Archaeologyपुरातत्व
Excavating the material record of South Asia's deep past
An introduction to archaeological method, major excavated sites, and the interpretive debates that shape how the Indian subcontinent's prehistoric and historic material culture is understood, from stone tools to Harappan cities to colonial-era antiquarianism.
- 01
Archaeological Method: Stratigraphy, Dating, and Interpretation
Core techniques of excavation, stratigraphic analysis, and chronometric dating as applied to Indian sites.
5 concepts · 6 sources · 3 exercises
- 02
The Indus (Harappan) Civilization
The urban planning, economy, script, and decline of South Asia's first urban civilization, and the debates over its interpretation.
5 concepts · 6 sources · 3 exercises
- 03
Megaliths, Iron Age, and South Indian Archaeology
The megalithic burial traditions and Iron Age transition in peninsular India, and what they reveal about early South Indian society.
5 concepts · 6 sources · 3 exercises
- 04
Heritage, Conservation, and the Politics of the Past
How archaeological heritage is legally protected, contested, and mobilized in contemporary India, from monument conservation to repatriation debates.
5 concepts · 6 sources · 3 exercises
- 05
World Prehistory: Human Origins and the Peopling of the Globe
Tracing the archaeological and genetic evidence for hominin evolution in Africa and the dispersal of Homo sapiens across every inhabited continent.
5 concepts · 5 sources · 3 exercises
- 06
Comparing Early Civilisations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Mesoamerica, and the Andes
A comparative archaeological analysis of the world's early pristine civilisations, examining shared and divergent pathways to urbanism, writing, and state power.
5 concepts · 5 sources · 3 exercises
- 07
Archaeology of Empire: Colonial Collecting and the Repatriation Debate
Examining how archaeology developed as a colonial and imperial practice of extraction and display, and the contemporary global movement for the repatriation of cultural heritage.
5 concepts · 5 sources · 3 exercises