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-discovere d 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