experimental studies: It was chaired by Prof. Kuldeep Bhan and the following papers were presented:

Conservation and Restoration of South Indian Ceramics – Stephen Koob: He had dealt with care, conservation and restoration of South Indian ceramics; detailing, cleaning, choice of adhesive, use of adhesive, treatment and retreatment. The selection and usage of tools for various operations have also been very important in preserving and conserving the objects. About solvable and unsolvable salts, care should be taken in cleaning ceramics. Desalination can be useful for keeping the ceramics in good condition without any further attack. Deionizing tap and such other methods can be used for removing unwanted chemicals deposited on the surface of the ceramics recovered. He also dealt with the restoration for display or publication with practical examples and suggestions. He warned that the potteries, ceramics and similar objects should not be staked, as they might get damaged with their own weight falling on them, as they were already in brittle conditions. Nowadays, modernized electronic and digitized instruments give internal structure of the ceramics and the can be subjected to preservation and conservation processes.

Experimental Reconstruction of a 5th Century Vertical Pottery Kiln, and its Technical Parallels to Harappans – Massimo Vidale: The experimental reconstruction of a Greek kiln of the 5^th century BCE, carried out at the Laboratory of experimental archaeology of the University of Padova, was based on faithful coeval iconographic evidence. It allowed us to appreciate the manifold technical constraints of the yard for the erection of this kind of infrastructure. As the kilns used in Greece and southern Italy between the 6^th and the 4^th centuries BCE have important similarities with Harappan pottery kilns, our experience may provide useful considerations also for the study of Harappan pyrotechnology.

Ethnoarchaeology in the Field: A Cautionary Tale from Potters in Mewar  – Amrita Sarkar: Ethnoarchaeology is an ever-expanding sub-discipline and pottery undoubtedly gets its fair share of attention. However, with recent social and economic trends, it can be seen that opportunities for undertaking certain kinds of ethnoarchaeological study are diminishing. By an interesting coincidence the village of Gilund in Rajasthan, NW India, was host to an important third millennium BCE Chalcolithic settlement of Ahar- Banas Complex in Mewar and at the same time to some of the last indigenous potters still working in 21st c. CE. She showed how the study of prehistoric potters was enhanced by what was learnt from their modern successor and also pointed out that the researcher was only just in time as they will be the last to practice; and in this respect, ethnoarchaeology is itself under threat. The involvement or not involvement of women the pot-making had been natural and not connected with any taboo or gender bias. As the material culture of Indians have been continuously changing, in due course, the pottery-making and related skills might disappear. Even in the traditional rites, rituals and ceremonies, metallic vessels have been replacing the ceramic ware.

11.30 AM -12.00 Hrs – Discussion: There was a discussion about the practical and technical usage of particular clays to withstand the atmospheric and klin temperatures in different cultures. Generation by generation, the potter-makers had / have been forgetting the traditional science and technology followed and practised by them. [the elite researchers have been going on analyzing on the vanishing culture, tradition, heritage and civilization, but, in historiography, they are not pointing out, if such practices of culture, tradition, heritage and civilization are nor preserved, practised and continued.]

12.00- Noon Tea

Ceramic Tradition of Ladakh – P. Anuradha: The Trans-Himalaya Ladakh, a mountainous and rugged terrain, was a vital trade outlet from the Silk Route that connected China with Europe and West and South Asia. Several ancient routes have been discovered in this region. In the recent past, a number of campsites dating to 10000 BCE and 500 CE of ancient travellers have come to light. During their temporary stay, they used ceramics for cooking and serving. According to local belief, during the reign of King Dragspa Bumdle (14^th century CE), the village Likir was assigned to make pottery for the royal as well as the general public. The ceramics have been manufactured in this village and exported to the other parts of Ladakh. However, at present, only a few families are associated with ceramic manufacturing in Likir. In the past, the majority of pottery items were plain and devoid of much decoration. The exquisite and decorative items were reserved for the royals and the elite classes. Over time, this tradition and preferred design have gone through many changes as per the needs of the people. This paper is an outcome of ethnographic documentation, including raw materials used, shapes made as per the usage, and glazing technique of the surviving pottery-making tradition at Likir.

Ceramics in Northeast India: Recent Studies – Manjil Hazarika: The study on ceramics from Northeast India goes back to the 19^th century when several British administrators and researchers contributed through their writings on pottery-making traditions prevalent among various communities. Moreover, sporadic references to these communities are in the Census of India reports published in the last two centuries. Specific studies on the technology, types, artistic features, the community of the potters and their socio-economic background have been dealt with in recent past. centuries. Case studies by anthropologists, archaeologists and historians on the Hiras and Kumars, which are two distinct groups engaged in the manufacture of pottery in Assam, apart from ethnographic accounts of the Naga and Apatani potters have also added significantly to the subject. Pottery from archaeological and historical contexts gained considerable attention with the discoveries of Neolithic pottery during the excavations at Daojali Hading in the Dima Hasao district of Assam in the 1960s. These and pottery from historical sites have provided further details on the craft’s antiquity, chronology, evolution, provenance, and technology. The paper provides an outline of the prehistoric, historical and ethnographic pottery based on our recent studies conducted in Northeast India, especially in parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

Naga Indigenous Pottery: Disappearing Skills, Knowledge and Vessels – Ditamulu Vasa: This study investigates the most remarkable feature of Naga pottery production: the absolute simplicity of raw materials and tools involved in indigenous and traditional production related to 6 or 7 tribes and districts. She reviewed the manufacturing techniques and tools adopted by the various potters’ communities alongside the ontology of art and clay-winning processes with associated beliefs, taboos, and practices. The number of potters’ communities making traditional ceramic forms using traditional materials and techniques is fast dwindling. However, findings from the ethnographic study conducted among a few surviving potters show the original features handed down transmission of knowledge through generations and analyse the stability and technological changes that have taken place in the pottery community over the last decades. Mainly Female potters controlled this indigenous technology except for the Rünguzu village, where the potters comprised male potters, who had long experiences producing pots, jars, and other clay products.

Ditamulu Vasa showed many examples…..

The next session was chaired by Dr. Peter Johansen and the following papers were presented:

Past and Present of the Pottery Craft of Northeast India – Sukanya Sharma:  From the Northeastern part of India and especially from Assam, the only pottery type known is the Neolithic cord-marked pottery from Daojali Hading dated to 2.7±0.3 ka (LD1728). The ‘Ambari ware’ is the next known type, dated to 1030±105 CE (TF-1019). But the assemblages have no sturdy storage jars or prolific occurrences of a particular design or shape. Pottery found is highly fragmented and mostly of the plain variety. Colours are of different shades of red and black. Medium-sized globular pots, 20-30 cms in height with a rim diameter of 15-20 cms are most common in the Neolithic, Megalithic and Historical period sites. Both handmade and wheel-made traditions existed with certain points of convergence. The paper attempts to map the development of the craft of pottery in Assam starting from a known past through provenance analysis and the theory of utilitarianism. For any tradition to evolve it must be relevant to the community, it has to be continuously recreated and transmitted from one generation to another. Did this fail to happen in Assam as the craft has always co-existed or rather competed with the ‘lignic’ or the bamboo, wood and cane crafts?

Analytical Indexing of the Pottery from 6th to 13th c. CE: Case study of the Ceramics from Ancient Bengal – Lefrancq Coline: In South Asia, the ceramics produced from 5th/6th c. to 13th c. CE are much less known than the ceramics from the so-called Early Historical period (5th/4th c. BCE – 4th/5th c. CE). The lack of well-stratified archaeological contexts and of marker-potteries are some of the reasons. Indeed, the archaeological reports speaks often about ceramics with general terms like “red ware” or “grey ware” without providing a proper description of the technical features making it difficult for the person reading the report to identify the potsherds. Some observations of the archaeologists on the ceramics dated to the period from 6th to 10th c. CE are recurrent like the fact that the ceramics were produced locally and were made for cooking or transport, not for the table service. However, because of the few detailed studies available on the assemblages of this period, it is still difficult to understand the main characteristics of those ceramics and, subsequently to work on provenance studies and trade either local, regional or longue-distance (even if it is known thanks to written sources that trade was well present during that period). The first step is to create an analytical index – either at a regional or pan-Indian scale – that would allow a better understanding of all the technological features of the ceramics in order to easily identify the wares and compare the different assemblages between them. The goal is also to include and enhance the few previous detailed studies. Through this presentation focusing on several case studies (ceramics from ancient Bengal and the Eastern coast of India), I will discuss the different possibilities of classification methods.

Experimental Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology- Pottery Techniques Perspective – S. Udayakumar: Experimental archaeology is a convenient way of describing the collection of facts, theories and fiction assembled through a century of interest in the reconstruction and function of ancient remains. In this experimental pottery technique research, the author is trying to indicate how experimental archaeology plays a very prominent role in understanding archaeology and ancient technology from a different view. Concerning pottery technique, the author has nailed all stages involved in pottery techniques such as preparation of clay, hand-made pottery, wheel-made pottery, coil method, slab method, moulding method, burnishing, pre-heating the pottery and firing method. This experimental research has three major understandings and interrelated aims. The first aim of this experimental research is to understand the basic approach of making pottery and to observe the techniques and method of pottery in the eyes of an artisan and archaeologist. The second is to identify the method or way of burnishing the pottery, to know the clay moisture during the burnishing of the pottery, and to analyse the outcome of burnishing pottery after firing. Third, to see the role of the firing method in pottery techniques in an open pottery kiln. This experimental research will give the whole light to understanding the pottery techniques. With concern to the ethnoarchaeology approach, the author has undertaken systematic fieldwork of pottery techniques in the parts of Tamil Nadu (Kota pottery, Nilgiris, Manamadurai, Villapuram, Mambedu) and Karnataka (Pottery town and Nandi hills); ethnoarchaeology research will talk about the migration of artisan, materials involved in the pottery making and firing methods.

He also showed how the pottery was made….

4.00-4.15 PM Discussion

How to differentiate pottery of medieval and later medieval period pottery, particularly, when they were found as “surface collection.”  Coline replied that it was vey difficult to do so.

How to differentiate between man-made and wheel-made pottery? Udhyakumar replied that thickness and the wheel impression found at the bottom are for identification. However, if they are plastered sufficiently, then, it is difficult to identify.

Sukanya Sharma was asked about the correlation of the pottery with temperature of different period pottery, she responded affirmatively.

6.00 PM Tea break

SESSION VI: CHRONOLOGIES AND SCIENTIFIC DATING

Chairperson: Prof. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer . He was asking audience to come and sit in the front, as the session was important.

Revisiting Bronze Age Ceramics of Gujarat – Kuldeep K. Bhan: Recent archaeological data suggest that during the Early Harappan (ca. 3200-2600 BCE) and the Early Harappan – Mature Harappan Transition (ca. 2600-2500 BCE), there was a migration of agro-pastoralists of the Indus cultural tradition in the Gujarat region. The routes are not precisely known. But it appears that the people met and interacted with a diverse set of people who were already present in Gujarat, as indicated by the presence of distinct pottery traditions of the Bronze Age of Gujarat. Presence of these pottery traditions had mostly been overlooked. These potteries now have been well documented at the sites of Loteshwar, Nagwada, Padri, Somnath, Rangpur and Lothal – representing, what is usually known as Micaceous Red Ware, Anarta, Padri, Pre-Prabhas and Soarth ceramics. In order to understand the cultural relevance of these wares it is important to understand the spatial and temporal distribution, typological and other cultural material associations that seem to provide most of the information about how to look at these various cultural traditions. Based on the present literature, archaeological data and the typological studies of these wares an attempt is made to hypothesize an Early Harappan Tradition (Regionalization Era Ca. 3300 BCE) was very well prevalent in Gujarat that finally led to the emergence of the complex cultural mosaic that has been known as the Sorath Harappan Domain, (borrowing the terminology of Posshel) during the second half of the third millennium BCE.

Bhan thanked all his gurus, teachers, colleagues etc…..

Tracing the Origins: Investigating Chalcolithic Ceramic Traditions in Gujarat, India – Rajesh S.V: Marine seismic technology is pivotal in underwater archaeology, particularly in exploring submerged ancient civilizations resulting from historical climatic shifts. Given that more than two-thirds of our planet’s surface is covered by vast water bodies, traditional survey methods prove inadequate for visualizing sedimentary layers, human-built structures, and lost cities concealed beneath. Fusing marine seismics with sophisticated seismic interpretation techniques yields a profound advancement in marine archaeology. Seismic attribute analysis adeptly identifies nuanced data variations, hinting at the presence of shipwrecks, submerged edifices, and artefacts. Seismic inversion, in turn, refines data, offering insights into the archaeological site’s age and the preservation status of its relics. Incorporating 3D visualization provides multifaceted perspectives, facilitating meticulous excavation planning. The amalgamation of seismic inversion methodologies with multi-point geostatistics, as exemplified in the Mumbai offshore region (Ambati et al., GGGG, 2021), serves to model subsurface structures and pinpoint anomalies in sedimentary deposits. This comprehensive approach fosters non-invasive investigations, mitigating the need for destructive physical excavations. Not only does it unearth archaeological features, but it also supplies vital information about their attributes and geological context.

Relative Chronology, Ceramic Typologies and Communities of Practice: Historicizing Ceramic Consumption Practices in South Deccan Mortuary Ritual – Peter Johansen: Since its inception, South India’s cultural history sequence has been reliant upon a ware-based ceramic typology to order its relative chronology. Radiocarbon and stratigraphic analyses have demonstrated that the hard chronological lines between archaeological cultures and their periodicity are more fluid than commonly acknowledged. A re-evaluation of Neolithic mortuary ritual, and its associated ceramic consumption practices, point to the very early production and use of slipped and polished ware pottery – e.g., black-and-red ware, as serving vessels in localized South Indian funerary contexts. These findings trouble the epistemological foundations of South India’s ware-based relative chronology and point to important theoretical and methodological problems with the use of ‘archaeological cultures’ as analytical units that seek to understand cultural practices and deep history. This paper will discuss the development of ceramic consumption practices in Neolithic and Iron Age mortuary ritual practices in the South Deccan. It argues for an approach to chronology, and indeed history that focuses on ceramics in the context of particular communities of practice through which social relations and meaning were negotiated and distributed through particular cultural activities rather than simply using ceramics as imprecise markers of time and the proxies of totalizing, ahistorical archaeological cultures.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

08-01-2024

The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) – workshop at Chennai from October 31st to November 2nd 2023 (4)

The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities  (NMMA) – workshop at Chennai from October 31^st to November 2^nd 2023 (4)

The CAG Report and the response of the ASI: On 02-11-2023, after lunch Dr Charuta Kulkarni, IIT, Madras talked about her subject, as detailed above. Then, the certificates were distributed to the participants and mementoes were given to some. Now, I discuss about some issues involved in the documentation of monuments and antiquities. As I worked in the GST (formerly Customs, Central Excise, Narcotics – indirect taxation) department, mostly in the Judicial, adjudication and legal sections for more than 38 years from 1980 to 2018, the CAG Reports on the various departments, institutions and others were periodically read, along with the judgments. Here, before coming to the workshop, I have read the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Follow-up on the Performance Audit of Preservation and Conservation of Monuments and Antiquities. The issues related to the documentation, workshop conducted etc., were pointed out therein.

The NMMA caught in the web of politics: The National Monuments Authority (NMA) has released draft heritage bye-laws for the supposed site of the Palace of Asoka in Patna, Bihar. The site, located in the Kumrahar area, is being protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. The draft bye-laws aim to conserve and develop the site and have been released based on a field survey conducted by the competent authority. The NMA is responsible for the protection and preservation of monuments and sites, as well as granting permissions for construction-related activities in the prohibited and regulated areas. The Congress party has accused the Modi government of attempting to weaken a law that protects monuments and archaeological sites in India. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh praised the National Monuments Authority (NMA) for releasing draft heritage bylaws for the conservation and development of protected monuments in Bihar. Ramesh stated that the Congress and other parties have successfully resisted the government’s attempts to weaken the law so far. He also emphasized the need to strengthen and maintain the professional character of the NMA.

2015 to 2022 no workshop conducted: The CAG pointed out that, “Since March 2015, no workshop was held to facilitate documentation work, rectify mistakes or to provide clarification to agencies involved in the process. As a result, there was absence of a system for regularly up-grading the technical capability of executing agencies, which affected the work process.”

The documentation process carried on by NMMA: The CAG  pointed out the lacunae in the documentation of the monuments[1].

NMMA has given these figures to the CAG.

Issue of “Non-antiquity” certificates by the ASI: ASI (respective circle) issues a certificate of non-antiquity for the exportof art-objects, arms. Here, who issues such certificate, after analyzing the “non-antiquity” nature of te object. Otherwise, millions of Indian antiquities would not have been illegally exported out 0f India after 1947 or 1976.

2. To facilitate Custom Authorities in allowing non-antiquities to be exported, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has established Expert Advisory Committees to issue non-antiquity certificates.

India’s rich cultural heritage, bureaucratic apathy and poor implementation of antiquities protection law has made India a fertile ground for loot and smuggling of antiquities for sale in the International market. In recent years, there has been growing concerns over antiques being smuggled and sold to fund terrorists’ activists.

According to the Antiquities (Export Control) Act, 1947 [Act No. 31 of 1947]  – “antiquity” includes-

(i) any coin, sculpture, manuscript, epigraph, or other work of art or craftsmanship,

(ii) any article, object or thing detached from a building or cave,

(iii) any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, craft literature, religion, customs, morals or politics in bygone ages,

(iv) any article, object or thing declared by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette to be an antiquity for the purposes of this Act,

Provenance (origin, attribution, derivation) includes the list of all owners from the time the object left its maker’s possession to the time it was acquired by the current owner. However, here in the workshop, it is taken as “Province”!

Most of the exports of antiquities take place from north India from airports: According to Section 2(1) (a) of the Antiquities and Art Treasurers Act, an antique is defined as an article or object of historical interest that has been in existence for not less than one hundred years.

The import and export of antiques is covered by the prohibition imposed under Section 11 (c) of the Customs Act 1962, specifically referred to as The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972.

Similarly, exports are also under the prohibition category. The export of antiques can only be done by the central government or any authority or agency authorised by the central government.

 The law does not permit any private person to export antiques. If any private person exports antiques, there are penal provisions to confiscate the material and impose monetary penalties or prosecute the person.

Port	Location	Value (INR Million)
Pakwra	Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh	34..567
Kolkotta Air cargo	West Bengal	27.151
Nhava Sheva sea[2]	Raigad district, Maharashtra	20.475
Mundra[3]	Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat.	11.141
Chennai sea	Tamilnadu	7.381

The ASI blaming the Customs department: When Arun Raj said that the Customs department was not co-operating, I pointed out that it is not that the Customs department did not cooperate with the ASI officials, but, the ASI officers only many times did not turn up, when they were requested to come and identify the objects of antiquity were seized at the airports. Moreover, they have to go by the certificates issued by the ASI only and in many cases, the Customs officers could get genuine doubt that older antiquities were taken out of India, instead of recent artefacts. Sreelakshmi responded that the ASI officers were asked to verify the import of Indian artefacts. Then, I clarified that it was different, because, the art-smugglers had been adopting a modus operandi, as if such antiquities were imported legally so that they could again export. That is why they sought the help of the ASI for the identification of the objects[4].  There have been several reports urging the ASI to co-ordinate with the RI, Customs etc., but, they are not doing so[5]. As the certificates issued by the ASI are / have to be relied upon and whenever, the Customs officers have any doubt about the object for antiquity, they used to seek the help of the ASI officers, but, they hesitate to come.  The famous VJA Flynn case also pointed out by me[6]. Here, VJA Flynn had contacts with many historians and archaeologists, but, caught red-handed in smuggling artefacts out of India[7].

The illegal import and export of Tipu Sultan’s sword: The classic case of Vijay Mallya in 2005, imported Tipu Sultan’s famed sword to India and exported it without any license[8]. Mallya was served a show cause notice by the Customs Department for exporting without informing the government, and not paying the duty for it[9]. However, the tycoon felt that since the sword was a matter of national pride, he should have been exempted. Thus, the provisions of the Antiquities and Art Treasure Act, 1972, have been amended to do away with several lacunae in the Act, commonly recognised as the Customs Act. As per the Act, any private buyer that buys an antiquity of Indian origin and brings it to India must first acquire a license. This is granted on the basis of several factors, including the experience of the person in the art trade, the place of exchange of the art object, the name and the number of people involved, etc. Domestic trade of antiquities is currently unregulated, as the Act is silent on it. The statutory authority of the Act is usually the Director General of the ASI, who decides what an antiquity or art treasure is. As per Section 2 of the Act, any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraph, artwork, object from a building or cave and object of historical interest that is over one hundred years old, is defined as an antiquity. In circle offices of the ASI around the country, where the DG is usually not present, the Act cannot be implemented by any officer below the position of a director. “Yet, several circle officers have been flouting the rule, declaring several antiquities as invalid leading to the thriving of the smuggling of art objects,” said the official.

All departments of GOI should work together: The CAG has been part of the GOI and all other departments also have been parts of GOI. The CAG has been auditing the accounts of different departments and trying to advise to implement the Act and Rules under which they work. All have been working with the Public Finance and the government is responsible to account for every rupee that collected from the citizens. As our country has been handling more than 100 crores population, now 140 crores, we have more responsibility than other countries with less population. Moreover, our government and democratic polity have been so open that everybody can appreciate and criticize also, unlike other countries. Thus, the ASI has been having the most noble duty, virtuous responsibility and righteous accountability in handling thousands of years of monuments and temples; sculptures and coins; palaces and buildings; ghats, and others. It can invite the officers of the other departments for discussion to sort out the practical problems. After all should work for the progress and development of our country creating awareness about culture, tradition, heritage and civilization.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

05-11-2023

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[1] Report No. 10 of 2022; https://cag.gov.in/uploads/download_audit_report/2022/Chapter 6-062f0de36c49e05.39285992.pdf

[2] Jawaharlal Nehru Port, also known as JNPT and Nhava Sheva Port, is the second largest container port in India after Mundra Port. Operated by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust Authority (JNPTA), it is located on the eastern shores of Arabian Sea in Navi Mumbai, Raigad district, Maharashtra.

[3] Mundra Port is India’s first private port (adani) and largest container port, located on the northern shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat.

[4] Press Release dated 24-07-2023, Three Hundred Forty Eighth Report on the subject „Heritage Theft – The Illegal Trade in Indian Antiquities and the Challenges of Retrieving and Safeguarding Our Tangible Cultural Heritage,” Sansad News.

[5]https://sansad.in/getFile/rsnew/Committee_site/Committee_File/Press_ReleaseFile/20/173/656P_2023_7_12.pdf?source=rajyasabha

[6] K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, Historians involved in smuggling also – The historical case of Prof. V.J.A. Flynn, a friend of many Indian historians – arrested for smuggling, jailed and deported to Australia for further proceedings!, February 17, 2022.

[7] https://kvramakrishnarao.wordpress.com/2022/02/17/the-historical-case-of-prof-v-j-a-flynn-a-friend-of-many-indian-historians-arrested-for-smuggling-jailed-and-deported-to-australia-for-further-proceedings/

[8] DNA India, ASI for easier norms for private import of antiquities, Amrita Madhukalya, Updated: Nov 02, 2016, 07:05 PM IST.

[9] https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-asi-for-easier-norms-for-private-import-of-antiquities-2269587

The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) – workshop at Chennai from October 31st to November 2nd 2023 (1)

The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities  (NMMA) – workshop at Chennai from October 31^st to November 2^nd 2023 (1)

NMMA workshop first day programme 31-10-2023

National Database of all Monuments and Antiquities: With the objective of preparing a national database of all monuments and antiquities, the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) was launched by the Government 36 (2007), initially for a period of five years i.e. 2007-2012. In order to complete the documentation process and continue the momentum, this period was extended by another five years (2012-2017) and later NMMA was merged with ASI (October 2017). Delay in setting up of NMMA and lack of planning leading to failure in achieving its objective was pointed out in the previous CAG Report.

Lighting lamp to inaugurate the workshop….

Objectives of NMMA: The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities was launched in 2007. The time frame prescribed for its completion is five years. Documentation and creation of suitable database on built heritage and sites through published and unpublished secondary sources for information and dissemination to planners, researchers, etc. and for better management of such cultural resources. Documentation in a uniform developed by NMMA, of all Antiquities that are available in different formats in the form of Registered Antiquities, Catalogued Antiquities with Central as well as State Governments, Private museums and Collections, Universities, etc. Promote awareness and sensitize people concerning the benefits of preserving the historical and cultural aspects of built heritage, sites and antiquities. Extend training facility and capacity building to the concerned State Departments, Local bodies, NGOs, Universities, Museums, Local communities etc. Help in developing synergy between institutions Archaeological Survey of India, State Departments, concerned Institutions and NGOs to generate close interaction.

• Publication and Research.
• Expected output
• National Register on Built Heritage & Sites
• National Register on Antiquities.

Lighting lamp..

2022 onwards workshops conducted: The NMMA has been conducting workshops on the documentation from 2022 onwards[1] – November 2022 – Greater Noida; December – Guwahati; December – Aurangabad; 2023 January – Bhopal; 2023 January – Bangalore; 2023 February – Bhubaneswar; Why conduct workshops suddenly? As I am familiar with CAG audit, audit reports etc., and reading them carefully, I noted in the 2022-CAG Report[2] that, “It also stated that there was a need for reviewing the existing documentation process/guidelines, identify and revive Documentation Resource Centres (DRC)/State Level Implementing Committees (SLIC), initiate training programmes and workshops at the local levels. …….Since March 2015, no workshop was held to facilitate documentation work, rectify mistakes or to provide clarification to agencies involved in the process. As a result, there was absence of a system for regularly up-grading the technical capability of executing agencies, which affected the work process.”

NMMA workshop= audience view RHS

Three-day workshop at Chennai: A three-day workshop on “documentation of monuments” was held at Keys Select by Lemon Tree Hotels, Katti-Ma, Chennai, Kalakshetra Road, Thiruvanmiyur, organized by NMMA and ASI (Chennai circle) from October 31st to November 2nd 2023. It was inaugurated by  Prof Kishore Kumar Basa DG of ASI by lamping lamp and the proceedings continued with the speeches of Ravikorisettar, Sathyabhama and Samanta. Then, there was a practical session to identify the artefacts, measure their physical dimensions and note them down in the format for documentation. This was followed by photography practice, in which, how to take a photograph of an artefact was demonstrated.

Documenting of antiques will prevent their smuggling to other countries, said Archaeological Survey of India’s National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities director Madhulika Samanta on Tuesday [31-10-2023][3]. “A large number of antiques are getting smuggled out of the country. We do not have any knowledge that they were with us till they are showing up in museums in Europe and America,” she said[4]. She was speaking on the sidelines of a regional workshop cum training programme here on the documentation of monuments and antiques (southern region). “When we initiate legal proceedings to bring them back, we end up losing cases in international courts as we do not have any national data to show that they were with us,” Samanta said.

• The national mission had a target of documentation
• ASI’s NMMA has documented 17 lakh antiques and 58 lakh antiques and four lakh built heritage sites. , and 1.84 lakh heritage sites.
• “But we have published only 11,000 sites so far because the data was collected from secondary sources, including research articles, reports,” she added.

She said unprotected monuments are also getting demolished due to developmental activities. “If universities, state archaeological departments, colleges, organisations come up with project proposals to document antiques, we will recognise them as documentation resource centres and give them grants,” she said.

In India, it is a problem of plenty: “Heritage is our strength. If not managed well it could be a liability,” ASI director general Kishore K Basa[5] said while speaking at the inaugural function[6] pointing out, as for as the antiquities and monuments are concerned, it is a problem of plenty. However, it has to be accepted as positive manner in presenting them. There is a difference between the attitude and approach of the people towards the monuments by the colonial period and till 21st century. During the colonial period, the natives were kept away from te exploration, excavation and heritage management. But, now the citizens have to be taken into account in heritage management. ASI has to work with citizen-centric approach, as money comes from the public. He emphasised the necessity of the documentation of all the monuments, artefacts and others[7]. In the documentation processes, multilayered information should be provided and even children should be made to take an interest in heritage management.

Who is responsible for the illegal trafficking of the artefacts?: Sathyabhama Badrinath talked about, “Objectives of NMMA and future course of action,” tracing the creation of NMMA somewhere in 2006-2007 period under the Five years plan and then extended to 2011-2012. On 01-10-2017, it was merged with the ASI. With te urbanization and looting of antiquities, the monuments started disappearing. Illicit trafficking has been taking place. There have been 4 lakh heritage sites, 3  lakhs of the ASI and one that of Built-heritage categories. The Customs and Postal Department have seized many artefacts, but they are lying and the condition is not known. Thus, she tried to blame the other departments. The private collectors should register with the ASI. It appears that the ASI is interested in adding more numbers in their NMMA register.

Prehistory artefacts, ulture, terminology etc. – to follow European o African model?: Ravikorisettar talked about, “Documentation of Antiquities Chennai circle, Southern region – from documentation perspective.” He explained about the exploration, excavation and recovery of the prehistoric artefacts from different sites of South India. He also listed out the sites according to their location, geographical and geological importance and the nature of artefacts recovered. He also pointed out as to how these sites have been getting affected by quarrying, infrastructure development and climatic conditions.As he has been an expert in the prehistory, he covered most of his findings with slides for about one hour and then come to the issue of documentation, classifying / grouping such prehistoric / paleolithic sites. He pointed out how the lithic objects, cultures and related issues were / are mentioned with different terminology. The European model / terminology is not applicable to India. Thus, Africal example are followed and expression like  “Madrassian complex” is also used. Coming to the upper Paleolithic, it is not known to identify them as European or African model?

Madhulika Samanta – vote of thanks: The Archaeological Survey of India’s National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) director, Madhulika Samanta, has emphasized the importance of documenting antiquities to prevent their smuggling out of the country. Samanta stated that India often loses legal cases in international courts because there is no national data to prove that the smuggled antiquities were originally in India. The NMMA has documented 17 lakh antiquities and 1.84 lakh-built heritage sites so far, but the data published on their website is limited as it is collected from secondary sources. Samanta also highlighted the need to protect monuments from demolition due to development activities.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

03-11-2023

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[1] http://nmma.nic.in/nmma/workshop.do

[2] Report No. 10 of 2022; https://cag.gov.in/uploads/download_audit_report/2022/Chapter 6-062f0de36c49e05.39285992.pdf

[3] Times of India, Director of ASI’s NMMA suggests a way to prevent smuggling of antiquities, A Ragu Raman / TNN / Oct 31, 2023, 19:26 IST

[4] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/director-of-asis-nmma-suggests-a-way-to-prevent-smuggling-of-antiquities/articleshow/104860696.cms

[5] Prof. Kishor K. Basa,  Utkal University Professor (Retired on 31.03.2018), Ph. D. (London); Phone No.: 8895615636; E-mail ID: kishorkbasa58@gmail.com

[6] Times of India, Documenting of antiques will curb smuggling: ASI’s NMMA director, TNN / Nov 1, 2023, 08:17 IST

[7] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/documenting-of-antiques-will-curb-smuggling-asis-nmma-director/articleshow/104872987.cms

Analysis of Archaeological Material Remains through Geoarchaeology, Geo-Micro Fossils and Literary Sources of South India (4)

Analysis of Archaeological Material Remains through Geoarchaeology, Geo-Micro Fossils and Literary Sources of South India  (4)

The second day academic proceedings started with the paper presentation by different scholars. The papers presented on 18-08-2023:

Dr. N. Preetha, Assistant Professor S. Kokila Maya, M.Phil. Research Scholar Department of History, Meenakshi College for Women (A) Kodambakkam,  Chennai – 600 024.	Spatial studies on Jain Beds – A Petrological analysis
Dr. Jinu Koshy, Excavation in-charge Dept. Of Ancient History and Archaeology,  Madras University, Chepauk, Chennai – 05.	Evidence of Micro-Archaeological remains from Naduvirapattu, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu
Dr. K.Vengatesan, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Institute of Distance Education, University of Madras., Chepauk, Chennai – 05.	Thiruvakkarai: Geo-Archaeology Study
Dr. P. Ramesh, Guest Faculty Dept. Of Ancient History and Archaeology,  Madras University, Chepauk, Chennai – 05.	Highlights of Archaeological vestiges in Sangam Literature.
Dr. J. Vijaya Ratna Kumar Dr. B. Jishamol Dr. R. K. Maya	Gleaning the Socio-Political History and the Significance of Fort St. George through Material Remains
Dr. J. Soundararajan, Asso. Prof & Head i/c K. V. Ramakrishna Rao,  I.R.S (Retd) Guest faculty, University of Madras	From Khambat to Kaveripumpattinam to Poompuhar – The archaeology of exploration and excavation on land and underwater!

Linguistic interpretation of “original”: Gaesan Ambedkar gave a special lecture about “Original” in linguistic interpretation. Taking “alva,” he started his discourse, Tirunelveli Alva, original Tirunelveli Alva, authentic Tirunelveli  lva, Iruttuk kadai Tirunelveli Alva, etc. He proceeded to original Talappak katti, Tindukkal Talappak katti, etc. He described how –

“Chapattis” are made with wheat by north Indians in north India;

“Chapattis” are made with wheat by north Indians in South India;

“Chapattis” are made with wheat by South Indians in north India;

“Chapattis” are made with wheat by South Indians in South India;

“Chapattis” are made with wheat by north and south  Indians in north India;

“Chapattis” are made with wheat by north and south  Indians in south India;

Of course, such narratives could be made with atta, maida, ragi etc. It is not known as to he proceed with other examples of idly, doas, vadai etc. with “milagu rasam,” he tried to link with archaeology, as “milagu” was exported to foreign countries and Roman coins found in India and so on.

How to identify geologically, archaeologically, whether a “chapatti” was manufactied by north or south Indian!

Highlights of Archaeological vestiges in Sangam Literature: P. Ramesh in his paper described the, “Highlights of Archaeological vestiges in Sangam Literature.” The occurrence of natural, man-mde and processed glass, Agate, Carnelian, Jasper, coral, and seashells at different places are attesting the existence of a brisk local industry dating between 3^rd cent.BCE to 3^rd cent.CE, “Sangam period”.  100 years since Alexander Rea conducted thefirst excavation at Adichanallur in the present district of Tuticorin in 1920. The sangam literature indicates clearly that sepulchral monuments were raised in memory of heroes and subsequently nadukals or standing stone were planted as part of the burial more than 25 poets have described it. The sangam works like Tholkappiyam, Akananuru, Purananuru, Malaipadukadam, Aingurunuru and Pattinappalai speak about hero stones in detailed manner. The sangam poet sittalai sattanar speaks about this hero stones as “viluttodai maravar vill ida vilntor elutrutainadukal” meaning ‘ the hero stone with letters (eluttutai nadukal) raised for the hero (maravar) who died pierced with arrows.” The ancient Tamils classified their land into five existential territories or landscapes in relation to the human life. They are Kurinji, Mullai, Marutham, Neythal and Palai. Kurinji is the mountain and the mountainous region, Mullai is the forest and forestry region, Marutham is the river and riverside areas, Neythal is the sea and seashores and finally, Palai is the dry land and desert areas. This classification that goes with the name Tinai is not merely geographical or geological, but describes the nature of people who live in the respective lands, their naturally conditioned occupations, culture and religion that emerge out of their pre-occupational conditions and attitude.

Morphological analysis of formed stone tool types: J.. Soundararajan, Jinu Koshy and seven others presented a paper, “Morphological analysis of formed stone tool types from Vadamathurai, Tiruvallur Distict.” Rosilo Joseph explained with statistical data converted to graphs and displayed through a PPT. In archaeology, lithic analysis is the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts using basic scientific techniques. At its most basic level, lithic analyses involve an analysis of the artifact’s Morphology (archaeology), the measurement of various physical attributes, and examining other visible features (such as noting the presence or absence of cortex, for example). The term ‘lithic analysis’ can technically refer to the study of any anthropogenic (human-created) stone, but in its usual sense it is applied to archaeological material that was produced through lithic reduction (knapping) or ground stone. A thorough understanding of the lithic reduction and ground stone processes, in combination with the use of statistics, can allow the analyst to draw conclusions concerning the type of lithic manufacturing techniques used at a prehistoric archaeological site. For example, they can make certain equation between each the factors of flake to predict original shape. These data can then be used to draw an understanding of socioeconomic and cultural organization.

Fort St. George through Material Remains: J. Vijaya Ratna Kumar,  B. Jishamol and R. K. Maya presented a paper on “Gleaning the Socio-Political History and the Significance of Fort St. George through Material Remains,” describing the existing structures, tombs, barracks, churches and other buildings built by the colonial forces. The magnificent white building that stands tall along the shores of the Bay of Bengal in Chennai, houses within itself a rich history of not just the then city of Madras but the overall history of colonial rule in India. Established in the year 1639-1640 CE, Fort St. George is seen as the first English fortress in India. What began as a trading post for the British East India Company, after enduring numerous wars, plagues, and hostility, led to the birth of the colossal city of Madras. Today, the fort serves as the administrative headquarters of Tamil Nadu’s legislative assembly as well as a base for military troops in transit to several areas of Southern India.

Vestiges of Fort St.George: The initial construction of the fort was concluded on April 23, 1644 CE, which is also celebrated as “St. George’s Day” in several nations. Hence, this auspicious name was conferred on the fort. However, numerous constructions and reconstructions were carried out after 1644 CE as well. The Fort St. George we see today is considerably different from the one built in 1639-1644 CE. After independence, the fort was declared as a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). St. Mary’s Church is regarded as the oldest Anglican Church in the whole of Asia. Its foundation stone was laid on March 25, 1678 CE. Governor Streynsham Master collected 800 Pagodas from each house in the White Town to build the architectural marvel. It took 2 years to complete the construction and was it duly christened on “Lady Day”, i.e., March 25, 1680 CE, from which it earned its name. In 1790 CE, the Fort Exchange was established within the fort – a place used for the exchange of goods and commodities by the merchants. It was completed in 1795 CE. It was later converted to the Fort Museum. Another important remnant of the British rule in India is the flagstaff of Fort St. George. The flagstaff has stood erect in the fort since 1688 CE and is believed to be one of the tallest in the country, rising as high as 148 ft.

From Khambat to Kaveripumpattinam to Poompuhar – The archaeology of exploration and excavation on land and underwater!: Dr J. Soundararajan and K. V. Ramakrishna Rao presented this paper. The news about the “submerged Poompuhar” has enthralled the general public, fascinated ideologized experts and engrossed researchers raising many questions. The media hype, news publicity and internet build-up have attracted them to know about the four-six Poompuhars, reportedly were existing many thousands of years ago. While historians and archaeologists have been cautious and not reacting to such push, the scientists involved with the project have been publishing papers on the topic. As most of them have been imbibed with the satellite, Geologic, Digital geologic, mid-ocean Ridge, Bathymetric maps and charts, after the scientific discussion, suddenly they come to a conclusion confirming that they discovered submerged man-made structures, harbor or port etc, dated to different periods. Thus, they locate Poompuhar at four places away from the coast reportedly submerged at 3000, 8000, 11,000 and 15,000 YBP or 1000, 6000, 9000 and 13,000 BCE respectively. The excavations carried on in connection with Kaverippumpattinam, Puhar or Poompuhar are discussed herewith first, moving to the scientific study and then the conclusion is arrived at. Anyway, going through all data and information, the following points may have to be kept in mind in the context of Poompuhar:

1. The Sangam literature has been dated from 300 BCE to 100 CE, and the Sangam period has been fixed accordingly. Recently, based on the single C-14 dating of Keeladi sample, the 580 BCE date is claimed for the Sangam period. Thus, the “historic period” of Sangam period is claimed to precede the Asokan period of 3^rd cent.BCE and going to 6^th cent. BCE.
2. However, there has not been any inscription found comparable to the Asokan inscriptions, as the claim is made on few  “marks” found on potsherds.
3. There has not been any consensus among the historians and archaeologists, as the town formation and other material evidences do not go back to such 6^th cent BCE period.
4. Here, in the case of Poompuhar, now no sample has been collected and therefore scientific dating cannot be thought of.
5. The location of Poompuhar at the mouth of Kaveri and its change of location as visualized have to be correlated, corroborated and corresponded with other evidences.
6. The “20, 000 / 15,000” years claim has been far-fetched and has no historical basis.
7. No human habitation is proved for the different levels assumed for the existence of a city based on the photographs.
8. They also claim that they would excavate for “Kumarik kandam,” another myth floated by the Tamil protagonists and linguistic enthusiasts.
9. Under the guise of “scientific studies,” such claims need not be made and news created sending wrong signals to the general public.
10. Multi-disciplinary approach should be there and all experts come together to decide the history, historiography and methodology

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

21-08-2023

Analysis of Archaeological Material Remains through Geoarchaeology, Geo-Micro Fossils and Literary Sources of South India (1)

Analysis of Archaeological Material Remains through Geoarchaeology, Geo-Micro Fossils and Literary Sources of South India  (1)

Research and seminar under RUSA: The Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Madras conducted a two-day seminar on how geological survey, fossil and literature studies with archaeological remains could contribute to history,, archaeology and related disciplines. The topic is Analysis of Archaeological Material Remains through Geoarchaeology, Geo-Micro Fossils and Literary Sources of South India[1]. This study is being carried out under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)[2], a holistic scheme of development for higher education in India programme with funds received. Departments of Ancient History and Archaeology, Geography, Tamil Literature and Mathematics participated work together in this project. Thus it is a multidisciplinary research seminar organized and held on 17th and 18th of August 2023 in the University campus.

The announcement made in June 2023 about the Seminar: About this seminar, there was a news note appeared in Dinamalar, “On behalf of the Department of Ancient History and Archeology of the University of Chennai, next month, on the 13^th and 14^th,  (now dates changed to August 17^th and 18^th) research papers are invited in the international seminar on the topic ‘Geoarchaeology, Geomicroforms’. For this, comments including ‘Geo microfossils, Geoarchaeology’ should be sent to the address ‘Head of Department, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Chennai, Chepakkam Campus, Chennai – 05’ by 30th. For more details, contact on mobile number 94456 28813 or email ‘jsrajan2013@gmail.com’.

Instructions to paper presenters: As the subject matter has been multi-disciplinary, the papers should be theme oriented by the researchers and experts.

• The papers should be specific on the theme chosen.
• Inter-disciplinary approach can be there, but, the respective experts can emphasize their field of study and research.
• The received papers would be scrutinized, processed and selected for presentation.
• The paper presenters are requested to present papers with PPT bringing out their new findings hitherto published so far.
• New, current and updated facts and figures; data and information; interpretations and results are expected.
• No generalizations may be made.
• Already known facts, details and information etc., need not be compiled and repeated.
• Papers should be based on original research of the author with primary sources.
• The final paper should not exceed 10 pages excluding foot notes and references (to be given at the end of the paper).
• 12 points can be used of any font.

The sub-themes are as follows: – considering the multidisciplinary approach and academic cooperation of different departments and experts, the following topics are also considered for the paer presentation.

• the scientific study of archaeology of the earth in all aspects
• sedimentology (study of sediments)
• stratigraphy (study of adding of rocks),
•  their part in identifying the actual qualities of the excavations,
• Comparing and differentiating geoarchaeology and archaeology in the context
• uses of geospatial technologies such as GIS
• Indian maritime contacts with ancient civilizations since c.7000 YBP.
• Palaeolithic to Neolithic cultures and their correlation with the human evolution.
• Literary evidences for the above in the Indian literature.
• Correlation, corroboration and correspondence of the above evidences.

Theme of the seminar: Though the studies on Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil started and its mineral properties in early 19^th century, a complete and holistic understanding of Geoarchaeology and Geo-Microfossil and its formation predictions lacks till date. Most of the study on Geoarchaeology and Geo-Microfossil is centered upon dating the Geoarchaeology and Geo-Microfossil on stylistic grounds, of a particular region without taking all the available evidence. In India the Geoarchaeology and Geo-Microfossil study is usually carried on the basis of formal methods to date them.  Dating the Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil is considered to be the most important aspect in the study of Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil, whereas, other aspects like the meaning and message behind the Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil along with mathematical models in predictions of its age and pigments are usually not given importance because of the lack of insight passed on directly or indirectly from those who made and used the Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil (informed method).

Micro-fossil studies in India: Till date, all the reported Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil from the district is dated back to the prehistoric times on stylistic grounds, other associated finds in and around the Geoarchaeology and Geo-Micro Fossil site has been overlooked. Microorganisms are known to impact aquifers by modifying their rates of dissolution. In the karstic Edwards Aquifer, microbes colonizing the aquifer surfaces enhance the dissolution rates of the host rock. In the oceanic crustal aquifer, the largest aquifer on Earth, microbial communities can impact ocean productivity, seawater chemistry as well as geochemical cycling throughout the geosphere.  The mineral make-up of the rocks affects the composition and abundance of these sub-sea-floor microbial communities present. Through bioremediation, some microbes can aid in decontaminating freshwater resources in aquifers contaminated by waste products.

Archaeological investigations and Chronology: The detailed biological and palaeontological analysis of microfossils in such contexts may be an important source of archaeological data.  By critically reviewing a range of specialized cross-disciplinary analyses, it is shown how microfossils can be used to provenance inorganic artifacts, reconstruct aspects of their manufacturing technology, and infer their function. In Tamilnadu, excavations have been carried on at different sites and our archaeologists have been getting very important evidences. The script has been dated to c.6th cent.BCE and iron usage go back to c.1200 BCE. Thus, the historical chronology changes with the findings. The Poompuhar underwater excavations might reveal new results that might change the existing position also. Here, the geoarchaeology, micro-fossils and other scientific studies could bring results correlating, corroborating and corresponding with the Sangam Tamil literature. In this way, I hope all the concerned departments come together in this seminar to proceed further.

Updating of subjects is necessary: The updating of any subject has been making it current / recent and bringing to the usage with progressed, developed and advanced information and innovation. As the “goods and services” that are used now, get updated, such old “goods and services” get “outdated” and therefore, “update or perish” would come into play. If “publish or perish” has been common among the researchers, “update or perish” has been an axiom among the science and technology users, as the gadgets, instruments, tools, and machinery get outdated day by day. The exact position and condition would come to the academician, syllabus and the subjects. If Indians continue to read old subjects, that too, without any updating, they themselves better understand what would happen. History writers have not thought about progressed, advanced and developed stages of man, society, and nation in spite of many developments have taken place. Therefore, this multidisciplinary approach would pave way for new findings and interpretations.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

20-08-2023

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[1]  Seminar brochure – https://www.unom.ac.in/webportal/uploads/seminar_conference/archaeology_seminar_20230609115934_95211.pdf

[2] The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan is the central government’s contribution to further the promise held by the rich expanse of India’s state universities. The country’s future lies in empowering these campuses with all that it takes to enhance learning, better research and promote innovation. A centrally sponsored scheme, RUSA understands that sometimes the most important lessons of life are learnt outside the classroom. So whether it is upgrading libraries or computer laboratories, promoting autonomous colleges or clubbing them to consolidate their strength and forming cluster universities, this programme realizes that every institution holds the power to enrich lives through top-class education. With universities, to prepare universe-ready scholars. http://rusa.nic.in/

Teaching of Science and Technology to the students of History or History to the students of science and technology?

Teaching of Science and Technology to the students of History or History to the students of science and technology?

Utility of the subjects and their immediate usage to humanity: Just like tourism, tourism management etc., “History of science and technology”  has been discovered, created and covered under the syllabus and offered as an “elective” subject to the postgraduate students of various disciplines. “History syllabus” has also been formulated to be taught to the students of professional courses like science and technologies, medicine, commerce, management etc., thus, much hype is created with the syllabus to reach and teach history to others.

• No teacher of those subjects proposed such a scheme that they would go and teach “science and technology” to them. 
• So why such exigency arises and for what purpose etc., have also to be analyzed.
• By going through the syllabus, it is clear that the students of professional courses do not gain much by reading such subjects.
• In every subject, mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics, commerce, accounting etc., the origin, progress and development and also the present and future status and scope of them have already been included in the syllabus and taught.
• If fact, their subjects have been and are updated and therefore, such subjects lead to innovative inventions that are immediately converted into parts, accessories, spares, gadgets, appliances, tools and so on useful to humanity.

History of Science and Technology: To write, read, teach and learn “History of Science and Technology”, one need not learn the core subject history, but, the history students cannot understand the “History of Science and Technology,” unless, they are taught from the fundamentals.

• Definitely, all non-history subjects are taught with its origin, which is nothing but history of that subject or perhaps more than that.
• That is how mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology at one side, and commerce, accounts, management, factory physics, industrial chemistry, bionics, mnemonics[1] etc., on the other side are taught in the schools and universities.
•  Though more and more science and technological subjects increase, there is demand for admission.
• However, recently, the subject “History of Science and Technology” is included for the students of history, archaeology, anthropology, numismatics and related subjects with their own formulated syllabus.
• But, they are taught only as history and not as the “History of Science and Technology.”

BCE 5,4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4,5 CE or BCE 5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5 CE which is correct?: The scientific study of the origin of the subject “History of Science and Technology”, has been different from the simple subject of “History of Science and Technology, for science students. In fact, under such expected conditions, the history teachers cannot teach the “History of Science and Technology”, to them.

• The concept of “zero” and infinity, decimal number system, calendar, planetary system, etc., have been perplexing even for science students, and therefore, how the history students read and understand them, is not known.
• In fact, for chronology, studying eras, dating and other exercises, history teachers have to understand these concepts. 
• Yet, no history expert is worried about “0” year in between BCE 5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5 CE years, while computing.
• Why the Roman numerals – I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X did not have “0” is also not known to them!
• Why the Fibonacci series does not start with “0,” (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.,) they cannot explain.

These are given only for illustrative purposes and are not exhaustive. Therefore, without knowing “o,” how history teachers would teach about, chronology and related historical developments.

Historical time is linear or cyclic, if “history repeats”!: In science and technology, anything linear or cyclic is understood easily and applied practically, but, in history, nowadays, some historians claim that history is linear and not cyclic. However, having claimed, they have not been able to define exactly how the history has been linear, when “history repeats itself”[2]. Just because, historian has decided take the expression “linear,” he cannot make history “linear.”[3] Again such expertise and elite historians do not bother about the axes and the origin, the zero point. Not only X and Y axes, even Z axis has the other side also.  How then, historians visualize the –ve axes and interpret historical events. Of course, they are totally not bothered as to whether it is 2D or 3D, yet, they prefer to use such terminology in history and historiography.

Using scientific terminology is different from actually working scientifically: Just by using certain terms and expressions, scientific, scientific temper, linear, dynamic, static, etc., at one side and heuristic[4], holistic, euphemistic, epistemological, on the other side, history cannot become scientific or technological, as none of the historical hypotheses, theories and concepts can be tested in the laboratory.

• Earlier, historians used to claim with pride that they should have object in mind, objective mentality and objectivity in dealing with historical facts.
• Now, they assert that they need not have such standards (objectivity).
• Ten historians can write history about the same “object,” and all the ten histories become histories of the object!
• But, science says one is one only; 1+1=2 only, all have accepted universally for thousands of years and it continues.
• Historians and history teachers cannot say in history about anything within a year, 10 years, 100 years… in the same way again and again.
• In India itself,
  • grandfather / grandmother read one history,
  • father / mother read another history,
  • son / daughter read yet another history and
  • now grandson / granddaughter reads still-yet another history!
• This type of history is found in the case of the –
  • Grandfather – Chandragupta Maurya c.324/31 – 297 BCE
  • Father – Bindusara – c.297-273 BCE
  • Grandson – Asoka – c.268-232 BCE

Thus, within three generations, grandfather and father were prehistoric, illiterate and unhistorical also, wheras, the grandson was historic and literate! Again, the grandfather was a Jain, the father Hindu and the grandson a Buddhist! A perfect secular model family!

• In India, there had / have been millions of practices, procedures, and standards followed in day to day life for more than 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 YBP and more. They had / have  and are historical only, unlike their “histories” produced or manufactured by the European Company writers and the 1947-Indian history writers.
• Once a history writer becomes ideological, then, no two historians accept and history in India, it always becomes some sort of TV-debate where four persons come and talk about the same subject in four different ways! They come together only to differ from each other and not to come to any conclusion.

Blind Men and an Elephant: The history writers of the European Companies always mention this “cock and bull story”[5] to denigrate Indians for their acumen[6].  Not only non-Indians have read the sources properly, understood the concept and interpret such stories, but also the listeners, readers and others to verify the authenticity of the stories floated about themselves. The irony has been, this “cock and bull ……….story” has been and is still included in the syllabus and the naïve and gullible teachers go on teach and our students read and appreciate the “idiocy” – stupidity, absurdity and silliness of Indians, and believe that they (the Europeans) only taught Indians how to count, learn and dress properly. More and more “Mayos”[7] have been created to spread such “maya,” and when they would be liberated and brought to light from such darkness[8] is not known.

Any subject is offered as an elective, choice or forced: Again teaching history to other disciplines commerce, economics, management, medicine etc., is different from the teaching of “History of Science and Technology” to history students themselves. Just because, history subject is losing its scope in the academics, the history teachers cannot introduce some syllabus and try to impose the same old stuff on the non-history students.

• The utility, benefit and value of the subject also come into play, when any student selects any subject voluntarily, as an elective or for some other reason.
• The students of the “History of Science and Technology” are interested in progress, development and growth in their studies, research and further pursuits.
• Therefore, they may not be interested in what the dynasties fought with each other, rulers invaded other territories or autocrats made the people suffer.
• Even the social, communal, religious, societal, and other aspects and related issues are also irrelevant to them, as long as they divide people based on any factor.

The utility value of the subject: Ultimately, when job, assignment and employment are decided on the certificates and diplomas received, yet, the application of the learned subject in the field decides the fate of the employee, worker or staff.

• A fitter, electrician, plumber and any other technician after getting certificates, has been ready to work in the field, as he has to carry out his job, as otherwise, he will be sent out immediately on the first day, when he is found that he is not able tp work in his field, in spite of having diploma / certificates in his trade or many certificates including other disciplines. “A jack of all trades but master of none”.
• So also a professionally qualified engineer or doctor or any other expert.
• “If you know the job, come and join immediately,” that type of policy is followed today, walk-in interview, selection and appointment order.
• All the certificates and diplomas come thereafter, just for verification.
• If you have 10 certificates, diplomas and degrees in one discipline or 10 different disciplines, but, you cannot work properly, you will be fired, because, the employers want the work to go on.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

12-08-2023

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[1] Mnemonics is the study and development of systems for improving and assisting the memory, A mnemonic device (or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding.

[2] Historic recurrence is the repetition of similar events in history. The concept of historic recurrence has variously been applied to overall human history (e.g., to the rises and falls of empires), to repetitive patterns in the history of a given polity, and to any two specific events which bear a striking similarity. Hypothetically, in the extreme, the concept of historic recurrence assumes the form of the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence, which has been written about in various forms since antiquity and was described in the 19^th century by Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Nietzsche. While it is often remarked that “history repeats itself”, in cycles of less than cosmological duration this cannot be strictly true. In this interpretation of recurrence, as opposed perhaps to the Nietzschean interpretation, there is no metaphysics. Recurrences take place due to ascertainable circumstances and chains of causality.

[3]  In the case of electricity, electronics, computers, digital technology etc., the electric pulse is sinusoidal, digitized to square-shaped pulses and so on. All such processes cannot be brought under any “linear” explanation or interpretation of history.

[4] A heuristic is a mental shortcut commonly used to simplify problems and avoid cognitive overload. Heuristics are part of how the human brain evolved and is wired, allowing individuals to quickly reach reasonable conclusions or solutions to complex problems.

[5] Cock and bull story, far-fetched and fanciful story or tale of highly dubious validity produced by the British county hoteliers / inns to attract their customers.

[6] The Buddhist text Tittha Sutta, Udāna 6.4, Khuddaka Nikaya, contains one of the earliest versions of the story. The Tittha Sutta is dated to around c. 500 BCE, during the lifetime of the Buddha. An alternative version of the parable describes sighted men, experiencing a large statue on a dark night, or feeling a large object while being blindfolded. They then describe what it is they have experienced. In its various versions, it is a parable that has crossed between many religious traditions and is part of Jain, Hindu and Buddhist texts of 1st millennium CE or before. The story also appears in 2^nd millennium Sufi and Baháʼí Faith lore. The tale later became well known in Europe, with 19^th century American poet John Godfrey Saxe creating his own version as a poem, with a final verse that explains that the elephant is a metaphor for God, and the various blind men represent religions that disagree on something no one has fully experienced. The story has been published in many books for adults and children, and interpreted in a variety of ways.

[7] Katherine Mayo, an American lady  and also reportedly a historian wrote a book Mother India (1927) became  a polemical book as it contained many narratives of  grudge, hate and vengeance against Indian – society, religion and culture. Indians do not know any such book has been written about American or European society, religion and culture.

[8] Mohammedan or Mughal court historians always dub that the kafirs (non-believers, non-Mohammedans) of Hindustan were in the jahallia (in the darkness) and they were trying to show nur (light) through jihad (holy war) with their revealed book (al-kitabiya), as the kafirs do not are any revealed scriptures / book..

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – 11-03-2023- Animal remains, Ashmound, ash, slag, Iron waste etc (7)

Recent Advances in South Indian Archaeology – The 2^nd International Symposium in memory of Iravatham Mahadevan – 11-03-2023-  Animal remains, Ashmound, ash, slag, Iron waste etc (7)

Mohanty – Manikapatna: an ancient port site in Odisha: Excavation of Manikapatna by D.R. Pradhan yielded the material evidence belonging to an early medieval port having remains of maritime activities. Manikpatna or Manikapatna is an archaeological site in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It has been identified with the medieval port of Chelitalo described by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang. The site is located on the sea coast near Brahmagiri which is situated near the left bank of the Bhargavi river, at the northeastern end of the Chilika Lake. Findings indicate trade contacts with many countries. Chinese celadon ware and porcelain have been dated to different centuries, showing prolonged trade. Trade with the Roman Empire is evident from fine greyish-white rouletted pottery, knobbed ware and fragments of the amphora. Other pottery fragments originate from Burma, Siam and Arabian countries. A Sri Lankan coin belonging to the reign of Sahassa Malla has been found dating from the 11th or 12th century CE. The site is named after the nearby village of Manikpatna, which in turn is named after Manika, a milkmaid whom legend says sold yoghurt to Lord Jagannath and Lord Balabhadra when they passed by. The village is home to the Bhabakundalesvara Temple, which has a Shiva Linga made of black chlorite stone as the presiding deity.

Vedachalam – Vattezhutu (read in Tamil): Vattezhuttu and Tamil inscriptions of Varaguna Pandya II: – He was stressing that the first vattezhutu (a syllabic alphabet used for writing Tamil and Malayalam) was used and then during the medieval period, both vattezhutu and Tamil scripts were used, then, mostly, Tamil script was used. Though, he did not tell why such change, modification or transformation took place, he explained several inscriptions of the Pandyas and Cholas.

K. Sridharan – Pattaraiperumpudur excavation: It is situated on the eastern bank of the river Kosathalaiyar and lies on the western side of Tiruvallur, the district headquarter which is about 60 km from Chennai. This place is surrounded by a number of prehistoric sites like Gudiyam, Attirampakkam, Vadamadurai, Neyveli, Parikulam etc. The archaeological mound was found at three places in the village namely anaimedu, nathamedu and irulanthoppu.  In order to examine the potentiality of the archaeological vestiges the excavation was conducted at the place in April 2016. During the course of excavation it has been found that area was accumulating  the rich archaeological vestiges right from prehistoric period to early historical period.  The deposit contain stone tools, different type of potteries, bricks, iron objects, roofing tiles, carnelian beads, shell bangles, terracotta objects, glass beads, copper objects, inscribed sherds (Tamil Bhrami), sherds with graffiti marks, painting potsherds, ivory object, terracotta ring well and other house holding objects in different levels of the excavated trenches. A pragmatic study of the cultural vestiges and the in-situ study of findings gleaned from that the cultural deposit at pattaraipeumbudur can be divided into Stone age period, Iron age period and Early historical period.

Pankaj Goyal- Animal based subsistence strategies at Gottiprolu, a southern Satavahana outpost in Andhra Pradesh’s SPSR Nellore District: Gottiprolu, 2000 years ago, as revealed from archaeological investigations was once apart of the Satavahana Empire which was spread across the modern states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It was inhabited by many small to large settlements, the latter displaying urban characteristics and a rich material culture. These included sites such as Peddabankur, Dhulikatta, Kotilingala, and Veerapuram, etc. Some of these sites were fortified (Shastry 1983).During this period, particularly in its coastal region, major economic activities like craft specialization, Indo Roman trade along with Buddhism had flourished (Shastry 1983). One of the factors attributed for the urbanization in this region was the rich fertile alluvial soil of the Krishna and Godavari river basins, which had helped agriculture to develop. While animals may have also contributed to the early historic economy, theirrole is not clear because of the limited faunal studies carried out for sites of this period. Some of the studied sites are Peddabankur (Krishna Shastry 1983), Nagarjunakonda(Nath 1963; Talukder and Pal 2007), Pochampad (Alur 1979a), Yelleshwaram (Alur1979b) and Veerapuram (Thomas 1984).

An interesting feature of the faunal study revealed is the rich animal diversity in existence around Gottiprolu during the Early Historic period. Currently the site islocated adjacent to a reserve forest zone where many of the represented wild animals can be found even today. The representation of a wide range of animals particularly wild buffalo, wild pig, deer, birds, turtles strongly indicates that the climate during the settlement’s occupation was fairly wet and humid supporting a landscape with water bodies and vegetation. Due to which the region was rich in wild life. The Swarnamukhi River and its tributaries had adequate water to support aquatic animals like fish,turtles, molluscs etc. It is this congenial environment with its rich fauna that may have been one of the reasons for establishing the ancient settlement at Gottiprolu. While itstill needs to be determined whether Gottiprolu had functioned as an agricultural, religious, trading, industrial or a military settlement, the faunal study does strongly indicate that it had hosted a fair sized population sustained by a strong animal-based subsistence.

Observation: Incidentally, this paper has already been published in “Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 8.1: 2020” and they have uploaded in “Researchgate” site also[1]. So How he presents the same paper here is not known[2].

J. Soundararajan and K. V. Ramakrishna Rao – The importance of Ashmound found during the Excavations conducted at Valasai, Gudiyatham, Tamilnadu[3]: The Neolithic culture of South India has been invariably connected with ashmounds and Iron Age with the archaeological evidences found in the parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. the Ancient History and Archaeology department of University of Madras, found ashmound in 2006 and 2021 at the Valasai village. Earlier, ashmound was reported at Appukkallu and Modur by the TN state archaeology department. Whether the Valasai ashmound can be compared with that of Karnataka, Maharastra and Andhrapradesh; people of Tamilnadu had the similar practices of them; the existing hypotheses and theories of ashmounds; and other issues are discussed, as the Valasai ashmound could be that of non-cowdung nature and that is discussed in this paper taking all factors into consideration and conclusion drawn.

location of the site, side view etc., showing the ash mound…..

Valasai, also known as Modikuppam Valasai (78^o51’53”E; 13^o01’47”N) is a small Village/hamlet in Gudiyattam Block, Kallapadi Panchayath in Vellore District of Tamil Nadu State, India.  In a first of its kind, students attached to the Madras University’s Ancient History and Archaeology department have excavated a neolithic ash-mound during their field training at Sendoor Malai near Gudiyatham[4] in 2021. Though Neolithic ash-mounds have earlier been discovered in other parts of south India, including at Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, this is the first time such a mound is excavated in Tamil Nadu. However, ASI in 1980 had already reported that there were evidences found here for the existence of Neolithic people at Valasai site. A thesis submitted in 2006 by A. Kumar, an alumni of our department, had recorded that there was an extensive mound with multi-cultural phases near Sendoormalai in Vellore district.

ashmound with moulds……..

Iron articles found……..

even holes / porous nature of slag / ferrous oxide waste can be noted……….

Valasai has evidences for Iron smelting and manufacture: The excavation resulted in finding of ferrous presence in the form of ash, slag and broken article. Ferrous slags are produced in different stages of the iron making processes resulting in varying physiochemical properties. Additionally, the rate of cooling of the slag material affects its degree of crystallinity further diversifying its range of properties. Thus, the evidences found are as follows:

1. The site yielded the evidence of Iron smelting activity in the form terracotta pipes and broken pieces of furnace with potsherds like Black-and-Red ware.
2. The excavation has yielded an iron slags from Layer 1 at M.VLS 2.
3. Terracotta blow pipe was also found in M.VLS-3 and 5, and it was used in iron smelting furnace to supply air inside it. It indicates the presence of Iron smelting activities.
4. The excavation has yielded an iron object at M.VLS- 3 and 5. The iron object was found in broken state. A broken knife was noticed from M. VLS-5.
5. The presence of iron slags, iron smelting pipes and iron objects indicate people does have the knowledge of iron smelting technology.
6. The excavation at Modikuppam Valasai has exposed a number of antiquities ranging from the period of Neolithic to Iron Age period. The antiquities include lithic objects, terracotta objects, TC beads, burnishing tool, grinding stones, Iron objects etc.

Here, the Valasai ashmound might thus differ with others with the metallic nature of content. Thus, the Iron furnace broken parts, terracotta pipes, Iron slag, broken Iron object etc., prove the Iron smelting activities and the waste, slag and powder / ash found could be related to Iron  (ferrous oxide) conglomerates with sand etc. the 74,000 YBP volcanic ash ad that of 3000-1500 BCE “ashes” have to be contrasted and differentiated.

Conclusion: In view of the above archaeological excavations, investigation and interpretation of excavated artefacts comparing with that of others, the following details are drawn out and submitted as concluding points:

1. Valasai, the Neolithic site has traces of ashmound, but, it is related to Iron Age period and thus, could be that of Iron smelting.
2. “Sendoor malai” could refer to the mound made of red soil with ferrous oxide content. The soil of the town is constituted with gravel clay mixed with sand soft rock. The eastern portion of the town has soft rock and red soil, red loam soil or red ferruginous variety both sandy and loamy. There is an hillock called “Sendukkarai Hill” in this portion.
3. Iron ash, furnace, slag and related items have been recovered to correlate and corroborate such investigation and interpretation.
4. The ceramic industry also vouchsafe the high temperatures handling capacity of the people, furnace and fuel materials, later reduced to ashes.
5. Cow / Cattle dung cake known as “Varatti,” had / has been a common man fuel producing temperatures of high order, depending upon the usage. These cakes were used in the furnaces used for the manufacture of clay articles, ceramics, beads, glass, metallic objects etc. Nowadays,, machines are available for making dung cakes[5].
6. Even today, the red soil is used widely for pottery making, brick manufacture and construction work for its ferrous, ferruginous and binding nature.
7. As elephant presence has been here, whether their dung available in huge quantities could be a source for the “ashmound” can also be studied[6].

Santanu Vaidhya – Socio-economic perspectives of Vidarba Megaliths:.. The finding of new sites has opened a new arena in study of the Early Iron Age. It can be seen as follows: a) The observation of Vaidya (2014) that there are and have to be many more sites with Early Iron Age habitation and also that the habitation and burials form one single cultural entity is supported. Hence, it can be said that there are settlements present in areas rich in resource like alluvium, pasture and iron ore.

b) Malli excavations (Sontakke 2014a) as discussed earlier have brought out some new aspects of the Early Iron Age such as the presence of a different burial architecture, negligible burial goods and also the importance of internal burial architecture more than the interments. Recent explorations have yielded only solitary evidence of menhir from Sasara. Menhirs are not very common in the Nagpur region, except at Nagbhir and Umred. But even the last mentioned two places are near the Wainganga River. Even at Malli and surroundings menhirs are noticed (Sontakke 2014a). Thus it can be said that this burial typology was confined probably to the Wainganga proper and not in the Nagpur region and further west. Also it seems that the burials differed in ideology from the Nagpur region, since at Malli not many burial goods were recovered as in the Nagpur region burials (Sontakke 2014a). Again this suggests the presence of a different burial type like menhir and cist in this region. Sasara and its surroundings therefore make up a promising place for further probing and investigations.

Observation: Here also, it is noted that the same or similar paper has already been published and appearing in the Bulletin of the Deccan college and also internet[7]. He might have presented here with slight changes of the same site and details[8].

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

14-03-2023.

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[1] Deshpande-Mukherjee, A., Goyal, P., Sreelakshmi, T., Rajesh, M., Veeraraghavan, N., Krishna, S., & Vinodh, N. Past Faunal Diversity and Animal Usage Revealed at Gottiprolu, A Southern Satavahana Outpost in SPSR Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh. Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 8.1: 2020.

[2]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359710811_Past_Faunal_Diversity_and_Animal_Usage_Revealed_at_Gottiprolu_A_Southern_Satavahana_Outpost_in_SPSR_Nellore_District_of_Andhra_Pradesh

[3]  K. V. Ramakrishna Rao in December 2022 itself sent two papers one joint paper with J. Soundararajan and another individual, both accepted, CV and detals asked, invited, but suddenly, K. V. Ramakrishna Rao  – name removed, he was invited to attend the conference as “participant,” for the best reasons only known to the organizers. Is it also “Recent advances in South Indian Archaeology” or not – is not known.

[4] Incidentally, the Kudatini ashmound, which sits astride a pass through a north– south spur of the Sandur Hills, was one of the first described by colonial surveyors, resemble “Sendoor malai,” Sendoor hills.

[5] cow dung processing machines such as –

1. Cow dung dewatering machine
2. Cow dung cake machine
3. Cow dung dia making machine
4. Agarbathi making machine –  are available in the market.

[6] Elephant dung produced has been enormous – as an elephant could produce 100 kgs dung per day and more than 40 MTs in a year. Thus, even, if ten elephants herd was there, 400 MTs dung would have been deposited in that area. Had it been disposed off periodically at a place by way of buring with other waste, it coud have also formed part of the “ashmound.”

[7] Vaidya, S., Abbas, R., Sontakke, V., & Willis, M. (2015). Recent Findings on the Early Iron Age in the Bhandara District and Wainganga Basin, Vidarbha. Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, 75, 85-92.

[8] https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/49933029/Arch-75-07_85-92_Vaidya_etal-libre.pdf?1477646966=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DRECENT_FINDINGS_ON_THE_EARLY_IRON_AGE_IN.pdf&Expires=1678901644&Signature=SxxBHBzZ3vRt9eiwkRgUCXgLH~3YszAdK2WcrSBBU1A5xHHeNRnHxWAt2-cv8oYMqWEYNyQgGPn8nsgFR0AFDEJ1ZfOwRQ~ASf1dTJdd-5oZrcqFeBJJxQmqc5DZdeBItJ6MMeoA47OY9pyx3EjCP-eS1lNa6s2V32VDnHha6RSMPEx7dvKxLQ8pinjO4W~HdyTbDwS2jLzI8pBY7QyS-3CCNJGJm0GgdhXSCtsH9Yo78M9SQoaWceBTx1Uk-iHcoVI~v8Wnu3iPE8aLxN-NbiQbYp6-pmLAfC0E8rjwxhaUUHzOP0eM6o2csWy52Gc3w9EI2k0eZ2SZO6kI96JSkw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA