Interpreting the Past through Science

Speaker: Dr. V. N. Prabhakar, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Visiting Faculty at the Archaeological Sciences Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar.  Carried out investigations on the bead drilling technology of Dholavira Harappans, copper remains from Dholavira, palaeoclimatic investigations of northern Rajasthan based on archaeobotanical remains.

Chair: Shri B.M Pande
 

Archaeology has emerged into a multi-disciplinary science, departing from the traditional methodology of ‘descriptive archaeology’. It now employs various scientific disciplines, like geology, material sciences, metallurgy, anthropology, botany, zoology, computer science, statistics, etc. This lecture will explain a few case studies of understanding and interpreting the past using scientific disciplines, in particular, those undertaken by the speaker in the field of Harappan archaeology. The case studies will include on the bead drilling technology of the Harappans, evidence for textile remains and their interpretation, evidence for mobility of people during third and second millennium BCE.