Date: Tuesday, 11 June, 2024
Time: 4 p.m. onwards
Venue: HSS Department Seminar Hall
Title: Compositional Analysis of Archaeological Ceramics: Challenges and Prospects
Abstract:
Appearance of ceramics within the archaeological contexts coincided with the origin of early farming communities or agricultural societies. For archaeologists, it is one of the most important artefacts as it acts as an indicator of chronology. Besides establishing relative chronology, archaeologists try to understand socio-cultural relationships using ceramics. Traditional archaeological studies on ceramics describe its morphology by considering its similarities and differences and various cultural processes such as evolution of forms, technology, exchange/ trade and many more. Compositional analysis of archaeological ceramics, though practiced widely across the world, is still in an incipient stage in South Asian Archaeology. It includes processing the ceramics through science-based analytical methods to identify provenance of the raw-material and stages of its production. The results obtained from these studies are further processed towards appreciating the technological awareness of the societies, influences from societies outside of it and the cognitive elements that contributed to the societies’ overall developments. However, several methodological issues are encountered by a ceramic specialist, while undertaking such studies. The lecture will demonstrate the overall challenges and prospects of these studies with the help of certain case studies.
Speaker Bio:
Prof. Krishnan is Professor Emeritus in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Faculty of Arts, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. His doctoral research presented the chemical and petrological examination of the Harappan Ceramics from three regions in Gujarat. This study demonstrated the wider applications of several scientific methods in examining the ceramics and also its cultural implications. He continued his research on proto-historic and early historic ceramics by incorporating several methods such as traditional archaeological, ethnographic and scientific. These studies have enabled him to work towards understanding craft specialization, development of technology and its impact on ancient South Asian Society. These studies have inspired several students from South Asia to conduct research on South Asian Ceramics. In addition to this, he works towards appreciating and reconstructing palaeo-climate in central and western India. He has completed several research projects dealing with ancient technology and palaeo-climatology and is currently working with five projects. He has also coordinated a project which established a museum at Sidhpur, a centre of pilgrimage, for the Department of Tourism, Government of Gujarat.