recent archaeological papers

[Guest guest]

hinducivilization, "Michel Danino"

<michel_danino wrote:

 

For information:

 

On Dec. 2-5, three societies (Indian Archaeolgical Society, Indian

Society

for Prehistory & Quaternary Studies & Indian History & Culture

Society)

conducted their joint annual meeting at the Jiwaji University,

Gwalior. Some

important new findings were highlighted. Among the papers presented:

 

1) Prof. B.B. Lal: a paper and presentation on why BMAC cannot be

the origin

of "Aryans" (as a rebuttal to R.S. Sharma, Asko Parpola & others).

This was

partly based on his recent paper "Can the Vedic people be identified

archaeologically? -- An approch", in _Indologica Taurinesia_, vol.

XXXI,

2005, Torino (Italy)

2) Dr. J.P. Joshi: a lecture on the state of archaeological research

and the

Govt.'s "apathy" in the field.

3) Dr. V.D. Misra, "Stone Age Cultures, their Chronology and

Beginning of

Agriculture in the North-Central India" (to appear in _Man &

Environment_,

January-June 2007), with a lot of new data, including new dates.

4) A fine update & slide-show by Dr. Alok Tripathi of ASI on

excavations at

Mahabalipuram (he started off by saying that all press reports of

such

excavations were largely false).

5) A fascinating presentation by Dr. A.K. Gupta on the latest ISRO

findings

on the Sarasvati river.

6) Excavation report of Kopia, Dist. Sant Kabir Nagar (U.P.), by Dr.

Alok

Kanungo.

7) Dr. D. V. Sharma: a lecture and stunning slide-show on Sanauli

(Baghpat

Dist., U.P.): the site is a Harappan cemetery spread over at least

nine

acres, discovered accidentally by peasants in 2004. The area is

perfectly

flat, and but for the peasants' discovery, archaeologists would

never have

guessed the site's existence (which, I believe, might well apply to

other

yet-to-be-discovered burial sites). Some 116 graves have been found

so far.

The data is far too rich to be summarized: plain extended burials

(always

oriented north-south, often with pots in odd numbers near the head

and a

dish-on-stand below the hip, sometimes below the head), double

burials,

triple burials, symbolic burials with few or no skeletal remains

(one of

them with a standing copper antenna sword typical of Copper Hoard

culture),

a trough with charred human bones and vitrified inner walls,

suggesting

cremation, interesting ornaments including gold bangles, etc. The

site will

likely revolutionize our understanding of Harappan burials and will,

I hope,

prompt fresh search for such burial grounds elsewhere.

8) Michel Danino gave a presentation synthesizing recent research on

the

genetic composition of Indian populations; later, another

presentation on

sacred geometry (ratios & units) in Dholavira.

 

In the last issue (No. 36) of _Puratattva_, some related papers:

* L.S. Rao, Nandini B. Sahu, U.A. Shastry, Prabash Sahu & Samir

Diwan,

"Bhirrana Excavation -- 2005-06" (a site in Haryana spanning Kakra

Ware to

Mature Harappan cultures, one of the first in the Sarasvati region

with such

a long chronology)

* L.S. Rao, "The Harappan Spoked Wheels Rattled Down the Streets of

Bhirrana, Dist. Fatehabad, Haryana"

* Rakesh Tewari, R.K. Srivastava, K.K. Singh & K.S.

Saraswat, "Further

Excavations at Lahuradewa, Dist. Sant Kabir Nagar (U.P.) 2005-06:

Preliminary Observations"

* J.R. Sharma, A.K. Gupta & B.K. Bhadra, "Course of Vedic River

Sarasvati as

Deciphered from Latest Satellite Data"

* Nayanjot Lahiri, "Archaeological Theory: A Perspective from

outside the

Western Academy"

* D. V. Sharma, K. C. Nauriyal & V. N. Prabhakar, "Excavations at

Sanauli

2005-06: a Harappan Necropolis in the Upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab" is

published

in _Puratattva_ No. 36, 2005-06, pp. 166-179 with many colour photos.

* Vishal Agarwal, "On Perceiving Aryan Migrations in Vedic Ritual

Texts"

* Michel Danino, "Genetics and the Aryan Debate"

 

To be noted also in the latest _Man & Environment_ (vol. XXXI, No. 2,

July-December 2006):

* L.S. Rao, "Settlement Pattern of the Predecessors of the Early

Harappans

at Bhirrana, Dist. Fatehabad, Haryana

 

And in the latest _History Today_, Journal of the Indian History and

Culture

Society, New Delhi, No. 7, 2006-07:

* Dileep Karanth, "India: One Nation or Many Nationalities? Ancient

Sources

and Modern Analysis", pp. 1-11.

* Vishal Agarwal, "Misrepresentation of Ancient India in American

School

Textbooks", pp. 72-89.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

 

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