All Things Archaeology

More than a decade ago, in 2013, I participated in my first archaeological excavation. I had just appeared for my third year degree exams and was looking forward to joining a masters’ program the following academic year. It was the first time that I traveled by a ‘laal dabba’, the red local MSRTC bus. It was almost occupied by the time I managed to hop in so I sat on the seat beside the driver (what a thrill - if you know about their infamous driving!). It was an overnight journey from Mumbai Central to Mangaon, Raigad. My excitement was at its peak - finally getting to experience the archaeology life after studying the certificate course for a year! The destination was Chandore - a small village located near Mangaon in Raigad district. Archaeological investigations at this site uncovered remains of an Early Medieval-Medieval temple complex (plinths and plans) and a rock-cut step tank/ reservoir dating back to the Shilahara and the Bahamani rule in Maharashtra. You can read more about ...

They say “A Diamond is Forever''. But is it really the case? Well, diamonds have not exactly been around ‘forever’ in the jewellery market, until De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. used the slogan to channel the consumer demands by marketing diamonds as being the symbol of eternal love. So then what exactly was the ornament type preferred by our good ol’ prehistoric folks? Before metal was discovered, the prehistoric humans used to fashion necklaces, earrings and other ornaments out of raw materials such as semi-precious stones, mollusc shells, animal teeth, eggshells, presumably flowers and bird feathers as well. Few or most of these materials were usually available in their vicinity. If you have read the earlier article I wrote about shells , then you probably know that they were frequently used to craft ornaments. But what I found surprising while researching for this article is that shell beads might have links with development of language in humans! Mind boggling right? Mar...

Do you ever go to the beach and are really fascinated by all the different types of shells? Even before I pursued archaeology, I was (am) the girl who loved collecting shells from beaches she visited. I even wore earrings and necklaces made of shells (I still do, sometimes). I did not understand their morphology (form) as I do now but just the fact that they come in such different shapes, sizes, colours and patterns got me hooked. As it happens, I am not the first person to be so fascinated by shells. From thousands of years ago, the prehistoric people loved collecting and adorning themselves with shells too. The oldest example of shells used as jewellery comes from the prehistoric site of Skhul in Israel. Shells of a certain species (gastropod - Nassarius gibbosulus ) were found with perforations from the same layer as 10 human fossils. Archaeologists believe these were used as beads for ornamentation by early humans. The layer from which shells were found is dated to 100,000 - 135,00...

While I was pondering upon the topic of my next article, I thought of writing about the evidence of dogs and their role in the lives of ancient humans. While recalling zooarchaeology classes from my masters days, it occurred to me that we were never taught about cat domestication. So I started exploring how and when did cats get introduced into the domestic households and consequently decided to write about it. Dogs have been domesticated as pets in every sense, however, cats are really only tamed. Dog remains have been reported in plenty from the archaeological record in contrast to the limited cat remains. Dogs had a purpose for being domesticated i.e. providing security in return for consistent food supply and shelter but I wonder what such purpose did cats serve when they first began living amidst human settlements? The relationship between cats and humans is believed to have started through commensalism. The term commensal simply means ‘eating at the same table’ or in this particu...

You’re probably wondering why on earth did I choose to write about combs?!!! Well, a few weeks ago, I noticed a very unusual long wooden comb in my house that had tines on both ends. I asked my mother why does it look different and I was told it is a louse comb. It suddenly occurred to me that a little thing such as comb is a part of the basic grooming kit and would have been as important to the olden people as it is to us Rapunzels with long hair! (in no way implying that people with short hair don’t use combs). So anyway, it followed that I looked up combs in the archaeological record and to my surprise, I came across various articles from all around the world. I never thought that an object like comb could be a subject to such intricate carvings and motifs as I shall discuss about shortly. It seemed like the perfect first daily archaeological object to be blogged about. The exact kind of comb I was intrigued by! In my mother tongue i.e. Gujarati, a daily use comb is referred to as a...